The world premiere of Mari was screened at the 62nd BFI London Film Festival at the Curzon Mayfair, with a second sell out screening at the Curzon Soho.
Emma Duffy, Peter Singh, Madeleine Worrall, Phoebe Nicholls, Georgia Parris.
BBC Radio London - Interview
On the morning of the Mari world premiere Bobbi Jene Smith and I chatted about the film with Jason Solomons on the Robert Elms show.
Link to interview coming soon.
Stylist - 'The female film directors making history'
As the London Film Festival celebrated a historic year for women behind the camera, Stylist kindly included me along with 5 other female directors showing films in the festival as ones to watch.
Full article here.
We also joined Stylist’s entertainment director Helen Bownass on a panel discussing our work, the industry and how we keep moving towards gender parity.
62nd BFI London Film Festival - Women in Film
BFI London Film Festival gathered many of the female filmmakers premiering work at this year’s LFF, together with London film professionals and Artistic Director of the Festival Tricia Tuttle and Chief Executive of the BFI Amanda Nevill. Such a privilege to stand alongside so much talent from the industry.
Full article here.
Dance, Girl, Dance! - Underwire Film Festival
So honoured to have a retrospective of my short films at one of my favourite festivals - Underwire Film Festival. We’ll be screening a selection of shorts along with a Q&A focusing on my passion for dance in film and my 8 year journey from shorts to features!
Tickets for the event here.
MARI - Worldwide premiere at BFI London Film Festival
Bobbi Jene Smith.
MARI - Screen Daily 'first look' Exclusive
The first look reveal of Mari came as an exclusive in Screen Daily, officially announcing many of the wonderful people involved. Starring Bobbi Jene Smith as the lead, DoP Adam Scarth (Daphne, Apostasy), choreographer Maxine Doyle (Punchdrunk Theatre), costume designer Holly Rebecca (I Am Not A Witch), production designer Bobbie Cousins, make-up artist Bean Ellis (God's Own Country), editor Napoleon Stratogiannakis (Apostasy) and casting by Aisha Bywaters (My Brother The Devil).
Full article here.
Abandon - Festival News & Nominations
Abandon will be screening at Short Sounds Film Festival, Red Finch Film festival and the amazing Underwire Film Festival, a favourite of mine for their incredible work in promoting female filmmakers. Thrilled to say it's been nominated for the Underwire Directing Award and the Sound Design Award. Special thanks to Jo Jackson for the sound design & mix, and to Zands & Louise Anna Duggan for their beautiful score.
Abandon - Festival News
Excited to share that Abandon has been selected to screen in the Dance category at the Bafta recognised Aesthetica Short Film Festival this November. It will also play at the Hackney Attic Film Festival in August in the Lights, Camera, Action programme.
Feature Film Commissioned
So happy to share that my first feature Mari is one of two films commissioned through Film London's Microwave scheme! The film is backed by BBC Films and the BFI. Adrian Wootton, Chief Executive of Film London and the British Film Commission has this to say:
"The latest Microwave selections combine bold ideas, complex characters and relatable stories that cast an unblinking eye on the modern human experience. These are films that come from very personal, individual places but immerse us in timely, universal themes. In short, they're exactly the kind of features we should be backing from the kind of filmmakers we want to support: those with distinctive visions and stories that need to be told."
More details on Microwave here.