Folkestone Documentary Festival
Filmmaking Challenge 2025
facilitated by screen south & klip films in partnership with folkestone documentary festival
Filmmaking Challenge 2025 Now Open!
Calling all storytellers, creatives, and documentary enthusiasts across Kent! The Folkestone Documentary Festival Filmmaking Challenge is back for its third exciting year — and this time, it’s bigger than ever. In 2025, we’re opening the challenge to filmmakers across the entire county of Kent.
Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting out, this is your chance to explore the art of documentary filmmaking, get creative with your camera, and have your work seen by a wider audience.
What’s the Challenge?
This summer, grab your camera — or even your phone — and create a short documentary. The theme is open to interpretation, and we’re looking for bold ideas, unique perspectives, and original storytelling.
Why Enter?
- Open to all skill levels: Beginners and pros welcome
- Opportunity to be featured in the Folkestone Documentary Festival 2025
- No fancy equipment required — shoot on anything from smartphones to cinema cameras
- Let your creativity shine: imagination beats perfection
What Are We Looking For?
Our panel of industry judges is on the lookout for innovative, engaging, and heartfelt films. This is not about flawless technique — it’s about vision, voice, and the power of real stories.
Get involved in Kent’s most inclusive filmmaking competition. Unleash your creativity, tell a story that matters — and join a growing community of passionate filmmakers.
Start your documentary journey today!
Check out the FDFFC 2024 entries below
Folca's Stone
The voice of Folkestone from the people of Folkestone.
London Can Boast All It Wants
Witty, irreverent, and unapologetically sharp, London Can Boast All It Wants takes aim at the cultural and social shifts transforming small-town life. Eschewing preachiness in favor of biting humour, this bold documentary dissects Folkestone’s gentrification — from the erosion of traditional high street charm to the subtler, pandemic-era changes reshaping its identity.
John Woolrich: Composer in Folkestone
Over a weekend in July, internationally renowned composer, John Woolrich, programmed five concerts at The Green Room comprising of his work and the work of composers he admires. To accompany this celebration, he curated an exhibition of artifacts and artworks from his own collection as well as commissioned work by fellow residents of Folkestone.
Leas Lift Documentary
Folkestone has such a rich history, especially from the Victorian Era. And luckily for the resisdents of Folkestone, we have a key historic attraction still standing. The Leas Lift. Ask anyone who grew up in the area, and they can tell you a story of riding the lift as a child, being so excited to get to the beach. Unfortunately, in recent years, the lift fell into disrepair and closed its doors. But that is not the end of The Leas Lift story.
Sea
Glimpses of the small part of the sea that surrounds Folkestone and fragmented thoughts of the people we found on the shore.
The Folkestone Toy Makers
The film gives a brief insight into the history of local, family, toy business, BigJigs. How its founder, Peter Ireland, developed it into a global brand. In the documentary Peter and his son, Sam Ireland, talk about the history of the business, the process of manufacturing toys and reflect on what it’s like to run a family business and how BigJigs has grown to be the renowned brand it is today.
Sunflower Storyteller - Winner: Best Film
After a difficult upbringing followed by a maternal tragedy, Genesis Sinclair has since taken to social media to do one simple thing: talk. She talks about life, loss and everything in between, to the tune of about 125k followers. In her spare time she hosts events and quizzes in Folkestone under the name ‘The Misery Fairy’. This film is an attempt to understand the thought process and history behind the two identities carried forward under that name, as well as an opportunity for self-expression and catharsis for Genesis herself.
Impermanence - Winner: Best Environmental Film
On the shores of Folkestone Sukhino Mudita channels his Dharma practice into creating Buddhist symbols and messages in the sand. Drawing from his experience of homelessness, he shares his reflections on impermanence offering a quiet invitation for others to pause and reflect. His sand art, temporary and ever changing with the tides, mirrors his belief in life’s fleeting nature and the beauty found in letting go.
Grace Hill Library
This documentary traces the rich history and uncertain future of Folkestone’s Grace Hill Library, a Grade II listed building that has served the community for over 130 years. In December 2022, Kent County Council closed Grace Hill Library, citing high repair costs. Currently, a public consultation is underway, with the Council proposing to move library services to the former Debenhams building instead of restoring Grace Hill Library. The film delves into the library’s historic significance and the present efforts to preserve it..
Breathe
As a neurodivergent, I breathe to help myself relax, and decrease any negative emotions that I find myself experiencing. Life can sometimes be overstimulating, with sounds, busy crowds, conflict, multitasking and too many ideas. My breathing helps me to deal with these overstimulating things.
The Move Mattered
I have made this film from a mental health perspective on how “the move mattered” to me and how this helped improve me and my life mentally. I wanted to get across to others a key message being “you are not alone pick up the phone” with contact details at the end should they find themselves or others in crisis.
The Original 'Chinese Elvis'
A glimpse into the present day of Paul Elvis Chan’s endeavors to keep The King of Rock and Roll alive through his local performances and giant collection of memorabilia in his Folkestone based museum-of-a-home.
Beyond The Wheelchair
Ben Graham Potter set up the Folkestone Arrows Wheelchair Basketball Club with one clear mission: to give disabled children in Folkestone the opportunity to play wheelchair sports at a competitive level. Filmed during a training session in the summer of 2024 with junior and senior players, ‘Beyond the wheelchair’ explores themes of community engagement, disability awareness and representation through basketball.
Bus
Follow Steven Twort around Folkestone as he narrates his interests in local buses. Steven relies on buses almost everyday for travel, whether it be to his day centre at Touchbase Care, Folkestone or for day-to-day activities.
Am I Foreign
On her journey to build home and form ties outside her native land, a foreigner questions where lies the line that defines which people and what customs belong somewhere, and whether a foreigner can ever truly be part of a new community.
Contact us
For questions, comments, or anything else you might need, contact Screen South at 01303 259777 (Mon – Fri, 9:30am – 5pm) or email info@screensouth.org
