Southampton Film Week (SFW) returns from today (14th November) to 26 November, for its eighteenth annual celebration of film, bringing an inspiring mix of local talent, international cinema, and immersive experiences to venues across the city.
Created and produced by City Eye, the region’s charity dedicated to supporting filmmakers and film culture, this year’s programme highlights the power of moving image to connect, challenge, and captivate audiences.
Screening in venues from concert halls and theatres to galleries, universities, cafés, and even a church, SFW25 continues its mission to make film culture accessible, engaging, and joyfully surprising!
SFW Director Susan Beckett, who has led the festival since its debut in 2008, reflects on its enduring impact.
“We are thrilled to present this year’s programme of film screenings and events and are looking forward to more shared experiences and great conversation with our audiences and filmmakers,” she said.
“More than ever, this year celebrates local talent with a strong field of regional filmmakers selected in our short film competition SFW: Shorts and two feature films flying the flag for the area.
“We are also using the opportunity to watch film and inspire discussion on local issues such as the welfare of the River Itchen with a screening of I am the River, the River is Me.”
The festival launches today at Mayflower Studios with a programme of Artist Film presented in collaboration with John Hansard Gallery. Expanding Cinema: Double-Screen Energy includes the opportunity to see Malcolm Le Grice’s 1970 Berlin Horse and works by other artists including the programme’s curators Simon Payne and Andrew Vallance, who also provide the festival with a second programme on 21 November, this time at John Hansard Gallery with Experimental Cinema: Dark into Light presenting 16mm film and video.
A developing theme for Southampton Film Week has been its programme celebrating the union of film and music. The festival this year offers two classic silent films with live music, the short film competition’s Music Video category and documentaries exploring the stories of music makers.
In its centenary year the silent Phantom of the Opera (pictured below)
will be accompanied by internationally renowned organist Donald Mackenzie, returning to Southampton Guildhall on 26 November to bring the slumbering Compton Pipe organ to life once again. SFW founding partner Turner Sims, at the University of Southampton Highfield Campus, brings us F.W. Murnau’s outstanding Sunrise (1927) on Sunday 23 November, with live music from the acclaimed Stephen Horne and Elizabeth-Jane Baldry.
Bournemouth based Filmmaker Johan Nayar presents his feature documentary about two Malawian street musicians with The Banjo Boys (pictured top) at Solent University’s cinema on Friday 21 November and Dave Pen, Southampton’s frontman for the band Archive, features in Run Again at City Eye on Sunday 23 November a film which narrates his story as a band member and endurance runner as he completes the 268 mile Spine Race along The Pennines in the dead of winter.
The annual SFW: Shorts Screening and Awards event at Mayflower Studios on Sunday 16 November provides the opportunity for everyone to be snapped on the red carpet and to take part in the vote to select the audience’s favourite film. From over 100 submissions 14 short films have been shortlisted for judging and will be shown in advance of the winners in each category and the Michael Fuller Award for Best Film are announced. For those wanting to take an active part in the festival this is the event to attend – but for a slightly less formal involvement why not come along to the now infamous Southampton Film Week Quiz on Saturday 22 November at Mettricks café in Guildhall Square. Bring your own team or join another and muster all your film knowledge – it will be fun, unexpected and just a little bit competitive!
Southampton Film Week works to ensure that the programme is accessible to all with many events offering ‘pay-what-you-can’ ticket options including some which are free to attend. The full programme and booking details are at southamptonfilmweek.com
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