Hastings Rocks International Film Festival

HASTINGS ROCKS is home to independent films that push boundaries across all genres, fiction or non-fictional. In keeping with the UK seaside town’s culture and history, we especially welcome works that explore esoteric, mystical, noir and horror themes, as well as films that are made in Hastings.

HASTINGS ROCKS 2024 screened 80 short films and 5 feature films to over 500 attendees. Our jury has been presided over by an array of talented filmmakers with a connection to Hastings, notably the comedian Jo Brand, actor Madeline Smith (Live and Let Die, The Vampire Lovers) and actor/director Bindu de Stoppani (The Beach, 28 Days Later, Jump).

The next edition of the festival will take place 11-13 April 2025 at the PRINTWORKS, a unique arts space in the old Hastings Observer building off the cyberpunk-esque Gotham Alley, often used in film productions.

HASTINGS ROCKS and its sister festival BRIGHTON ROCKS showcase emerging and established filmmaking talent from around the world and aim to create a platform for original voices from all walks of life. If your film embodies our ideals and aspirations, we will help it get the recognition it deserves.

FYI, HASTINGS is fast becoming one of the premier sites in the UK for film and television production. It is a coven of creatives, filmmakers and musicians from all walks of life. Many have come over from Brighton and down from London, but the town’s unique identity has been forged over the course of more than a thousand years of history. As every schoolchild knows, the Battle of Hastings in 1066 saw the demise of King Harold, the Norman invasion and the birth of modern England. Gangs of smugglers have inhabited a maze of ancient cliffside caves since the Middle Ages. The town was made into a bustling resort by the Victorians, who built splendid – now decaying – Gothic buildings, while sadly allowing poverty and disease to run riot. The occultist Aleister Crowley spent his final year here, allegedly casting a spell on the town prohibiting those born in Hastings from leaving. Today, Hastings is famed for its vibrant May Day festivities, Jack in the Green, Fat Tuesday and Bonfire Night. We're sure that you'll find Hastings to be the perfect backdrop to share your film with fellow artists.