Watersprite Film Festival

Who we are

Watersprite discovers and champions emerging filmmakers from around the world. The festival inspires and empowers young film talent, providing an inclusive space which nurtures future award-winning collaborations. Watersprite works with students from the universities in Cambridge to engage young people locally and support emerging filmmakers internationally to pursue careers in the screen industries.

Watersprite seeks to be of benefit to the public, especially young people, both at home and internationally. The festival has three principal objectives:

1. To support learning and foster creative collaborations in the context of film, television, and other art forms of the moving image.
2. To promote access to the arts by organising the Watersprite Film Festival, as well as other public screenings and events, providing opportunities to inspire audiences and raise awareness about film and other related art forms.
3. To promote a screen culture in the UK and abroad which seeks to rebalance under- representation on screen, in the workforce and in audiences by ensuring the Charity aims to grow the diversity of people engaging with the screen industries and the festival’s activities.

Watersprite Film Festival is a registered Charity and the UK’s largest student run film festival for emerging screen talent. The festival receives over 1,000 submissions a year in short animation, fiction, and documentary films from over 100 countries worldwide. 30-40 filmmakers are nominated for 15 award categories at live juries, and the selected filmmakers are offered full travel and accommodation bursaries to come to Cambridge in March for the festival. 

Watersprite Film Festival takes place over a weekend in March featuring screenings, panel discussions, masterclasses industry networking and workshops focussed on careers and routes into the screen industries. We welcome inspiring award-winning speakers each year to chat with our audiences about their journeys in Film & TV. Over the years, Watersprite has welcomed guests such as Olivia Colman, Lenny Henry, Mike Leigh, Eddie Redmayne, Naomi Ackie, Evanna Lynch, Bill Nighy and Asif Kapadia

All Watersprite’s activities are free and open to all. Watersprite is also a hub for education and learning in the East of England, offering Education & Outreach events to children and young people locally.