Norwich Film Festival is an annual

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

festival founded in 2009 and held in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, which showcases films by local, national and international filmmakers, both

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

and mainstream. Various films have gone on to win

BAFTAs The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...

and

Oscars The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

, as well as awards at the Sundance Film Festival,

Tribeca Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was fo ...

and South by Southwest. The festival has received support from various celebrities, such as Olivia Colman,

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

, Tim McInnerney,

Julian Jarrold Julian Edward Peter Jarrold (born 15 May 1960 in Norwich, Norfolk) is a BAFTA Award-nominated English film and television director. Early life Jarrold was born into the family which founded Jarrolds of Norwich in 1823. He was educated at Gresha ...

and

John Collee John Gerald Collee (born 1955) is a Scottish screenwriter whose film scripts include ''Master and Commander'' (2003), ''Happy Feet'' (2006), '' Creation'' (2009), and ''Walking with Dinosaurs'' (2013). He is also a journalist and a novelist. Co ...

. Entries can also qualify to be shown at the BAFTAs or the

British Independent Film Awards The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports and promotes British independent cinema and filmmaking talent in United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early November, ...

History

Norwich Film Festival was founded by Kellen Playford in 2009 in order to help screen a short film locally for a friend. In 2012, the festival was relaunched. In 2015, Craig Higgins became co-director, aiming to grow the festival. In 2017, Norwich Film Festival became a registered charity.

Awards ceremony

2009

Venue:

The Forum, Norwich The Forum is a community building in Norwich, Norfolk in England. It stands opposite St Peter Mancroft Church. Built on the site of the previous Norwich Library which burnt down in 1994, the Forum was designed by Michael Hopkins and Partners, ...

, 12–25 September 2009 The festival began with a screening of '' My Imprisoned Heart'' at the

Norwich Arts Centre Norwich Arts Centre is a live music venue, theatre and art gallery located in St Benedict's Street in Norwich, Norfolk, England. It has a capacity of 260 for standing music concerts and 120 for seated events. In November 2014, it was named "Brita ...

, and included several other events such as a free, open air screening of the 80's film '' Top Gun'' in the gardens of

Norwich Castle Norwich Castle is a medieval royal fortification in the city of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk. William the Conqueror (1066–1087) ordered its construction in the aftermath of the Norman conquest of England. The castle was used as a ...

, the regional premiere of ''

Creation Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing * Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it * Creationism, the belief tha ...

'', starring

Paul Bettany Paul Bettany (born 27 May 1971) is an English actor. He is mostly known for his roles as J.A.R.V.I.S. and Vision in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, recently starring in the Disney+ miniseries '' WandaVision'' (2021), for which he was nominate ...

, and screenings of the BAFTA short film and animation nominees.

2012

Venues: Hollywood Cinema, Norwich and

, 30 March-7 April 2012 Jury:

Bernard Hill Bernard Hill (born 17 December 1944) is an English actor. He is well recognized for playing King Théoden in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, Captain Edward Smith in ''Titanic'', and Luther Plunkitt, the Warden of San Quentin Prison in t ...

Tim McInnerny Tim McInnerny ( ; born 18 September 1956) is an English actor. He is known for his many roles on stage and television, including as Lord Percy Percy and Captain Darling in the 1980s British sitcom ''Blackadder''. Early life McInnerny was bor ...

Juliet Stevenson Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, (born 30 October 1956) is an English actor of stage and screen. She is known for her role in the film ''Truly, Madly, Deeply'' (1991), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leadi ...

Steve Furst Steven Jonathan Furst (born 3 September 1967) is a British comedian, actor and writer. He appeared in the Orange mobile phone cinema adverts in the UK (with Brennan Brown), playing the role of Eliot, a spoof studio executive, and has appeare ...

, and

Jim Field Smith Jim Field Smith (born 20 February 1979) is an English film and television director, writer and producer. Early career Smith was a member of the British sketch comedy group Dutch Elm Conservatoire, who were nominated for the prestigious Perrier A ...

2013

Venue: Cinema City, Norwich, 28 April-4 May 2013 Jury: Olivia Colman,

Radio 1 Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to: *BBC Radio 1, a music radio station from the BBC ** BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station broadcasting black music *CBC Radio One, a talk radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporatio ...

Edith Bowman Edith Eleanor Smith (born January 1974) is a Scottish radio DJ and television presenter. She hosted '' Colin and Edith'', weekday afternoons, weekend breakfast, and ''The Radio 1 Review'' on BBC Radio 1 until 2014 and has presented a variety of ...

UEA UEA may stand for: Universities * University of East Africa, established in June 1963 and split, in 1970, into: ** Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda ** University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania ** University of Nairobi in Kenya * University of ...

lecturer Dr Sarah Godfrey, and the director of the 2012 Best Film (''Sunny Boy''), Jane Gull.

2014

Main Venue: ODEON, Norwich, 6–13 May 2014 Jury:

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

winning film editor Martin Walsh.

2015

Venue:

, 10–26 April 2015 Jury:

2016

Main Venue:

, 10–13 November 2016 The 2016 festival opened with a gala screening of the film '' Kinky Boots'' and was followed by a Q&A with the film's director

. The screening reflected the film by taking place in an old shoe factory. The festival also gave regional premieres to two feature films - '' My Feral Heart'', which included a Q&A with Duncan Paveling (writer/producer) and James Rumsey (producer), and ''

Light Years A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 1012 ...

'', which was followed by a Q&A with its award-winning director

Esther May Campbell Esther May Campbell (born 27 May 1972 in London) is a British filmmaker, director, photographer and writer. In 2008 she received a BAFTA Award for Best Short Film for her film ''September''. Campbell's debut feature film ''Light Years'' premiered ...

. There were six screenings of short films submitted to the festival, and the weekend closed with a screening of the 2016 BAFTA Shorts Tour, with another Q&A afterwards. Jury:

2017

9–19 November 2017
Venues: OPEN, Norwich,

Assembly House The Assembly House is a Georgian architecture, Georgian Grade I listed building located in Norwich, United Kingdom. Today, the Assembly House is used for conferences, exhibitions, visual and performing arts activities, and weddings, and is owne ...

The 2017 Festival launched on 9 November with a screening of the 1984 film

A Private Function ''A Private Function'' is a 1984 British comedy film starring Michael Palin and Maggie Smith. The film was predominantly filmed in Ilkley, and Ben Rhydding in West Yorkshire. The film was also screened in the section of Un Certain Regard at the ...

followed by a Q&A with the star of the film,

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries. Palin w ...

. Jury:

2018

7–18 November 2018 Venues: OPEN, Norwich,

Norwich University of the Arts Norwich University of the Arts (NUA) is a public university in Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom that specialises in art, design and media. It was founded as Norwich School of Design in 1845 and has a long history of arts education. It gained ful ...

, The Garage, Norwich. The 2018 festival kicked off with a screening of cult British classic, Shallow Grave, followed by a talk with its star, Christopher Eccleston. Jury:

Alfred Molina Alfred Molina (born Alfredo Molina; 24 May 1953) is a British-American actor known for his work on the stage and screen. He first rose to prominence in the West End, earning a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Newcomer in a Pla ...

, double

British Academy of Film and Television Arts British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

winning sound editor Eddy Joseph, and

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

winning shorts producer
Gavin Humphries

2019

4–17 November 2019 Venues: OPEN, Norwich,

Theatre Royal, Norwich The Theatre Royal is an art-deco theatre in Norwich, Norfolk, England. It is one of the country's oldest established theatres. It hosts a large range of touring productions. The theatre had a £10m refurbishment in 2007, designed by Tim Foster ...

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

, The Garage, Norwich. The 2019 festival launched on 4 November 2019 with an 'In Conversation' event with British actor

David Morrissey David Mark Joseph Morrissey (born 21 June 1964) is an English actor and filmmaker. Described by the British Film Institute as "one of the most versatile English actors of his generation", he is noted for the meticulous preparation and research h ...

, hosted by film critic

Peter Bradshaw Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''. Early life and education Bradshaw was educated at Haberdasher ...

. The 2019 festival consisted of 44 events, including 19 shorts screenings and a rare UK screening of

Snowpiercer ''Snowpiercer'' () is a 2013 post-apocalyptic science fiction action film based on the French climate fiction graphic novel ''Le Transperceneige'' by Jacques Lob, Benjamin Legrand and Jean-Marc Rochette. The film was directed by Bong Joon-ho a ...

hosted by Mark Kermode to launch The Sir John Hurt Film Trust. Guests throughout the festival also included

Jessica Hynes Tallulah Jessica Elina Hynes (''née'' Stevenson; born 30 October 1972) is an English actress, director and writer. Known professionally as Jessica Stevenson until 2007, she was one of the creators, writers and stars of the British sitcom ''Spac ...

Michael Smiley Michael Smiley (born 1963) is a Northern Irish comedian and actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the films ''Kill List'' (2011) and ''The Lobster'' (2015). Early life Smiley was born in 1963 in Belfast and grew up in Holywood with ...

Joe Cornish Joseph Murray Cornish (born 20 December 1968) is an English comedian and filmmaker. With his long-time comedy partner, Adam Buxton, he forms the comedy duo Adam and Joe. In 2011, Cornish released his directorial debut ''Attack the Block''. He ...

Miranda Raison Miranda Caroline Raison (born 18 November 1977) is an English actress and voice-over narrator. Early life Miranda Raison was born in Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, on 18 November 1977. Her mother is former Anglia News reader Caroline Raison (''né ...

and Anwen, Lady Hurt. A total of 111 short films were selected to be screened at the festival from a total of 817 submissions, with female filmmakers directing 44% of the official selection. Jury:

Neve Campbell Neve Adrianne Campbell (born October 3, 1973; ) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her work in the drama and horror genres. She has appeared on ''People'' magazine's list of "50 Most Beautiful People" twice. Following a series of minor ...

, and Stephen Woolley.

2020

2–29 November 2020 Venues: Online Short film submissions opened in January 2020 with a record number of submissions being received over a six-month period, with 132 short films being selected to be screened, making it the festival's largest selection to-date. On Tuesday 1 September, the festival announced that the 2020 edition would take place in an alternative format due to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, with each of the 132 shorts films within the Official Selection being available to watch online for the first time in the festival's history. This would also mark the first time that the festival was able to be accessed by those outside of the UK, with around half of the Official Selection being available internationally. In total, 151 films were screened online during the festival, including several guest strands from other institutions, and the two winners of the EAFA Mashup Filmmaking competition. Jury:

Dexter Fletcher Dexter Fletcher (born 31 January 1966) is an English film director and actor. He has appeared in Guy Ritchie's ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'', as well as in television shows such as the comedy drama '' Hotel Babylon'' and the HBO serie ...

, Stephen Woolley, James Marsh, Arianne Sutner,

Jill Culton Jillian Marie Culton (born March 19, 1973) is an American animator, director, and screenwriter. With her directorial debut on Sony's first animated film, '' Open Season'', she became the first female principal director of a big budget, computer-an ...

, Julie Lockhart, Lisa Cortés, Stuart Dryburgh, Will Becher, Todd Banhazl, Kate Phillips, Antonio Aakeel &

Tim Downie Timothy Richard Downie (born 14 July 1977) is an English actor and writer. He is known for the television series '' Toast of London'', '' Outlander'' and ''Upstart Crow'', and the films '' Paddington'' and ''The King's Speech''. Downie was born i ...

2021

12–21 November 2021 Over 140 short films were screened in-person and online during the festival's hybrid event for 2021. Due to the ongoing

, the festival took place in a hybrid format, with screenings taking place in-person before becoming available to watch online afterwards and until the end of November. The in-person events consisted of a downscaled programme of shorts screenings, features and talks. The festival also produced a podcast in which filmmakers from the selection were interviewed about their films. Venues:

, The Garage, Norwich,

, National Centre for Writing & Online. Jury:

Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen OBE (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor, television producer and political activist. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage rol ...

and

2022

12-20 November 2022 Venues:

Jury: Nat Luurtsema, Greg Sorvig, Dionne Farrell, Jinko Gotoh, Ida Melum, Crispin Buxton, Chris Rankin, Victoria Emslie, Christine Lalla.

Patrons and judges

The festival has a number of patrons who support and promote the festival throughout the year. In January 2017, the festival added

and

as new patrons. The current list includes: *

* Olivia Colman * Brian Cox *

* Richard Sawdon Smith Previous patrons include the actor

. There are a number of industry professionals who act as judges for the festival, and the list for 2017 included: *

* Nick Moore * Damian Jones * Steven Hall * Hugh Fraser * William Osborne * Jane Gull Previous judges include broadcaster

Emma Freud Emma Vallencey Freud (born 25 January 1962) is an English broadcaster and cultural commentator. Early life Freud was born in London on 25 January 1962 and is the daughter of politician and broadcaster Sir Clement Freud (1924–2009) and June ...

and director Roger Michell.

Award categories

The festival currently features six award categories. Winning filmmakers get a prestigious trophy, a certificate, a £1000 cash prize and software prizes. In 2020, the traditional 'Best Short Film' category was sub-divided into the new 'Best British Short Film' and 'Best International Short Film' categories. As of 2020, the award categories are: *Best British Short Film *Best International Short Film *Best Animated Film *Best Student Film *Best Documentary Film *Best East Anglian Film

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.norwichfilmfestival.co.uk 2009 establishments in the United Kingdom Awards established in 2009 Film festivals established in 2009 Film festivals in England Short film festivals in the United Kingdom