SWEDENBORG FILM FESTIVAL 2024

EVENT: SWEDENBORG FILM FESTIVAL 2024

DATE: 7th December 2024 - 7th December 2024

TIME: TBC

VENUE: ZILKHA AUDITORIUM, WHITECHAPEL GALLERY

PRICE: FREE (BOOKING ESSENTIAL)

FILM MAKER/S: TBC

SUBMISSIONS: CLICK ON FILMFREEWAY ICON BELOW

SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN

The Swedenborg Film Festival 2024 (SFF2024) invites entries of new films of 20 minutes or less from emerging and established independent filmmakers. Now a landmark event in the UK film calendar, the SFF has received a huge response from thousands of filmmakers around the world and has gained a reputation for the quality and diversity of its programming.

In an expanded award format, prizes will be presented in several categories. Shortlisted films will be shown alongside invited screenings from established filmmakers.

The SFF supports all genres and encourages submissions that draw upon the diverse and radical traditions influenced by Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). Artists, writers and filmmakers influenced by Swedenborg include William Blake, Charles Baudelaire, Hilma af Klint, Jorge Luis Borges, Ingmar Bergman and many others. Films featured previously in the SFF have explored ideas of transcendence and symbolism, and themes have ranged from social reform to psychogeography.

Shortlisted films for SFF2024 will be screened during a live event on December 7, where winners will be selected and announced by our guest judges. This year, in a change of location, the event venue for the screening of shortlisted films will be the Zilkha Auditorium at the Whitechapel Gallery. In addition to this the films will be available to watch online and open to a public vote.

Former judges

2023: Andrea Luka Zimmerman & Ben Rivers
2022: Keith Sargent and Lindsay Seers
2021: Samson Kambalu
2020: Melanie Manchot and John Smith
2019: Chloe Aridjis
2018: Susan Hiller
2017: Ali Smith
2016: Andrew Kötting
2015: Bridget Smith
2014: Peter Fillingham, Nora Foster and Sukhdev Sandhu
2013: Lech Majewski
2012: Gareth Evans and Jeremy Millar
2011: Rosie Cooper and Ian Hunt
2010: Nora Foster and Stephen McNeilly

“. . . a centre for the discussion of ideas, particularly the interface between the arts, philosophy and ethics – all trying to get to the heart of the human condition, and our place in the world.” Ken Worpole, writer and social historian.

Selected films will live screened at the Whitechapel Gallery on December 7, 2024. Winners will be selected by guest judges and will receive a distinctive prize related to the festival.

Previous prize winners:
2023: Siôn Marshall-Waters; Xiaoxuan Han; Matt Hulse; Niyaz Saghari; Billy Palumbo (public vote)
2022: Joshua Alexander (public vote); Parlour Collective; Cecilia Araneda (joint winners)
2021: Alexander Fingrutd (best film); Karen Russo (public vote)
2020: Shirley Snow (best film); Matt Hulse & Sami Fitz (public vote)
2019: Hope Tucker (best film)
2018: Oona Grimes; Andrew Kötting; Alcaeus Spyrou (joint winners: best film)
2017: Fenglin Chen (best film)
2016: Harold Charre; Toby Tatum (joint winners: best film)
2015: Daphne Rosenthal; Toby Tatum (joint winners: best film)
2014: Ezra Wube (best film)
2013: Nick Jordan (best film)
2012: Oliver Pietsch (best film)
2011: Ezra Wube (best film)
2010: Dave Griffiths (best film); Rebecca Siddall (best first film); Chiara Ambrosio & Yaron Bar (joint best animation); Toby Tatum (best sound); Katherine Tulloh (best experimental); Gerard Freixes Ribera (best comedy)

Organizers

Festival Director: Stephen McNeilly

Director of Technical Operations: Alex Murray

Festival Social Media: Rebekka Cartwright

Festival Programmer: Anya Reeve

Festival Co-ordinator: Tess Carota

Swedenborg House is a fully inclusive not-for-profit publishing house, museum and cultural venue based in Bloomsbury, London. It hosts a diverse and lively programme of events.