For those based in and supporting our festival, from our local community, you may have seen in local media the very sudden and devastating news that, as of the 25th of February, Access Community Trust has entered administration.

Sunrise Film Festival was founded by Joshua Freemantle in 2021 while he was at the regional charity, where he worked to establish a vital platform you all know and love, underpinned by our ethos and genuine commitment to championing accessibility and empowering diverse talent on and behind the screen.

This has led to phenomenal growth for the festival, with rising submissions, a supportive community of loyal festival patrons with whom we have formed personal connections, and our impactful Break the Stigma strand, which continues to shine a light on lived experience in all its forms on screen.

As of the 9th of February, a process has been underway to form an independent organisation for the future of the Sunrise Film Festival, and the festival is now being led by a dedicated board of directors that make up the board of Sunrise Film Festival CIC.

Together, we will work as a board to take forward the immediate community projects and objectives set out by Sunrise, as well as explore funding and fundraising locally for this year’s festival.

We strive to be honest and transparent with you, and we feel it’s important that all of you who support us and want to be involved in our festival are informed about this important update.

If you’d like to support the future of our festival and help us continue to make it accessible to all, you can make a donation of any size by visiting our website at https://sunrisefilmfestival.co.uk/donate.

Our festival continues to be shaped and made possible by our amazing volunteers, who form our festival committee, and we thank them for their time and commitment to the Sunrise Film Festival.

Board of Directors,

Sunrise Film Festival CIC

P.S.

New here? Check out our Website to get a taste of what Sunrise is all about.