Short Film Club: Film Festival Favourites, in conversation with Filmmakers

Short Film Club is an event series spotlighting some of the best short films for WFTV members. Showcasing the work of filmmakers based around a theme, you will have the opportunity to watch the films selected for the Short Film Club, hear from the creators behind them and join in the conversation.

Hosted by WFTV and in partnership discover.film, a global streamer dedicated to short form content, this Short Film Club will be chaired by Jaine Green, Head of Content at discover.film and will have a focus on short film festivals.

Bringing together the filmmakers Ellie Stones, Joëlle Bentolila and Kristen Gerweck, the panel will be discussing the making of their films and their experience showcasing them on the film festival circuit. They will be offering insight to how film festival exposure and awards can be an important marketing strategy and sharing what they have learnt along the way.

Films for WFTV Short Film Club:

THE PANGOLIN MAN With the people of south-western Uganda forced to hunt pangolins for survival due to a lack of income, one local man fights to save not only the lives of the pangolins, but the very people themselves. This one-woman-crew, short documentary tells the raw, untold story of Moses Arineitwe - The Pangolin Man.

STARBOY

A young Hasidic man increasingly doubts his identity, his gender, and the nature of being as conflict between him and his pious young wife escalates - with shocking consequences.

THE WINDPHONE A phone booth on an ocean cliffside brings together seven strangers whose seemingly different conversations are connected by one harrowing reality. Inspired by true events.

Speakers

Ellie Stone

22-year-old Ellie Stone is a British photojournalist and filmmaker and recent graduate of Falmouth University. Ellie’s work focuses closely on questioning the interrelationship between humans and nature, telling compelling stories that aim to impact our perceptions. Ellie has a determination to use various forms of visual arts to express a story. The Pangolin Man was Ellie’s debut film and won Best UK Documentary at this year’s Discover Film Awards as well as being highly commended by the prestigious Craghoppers Film Prize after being shortlisted for both the student and main Prize.

Joëlle Bentolila

London-based writer-director Joëlle Bentolila has a number of short film projects under her belt. In 2018 her screenplay Starboy received the UK Jewish Film / Pears Film Fund Award, the film subsequently stormed around the festival circuit gathering awards in its wake including winning Best Drama Director and at the 2021 Discover Film Awards with her lead actors Barney Harris and Tallulah Haddon sharing the award for Best actor. Joëlle is fascinated by stories about the mystery of the self and believes filmmaking is about truth, outrage, and excitement. Alongside a series of films and TV projects in development, she is an editor and a visual artist.

Kristen Gerweck

Kristen practiced law before switching careers into filmmaking.  Kristen’s debut short, East Ramadi, was chosen as one of five films to screen at the Cannes Emerging Filmmaker Showcase in 2016 before being picked up for distribution.  Kirsten’s first television pilot, Kiss and Cry, was named as a finalist in the BlueCat pilot competition in 2017 after which she received a television development deal for her next series. Kristen wrote and directed The Wind Phone, which has screened at festivals throughout the world to much acclaim and won second place in the 2021 Craghoppers Film Prize.

How will the online event work?

This event will be live streamed via Zoom.us.

This event will take place as a webinar. Attending participants will not be visible to others and will be muted throughout the session. After the talk, there will be an opportunity for audience members to ask questions to the panel by using the Q&A feature.

In advance of the event, attendees will have the opportunity to watch each of the filmmakers’ short films. To receive screening links, members must register by 16:00 on Tuesday 14 December.

This event is for WFTV members only.

If you are not a member and would like to join, membership costs just £100 + VAT/yr, please click here or email admin@wftv.org.uk

At WFTV we’re really keen to ensure that all our events are accessible for everyone. So if you have any particular access needs, please can you let us know before an event and we will do our best to accommodate you. We would be grateful if you can give us as much notice as possible – please contact admin@wftv.org.uk