Worcester Film Festival
24th - 27th September 2025
1 City
6 Venues
80+ Films
See our packed schedule for this year as well as some of the impressive venues we will be hosting the screenings, galas, networking events and so much more.
An event for everyone.
“The cinema is not an art which films life: the cinema is something between art and life.” – Jean-Luc Godard
We’re so excited to welcome new and returning faces for another packed out programme of events. Across 6 venues, join us to explore 86 independent films, 3 special presentations, 2 preview screenings, workshops, Q&As and film socials. All culminating in our glamorous Awards Gala.
We are committed to growing film in the Midlands and across industry, education and community we seek to put Worcester on the filmmaking map.
Thanks to our incredible filmmakers and festival partners we have spent 4 years showcasing emerging and established talent, seeing the rise of students starting their own production companies and filmmakers making the leap from short films to feature, we are proud to have been part of the journey and once you grab your festival pass you will be too.
Welcome to the 4th edition of Worcester Film Festival!
If you’re capturing your experience throughout the festival be sure to tag:
@worcesterfilmfestival
#worcff
Our Awards
Our bespoke trophies, made in conjunction with NHS service New Opportunities Worcestershire and charity Men’s Sheds, will be given at the Awards Gala (Saturday 28th September 2024).
Film Categories
Best Feature Film
Best Short Film
Best Midlands Film
Best Documentary Film
Best Animated Film
Best Music Video
Best Student Film
Best First-Time Filmmaker
Craft Categories
Best Screenplay
Best Performance
Best Director
Best Cinematographer
Best Costume Designer
Best Editor
Best Hair & Make-Up
Best Production Designer
Best Sound Design
Best Composer
The Audience Award
Come enjoy our city and see what we have to offer. We want this to be a festival in every sense of the word with a jam-packed map that will leave you wishing you could be in two places at once.
Join us for this 4-day event and we promise you’ll want to return year after year!
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Day 1 (25th September 2024)
Worcester Film Festival 2024 kicks off with the “Create Central Production Roadshow – Navigating the Film & TV Landscape”, an exclusive opportunity to gain insight from industry figures about the dynamic landscape of Film & TV production in the West Midlands with Create Central, Filming in England, CREW Birmingham and RTS Midlands.
We then move to ODEON for a special preview screening of “The Outrun”, starring Saoirse Ronan.
Following the film, there is an opening night drinks reception at Tonic, where the winner of this year’s city-wide, film themed art trail will be announced. [Guest List]
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Day 2 (26th September 2024)
Our Officially Selected independent films launch!
Alongside our full day of screenings and a filmmaker Q&A, we also have a pitching workshop for writers to hone their skills with pitching and life coach specialist, Sasha Damjanovski.
We have also partnered with Worcester Mela to bring you a showcase of South Asian cinema with six curated short films, in conjunction with BFI Network, Pinder Productions and Soul City Arts.
The day ends with a special presentation of “Monkey Man”, starring Dev Patel, and a film social evening brought to you by Reel Brum.
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Day 3 (27th September 2024)
More of our fantastic Officially Selected films!
After a packed out day of screenings across two screens, we head into a big evening, starting with a Q&A with one of our filmmakers.
We then showcase a local feature film before things take a spooky turn with our very first horror night. “Dark Matters After Dark” is a curated event with six horror shorts and a new horror feature, Derelict, all brought to you by Dark Matters.
Meanwhile, Sandstorm Films will be hosting a pitching event, so anyone that wants to try their hand . Once the event concludes, the venue opens up to another film social night with film-themed cocktails available.
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Day 4 (28th September 2024)
The final day of the festival shows the last of our Officially Selected films with 2 filmmaker Q&As.
We’re also offering a family friendly morning with an 85th anniversary showing of “The Wizard of Oz” – just in time for “Wicked” in November.
That isn’t the only special presentation of the day, however, with a 20th anniversary showing of “Shaun of the Dead” followed by an “Undertaking the Undead” Q&A with the film’s Prosthetics Effects Designer, Stuart Conran, to explore how he brought the zombies of this iconic film to life.
The festival culminates with a preview screening of the fantastic “Bookworm”, starring Elijah Wood, and our glamorous Awards Gala at the prestigious New Road cricket ground. This will be a black tie event with The Film Orchestra’s quintet playing film scores on arrival before a 2 course dinner and the presenting of our 19 bespoke trophies to winning filmmakers.
Finally after the success of last year’s impromptu after party, we’ve decided to make it an official addition to the festival. Find festival staff at the gala for a wristband that will grant you access to the following venue.
Winners of 2024
- Best Short Film – Crusts
- Best Feature Film – Froggie
- Best Midlands Film – Ticker
- Best Documentary Film – An Extraordinary Place
- Best Animated Film – Le Charade
- Best Music Video – Cold Eyes
- Best Student Film – Whistling Dixie
- Best Screenplay – Kate Horlor and Andrew David Barker, Laura Living Backwards
- Best Performance – Nick Hendrix, Cope
- Best Director – Alfie Dale, Crusts
- Best Cinematographer – Niall O’Connor, Where The Old Man Lives
- Best Costume Designer – Mekel Bailey, Chairs
- Best Editor – Tom Paul Martin, Where Are All The Gay Superheroes?
- Best Hair & Make-Up – Gaze
- Best Production Designer – Joey Cleghorn, Trust Thy Sister
- Best Sound Design – Kelly Halpin, Stain
- Best Composer – Jackson Steele, Mutual Tides
- Best First-Time Filmmaker – Stir
- Audience Award – From Thailand to Tenbury: Showing Sheep in the Shires
