Are you a budding filmmaker with a story to tell? The annual Recovery Street Film Festival is now accepting submissions for its ninth annual competition.
This festival aims to tackle the stigma surrounding people who use drugs and alcohol and celebrate their journey to recovery. This year’s theme, The sky is the limit, encourages participants to view recovery as an opportunity for healing, growth, and exploration.
The festival is open to filmmakers with lived experience, whether it be their own or through a loved one. There is a prize fund of £500 in Amazon vouchers up for grabs for the winners, with the first-place filmmaker receiving £300, second place receiving £150, and third place receiving £50. Additionally, the top three entries will have their travel to the official award ceremony and screening in September paid for.
Last year’s winner, Ceri Walker, created a stop-motion animated film titled Understanding the Child in Me, which explored the impact of growing up with a parent who drank too much. Ceri, an ambassador for National Association for Children of Alcoholics (Nacoa), explained how creating these films can make a big difference in providing support without shame, keeping people alive, and making a difference for generations to come.
“These films are going to make a big difference because if people can get support without shame, it will keep them alive and it will make such a difference for generations to come.
“What I’m doing now is for my children and their children. So just keep going one day at a time. I know that I’m in this for the long haul. I know my recovery is lifelong, and I’m ok with that.”
John Paul Chapman, whose music video, My Head Feels Like a Washing Machine, was placed in the top three in 2022, was filmed on a mobile phone and edited together on an “old, knackered laptop”.
Films are judged based on the quality of the idea, creativity, and how well they relate to the theme, so participants do not need expensive equipment to win. The competition’s rules state that film entries should have a runtime between one to three minutes, and there is no limit to how creative the films can be. Whether it is a short drama with actors, a stop motion animation, a documentary-style piece, a personal story, a monologue, a song, a poem, or anything else, the festival welcomes a variety of film formats.
Over the past nine years, hundreds of films have been entered into the festival competition, which have been watched by over one million people. This festival gives people with lived experience a platform to share their stories with the public without shame.
Once the shortlist for the 2023 event is announced, screenings will take place throughout the UK during Recovery Month in community hubs, classrooms, theatres, conferences, and cinemas. The Recovery Street Film Festival will share the top ten shortlisted films on their YouTube channel, allowing contestants to hold their own screenings of their films.
If you have a story to tell, don’t hesitate to enter the Recovery Street Film Festival. To learn more and submit your film, visit their website at https://rsff.co.uk/.
This blog was originally published by Turning Point. You can read the original post here.
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