The widely-renowned Oska Bright Film Festival, a yearly tribute honouring the creativity and talent of learning disabled filmmakers from every corner of the globe, is gearing up to return for its exciting 11th year. From the 11th to the 17th of March, the vibrant city of Brighton will transform into a vibrant hub for the display of daring, innovative, and boundary-shattering narratives. The festival is shattering the conventional norms with satellite screenings across the length and breadth of the UK, including key cities like Manchester, Glasgow, Oxford, and Birmingham.
Kicking off this year’s festival is the highly-anticipated Opening Night Gala, featuring the film “This is Going to be Big”, a poignant and heartwarming coming-of-age tale that offers an intimate glimpse into the lives of teenagers navigating life with disabilities. The festival reaches an exhilarating crescendo with a grand Closing Night celebration on none other than St Patrick’s Day, showcasing a diverse selection of nine short documentaries.
The Oska Bright Film Festival, a stalwart champion of promoting inclusivity in the UK’s dynamic film industry, will proudly present an impressive line-up of more than 100 short films and four feature films, spanning across a wide spectrum of 14 different genres. Some of the films to look forward to include the compelling “ASA”, starring the talented Nicholas Pinnock, “The Cunning” featuring the accomplished actresses Gemma Arterton and Bethany Asher, “Unscarfed”, a riveting animation from the creative mind of director Anita Bruneburg, “The Holiday Maker”, another captivating animation piece from Harry G. Mead, and “Dead Silent”, a deeply moving film that explores the emotional aftermath of a friend’s suicide.
Matthew Hellett, the dedicated Head Programmer of the Oska Bright Film Festival, expressed his excitement about the festival’s continual growth and improvement each year, and he’s thrilled to share these remarkable stories with the world. The festival also has plans to widen its reach and connect with more audiences by forging partnerships with 7 venues across the UK.
This annual festival is not just a celebration of films but also a showcase of competitive spirit. The festival will honour excellence in filmmaking with nine awards distributed across the 14 strands of this year’s festival, including accolades for Best Story, Best Performance, Best Dance, Best Women in Film, Best Emerging Talent, Best Animation, Best International Feature, Audience Choice, and the prestigious Strike Media Award for Best Moment.
The Oska Bright Film Festival was brought to life in 2004 by a passionate group of learning disabled filmmakers who yearned for a platform to share their work with the world. Over the years, the festival has expanded exponentially, becoming a beacon for inclusivity in the film industry. In its previous edition, the festival presented an impressive 99 films from 19 different countries and was attended by a crowd of 3,500 enthusiastic film lovers. The escalating demand for these stories is a testament to the festival’s immense success and further underscores the vital importance of championing inclusivity in the film industry.
