Ealing Film Festival

Ealing Film Festival describes itself as “shining a spotlight on emerging filmmaking talent”, and says its mission is “to give the next generation of filmmakers a platform and audience, as well as a forum to meet like-minded industry professionals”. It is a short film festival, programming both emerging and established filmmakers, and many of its entries come from students — some of them at Ealing’s own University of West London and MetFilm School.

It was founded in 2020 by Annemarie Flanagan, Alan Granley and Peter Gould; the overall festival winning prize has since been renamed in Gould’s memory. The first edition was held online during the Covid pandemic, and since then the festival has taken cinemas in the borough — ActOne Cinema and Ealing Picturehouse — as well as the historic Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery. Entries arrive from well beyond west London: the festival reports 458 submissions from more than 40 countries for its most recent edition.

The programme runs over several days each October, with an opening Homegrown strand of “short films by local filmmakers … stories born and bred in West London”, and awards including a Homegrown Award and a People’s Choice Award voted for by the audience. The festival is proud of “Ealing’s place in the history of British cinema, with the world-famous Ealing Studios producing dozens of classic movies over the years, including the much-loved Ealing Comedies”.