Winter 2023 Film Festival
5th December 2023 at 19:45
WMF International Film Festival
From just after 7:45 pm at Sutton Filmmakers in Cheam, Sutton, Surrey, we will be showing the films our judging panel has selected from all the submissions we have had. We have had some great films submitted and we will be showing the best of these as voted by our judges.
Levelling the Playing Field for Indie FilmMakers
Whilst submitting our own films to film festivals, we discovered that our films were up against films with much higher budgets than ours typically enjoy.
Sometimes the production budgets for short films can be £15,000+. This means we are competing on an uneven playing field. After some research, I discovered that this is a fairly recent phenomenon.
Nowadays, it is very easy for films with big budgets to enter “low level” festivals with a click of a button, whereas in the past, it was too expensive and took too much effort. This means that small indie filmmakers don’t get much of a look in. So we have decided to run a film festival that levels the playing field.
We will have 3 categories of short films (under 15 mins), any genre. They will be categorised by the production budget value. There is also a 4th category for best animation.
The first category will be short films with a production value of under £500/$650 and the second will be under £1,500/$1,900. The third and final category fill be films with a production value of less than £5,000/$6,000
Making Something From Nothing
We are looking for good stories, where the filmmakers have had to make something out of nothing, which is kind of what we have to do at WeMakeFilms.
You did it! We have been sent many good films and a few great ones and quite a few duffers. We hope to bring you 2.5 hours of great entertainment.
Under £500 Category Finalists
What did you say?!
Directed by Kiel Robinson
Nigel has no idea why his girlfriend Lorraine calls him something personally upsetting in her sleep. Funny thing is that Sigmund Freud might prove that it is Nigel’s fault. This film focuses on the use of bad language in urban culture and questions the impact it has on society.
The Legend
Directed by Chris Beemer
Jimmy gets more than he bargained for on Halloween night when a legendary storybook character pays him a visit.
Happy Hour
Directed by Frankie Currie
An agent from the future must ensure that a young couple meet on a night at his bar to secure the future of the universe.
Estel
Directed by Elies Villalonga
A mother and her daughter live together in an apparently idyllic environment of happiness. But not everything turns out to be exactly as it seems.
Under £1500 Category Finalists
A Deadly Mistake
Directed by Dariusz Henka
Death comes to a young man. This turns out to be a mistake.
Misdirection
Directed by Kurt Sear
A terrified young deaf girl, Silvia, seeks refuge from the horrors of war in a seemingly abandoned barn, where she is discovered by the mysterious and menacing figure of a man, Albrecht, who stands in shadow at the doorway, blocking her only escape.
Home
Directed by Emily Pulcastro
Bogged down by the everyday clutter of work, chores, and struggling to make ends meet Home tells the story of Danny, an ambitious women out of undergrad who dreams of leaving her mediocre city behind to pursue her dream of acting. It is a story focused on living in the moment and enjoying the little things in life.
Under £5000 Category Finalists
Silenced
Directed by Mazigna Barros, Leslie Tompson
After 15 years of marriage, Mirta filed for divorce and obtained shared custody of her 8-year-old daughter Hawa.
Everything is going well for her, until the day Hawa tells her a secret that she must not tell.
How will Mirta react to this announcement?
Harold & Laila
Directed by Jagoda Puczko
A young girl is building a time machine to reverse a life-altering event, when she meets her neighbour who offers her technical advice. As their relationship grows, they find out they’re both trying to come to terms with grief, and in the end – help each other deal with their pain.
Fade In: To Murder
Directed by Declan Smith
A film festival goes wrong when someone is killed, but it’s a little convenient, luckily method actor Grace Goodman is on the case.
Best Animation Category Finalists
To Fit In
Directed by Lili Giacobino
It portrays how deeply confusing and saddening it is to be expected to ‘fit in’ to society. It tells the story of a young girl who finds herself in a kind of dystopian waiting room where she is asked to walk through one of three doors that each have a sign showing different shaped heads. Realising that her head is definitely not going to fit into any of those shapes, her application into society is stamped as FAILED.
Juze
Directed by Raquel Garcia
After days of drifting in the ocean, a deaf child can hear for the first time. Surprised where the sound comes from, Juzé is intrigued all his life.
Happier Alone
Directed by Lili Giacobino
This short stop motion animation film depicts the preferred lifestyle of an introverted man who has come to the realisation that he is happiest when he is living alone.
The Future of…
Directed by Scott Coello
The end is near as the animal world is in revolt.
Location
For location and how to get there see Sutton Filmmakers Event