The 6th Discover Film Awards will take place in London from 4th-7th October. There will be daily screenings at The Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square, an opening night party at Somerset House and a closing night and awards event at The Hospital Club in Soho.
The Discover Film Awards is one of the biggest short film festivals in the world with over 4,000 annual submissions from 70+ countries. On Sunday evening, winners of the prestigious Craghoppers Film Prize will be announced. The winning film will be awarded with a £20,000 cash prize and the runner up film £10,000. The winning films have been selected by a panel of judges including BAFTA judge Katie Bailiff, Simon Wells, Controller of funded content at Channel 4 and Dominique Walker, executive producer at the BBC.
Chair of judges, documentary maker, Jaine Green, summarises the theme of the festival as “Biting Back”. Jaine states that “Short films have the advantage of being able to react very quickly to world events and global trends. It’s encouraging to see that this year the mood has changed from the universal unease, oppression and discontentment that has dominated short form film content for the past few years to one of defiance and standing up for your rights. It seems we have gone from merely mistrusting authority and power to fighting back and this is reflected in many of the films submitted from a wide range of countries including US, Europe, Russia, India and Iran.”
Jaine goes on to state that “In light of the Me Too movement, the intense questioning of unstable political leadership, the continuing and growing fight for gender rights and an increasing awareness of inequality in its many forms, people are no longer prepared to stay quiet. Over the course of the festival over 40 entertaining and thought-provoking films from all genres including docs, dramas, non-narrative, fantasies, animations and comedies will introduce people taking control and biting back”.
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