Watersprite: the Cambridge International Student Film Festival is a registered Charity and the UK’s largest BIFA-qualifying student run film festival for emerging screen talent.
The Festival receives 1000 submissions a year in short animation, fiction and documentary films from over 106 countries worldwide. 30-40 filmmakers are nominated for 15 award categories at live juries, and the selected filmmakers are offered full travel and accomodation bursaries to come to Cambridge in March for a festival of screenings, events, industry networking and workshops. Watersprite is also a hub for education and learning in the East of England, offering
over 30 events free of charge to the public at the jam-packed festival weekend.
Past and present industry sponsors include BBC Three, Netflix,
Youtube, ARRI, Porsche, and the festival offers awards and mentorships to winning filmmakers, supported in the past by Neil Gaiman, David Yates and the UK’s top talent agencies (United Agents, Independent Talent Group, Casarotto Ramsay & Associates and Curtis Brown).
We welcome inspiring award-winning speakers each year to chat with our audiences about their journeys in Film & TV. Over the years, Watersprite has welcomed guests such as Olivia Colman, Lenny Henry, Mike Leigh, Eddie Redmayne, Naomi Ackie, Evanna Lynch, Bill Nighy and Biyi Bandele, all whom have shared their ideas with young and old audiences alike at free Q&As.
Watersprite is a student-run project and a Charity, with one permanent member of staff, the Festival Producer.