Newlyn and Penzance have a unique location at the extreme southwest of the British Isles, with a long tradition of Fishing and Visual Arts. The Newlyn International Film Festival was founded in 2017 by Redcliffe Films, Bristol (Diana Taylor and Anthea Page) and the inaugural event was held in April 2018 at the Centre, Newlyn, Penzance, Cornwall. It showed a selection from 126 submitted films across the course of the weekend The enthusiastic response led directly to a second iteration in 2019 which was hosted at the Acorn Theatre in nearby Penzance a larger venue where we had a free video cafe , and a main hall , we showed 177 films over three days on 2 large screens.
With a highly successful festival we are now launching the 2020 festival in Penzance.
The 2020 Festival will be called the Newlyn PZ International Film Festival.


The winners in each category will be awarded by a panel of esteemed judges. This winning award will be chosen from amongst the nominated films meaning all films entered into any category are automatically eligible.

Winners certificates will be given to the winners in all nine categories.

Judges 2020

Martha Dixon (Documentary)

Martha is a TV and radio journalist with a 20-year-history of working with the BBC. She now combines her time as a freelance filmmaker and radio producer alongside a career as a trainer for international aid missions in developing countries.

She is originally from Penzance and she started life in journalism at BBC South West, moving on to EuroNews in France and BBC World in London. She has been lucky enough to see the world during her career, making documentaries and working as a news producer with the BBC’s top correspondents.

Maria Livesey (Fiction)

Maria has over 25 years experience in broadcast television the majority of which has been spent working on a wide-range of programming including documentary, factual, factual entertainment, live OB, music, science as producer, line producer, production manager on location all over the world including Alaska,Bangladesh, Peru, Thailand,

 Annabel Aguirre  (student) .

Annabelle has been making documentary films for 13 years, following early retirement and receipt of an MA in Broadcast Journalism at the University of Falmouth. She makes films in Cornwall and around the world. Her filmmaking is informed by a long career working as an art therapist in the mental health service of the NHS. Her feature documentary: "After Pinochet: the healing of a country"s wounded heart" has been shown at Chile's Museum of Memory and accepted into the museum archive there. and Europe on all formats including 3D.

Lucy English (Poetry Films)

Lucy English is Reader in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University. With Sarah Tremlett she runs Liberated Words, a CIC organisation which creates, curates and screens poetry films. She is currently working on an online poetry film project ,The Book of Hours, which will form the creative component for her PhD in digital writing. Lucy co-ordinates the MiX conferences in writing for digital at Bath Spa University.

Sarah Tremlett (Poetry Films)

Sarah Tremlett, MPhil, FRSA, SWIP, http://www.sarahtremlett.com is a British poetry filmmaker, poet and published arts theorist/writer. Described as a visual philosopher by Karina Karaeva, (Video Curator, National Centre for Contemporary Art, Moscow), she has been invited to give papers and international screenings on the subject. Author and editor of The Poetics of Poetry Film to be published by Intellect Books, she was commissioned by Filmpoem (Alastair Cook) to make a poetry film in 2017 for one of the commended Poetry Society 2016 National Poetry Competition poems (American poet Sam Harvey’s ‘Claire Climbs Everest’).

Morgan Francis (Animation)

In 1998, Morgan founded Spider Eye, which quickly established its own reputation in commercials and short films. In 2000, Morgan was technical director on Oscar and BAFTA award-winning Father & Daughter (Michael Dudok De Wit), a bittersweet tale which explored the deep bond between a father and daughter. His short film credits include the B.A.A and Annecy award-winning War Game, a 25min TV Special for Illuminated Films/C4), Family Ties – Dreams & Desires, a multi-award-winning short film by Joanna Quinn for Beryl Productions/S4C, A Small Miracle, a 25 minute TV special for Grasshopper Productions/ITV, and The Canterbury Tales – The Squire’s Tale for S4C.

Senara Wilson Hodges (Women Directors)

My father spent the 1970’s fishing out of Newlyn Harbour and some of my earliest memories are of setting up mackerel lines and clambering over his bright orange boat - the Heather Armorel.

I left Cornwall to study and see the world and ended up living in London where I spent 15 years working in documentary film production. I directed and produced documentaries for the BBC, Channel Four and ITV and made programmes on subjects ranging from coroners in LA, to medieval kings and John Peel in Germany. Some of the projects I worked on included self shooting and learning how to use a camera gave me the freedom to work on independent projects including a film about the built up to the Iraq war called ‘Life of Brian’ (Commonwealth Film Festival)

When I moved back to Cornwall with my young family, I started working on local projects for Tate St Ives, The Leach Pottery and St. Ives School of Painting.  I’ve made independent films about the potter Warren MacKenzie, home ownership in St.Ives (‘Ghost Town’) and family (‘My Brother Hughie’).

Marie Macneill (Scriptwriting)

Marie comes from St Just, went to school in Penzance and performed at the Minack when Rowena Cade was still alive and at The Acorn when it was the West Cornwall Arts Centre. She trained as an actor at the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, ran Bedside Manners Theatre Company for 16 years producing 45 touring shows, and has written and directed for TV, Film, Theatre and Radio. Nominated for a TAPS writer of the year award, she wrote on the series THE TRIBE and REVELATIONS. Marie has been commissioned to write five feature films and has had one feature optioned. In 2010 her low budget supernatural horror, THE DARK SIDE, was selected to be part of the Cross Channel Film Lab development scheme in Brittany and Cornwall. In 2016 Marie was awarded the Katie Fforde Bursary for her novel STRAWBERRY MOON, set in Falmouth. Her second novel, SWIMMING IN THE RAIN, is set in Penzance. She’s currently pursuing publishing deals for both. She is a voting member of BAFTA; on the committee of RTS (Royal Television Society) Devon and Cornwall; a member of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (formerly serving 15 years on the Executive Council); Women In Film & Television; the Society of Authors; the RNA (Romantic Novelists Association) and the SRN (Screenwriters’ Research Network). Marie is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Film & Television, Falmouth University. She also works as a script editor and consultant. Her play THE COASTGUARD is touring Cornwall in 2020 including The Acorn on February 23th.

Conditions

The Newlyn PZ Film Festival is open to everyone, regardless of your age, experience or genre of your film.AnAward certificate will be given to the winner in the following categories:

Best Fiction Film Prize (under 45 minutes)
Best Student Film (under 45 minutes, open to any genre of Fiction or Documentary film
including Experimental )
Best Woman Director. The film must be directed by a woman director and the script must have a female protagonist.
Best Documentary ( 45 minutes or less )
Best Poetry Film ( 12 minutes or less )
Best Animation. (20 minutes or less)
Best Short Film Script (30 pages or less)
Best film in the Cornwall section

ANY FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE MUST HAVE ENGLISH SUBTITLES.

Please contact us if you are unsure as to your film’s eligibility. All submissions are preferred in standard digital HD format. All films submitted via FilmFreeway.

THE ORGANISATION
Newlyn Film Festival.com
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Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • We were lucky enough to be selected and we are glad! Sadly we didn't get any news concerning the festival as we are France based and did not attend. Please make sure to communicate a little more with us.

    March 2020
  • Eliot Michl

    Great festival for poetry films in the area. Incredible judges, too. So pleased to have my film chosen as an Official Selection.

    July 2019
  • Shannon Meilak

    I was unable to attend the festival but it seems like a great place to screen your film and meet like-minded people. Communication was pretty poor and although I understand there was not a lot of staff involved in the festival organisation, I believe it is important to keep filmmakers updated. It is vital for filmmakers to know when their film is screening so they can promote the event and organise for someone to be there at the festival. I was unable to have anyone at the festival as I was never told when my film was screening despite numerous emails and messages.

    June 2019
  • Lois Norman

    As a West Country Female Artist, I was delighted have my Poetry Film, The Shell selected and screened by Newlyn: Thank you! I was so sorry I couldnt be there as I was editing, but I hope to celebrate all that is great for West Country Indie film with you all next time! Many Thanks Newlyn - Lois Norman

    April 2019
  • Julia Giles

    It was great to be part of the Newlyn Film Festival. The organisers were extremely friendly and approachable and responded to queries very quickly. The venue was lovely and the sense of hospitality made it easy to participate in Q&As with film-makers. It was a truly international festival with films from many parts the world, and it was great to have a section which specially featured Cornish films and films-makers across all the genres. Maybe there should be a prize for best Cornish film too? I’m looking forward to the next Newlyn Film Festival (though maybe rethink the name if the venue is not actually in Newlyn?). Overall, many thanks to the organisers and all involved in making it possible; it was a very enjoyable and varied three-day event.

    April 2019