About Us

Making film accessible and proudly showcasing independent film to new audiences across overlooked communities.

We’re the UK’s largest Celebration of Diverse Stories and Underrepresented Filmmakers. Join us or submit to our 5th celebratory edition. The next BIFA Qualifying Sunrise Film Festival takes place from 20 to 23 August 2026 in Lowestoft, Suffolk.

Our 5th edition sees us accepting submissions for new categories, from music videos to Virtual Reality (VR) projects.

Sunrise Film Festival, based in Lowestoft, Suffolk, UK, was founded in 2021 and is run voluntarily by passionate independent film enthusiasts and filmmakers to provide an important accessible platform for filmmakers like themselves every August.

We’re passionate about creating a platform for filmmakers who are yet to be discovered (or picked up by the bigger film festival circuit), whilst making film accessible and proudly showcasing independent film to new audiences across overlooked communities.

Since 2021, we have screened just over 600 independent films as part of our official selection to our live audiences and have presented 65 awards at our festival award ceremonies since inception.

We’re also a BFI Film Audience Network-backed film festival and a BIFA (British Independent Film Awards) qualifying festival for British Short Films (Section B*).

Why Sunrise Film Festival?
As Suffolk’s biggest film festival, we’re passionate about creating an inclusive platform for filmmakers here in East Anglia.

We’ve proudly been the bright and colourful film festival since 2021, loved by filmmakers for the friendly grassroots feel. We’re a small team, but our festival pacts impact, showcasing film in one of the most deprived communities in England, and we’ve awarded as well as showcased some impactful stories along the way.

We value and proudly promote films from any filmmaker, creative, or producer to the general public, including receiving submissions from first-time filmmakers, female/non-binary filmmakers, neurodiverse filmmakers, stories from the LGBTQIA+ community, people with lived experience, as well as films focusing on social and environmental issues.

Joshua Freemantle
Leading Founder

Joshua Freemantle is passionate about fostering creativity and accessibility in the arts/film. As the leading founder of Sunrise Film Festival and youth-led social enterprise Sunrise Studios based in Lowestoft, Suffolk, Joshua has championed young voices under in the creative industries while establishing opportunities for emerging talent to shine in his community.

Favourite film: Licorice Pizza

Becca Medley
Festival Producer

Becca is a passionate advocate for mental health, lived experience and by day supports some of the most vulnerable people in our community.

Favourite film: Blitz

Chloe Beale
Lead Programmer

Chloe has worked in the cinema industry for six years, specialising in film programming and marketing for independent cinemas. She has managed the film programme for a suite of five independent cinema sites across London and the South West. She is addicted to stories, so it's a surprise to no one that she works in film.

Favourite film: Past Lives

Patrick Johnson
Programming Assistant

Patch founded Sunrise Film Festival along with Joshua. He is Digital Marketing Coordinator for regional charity Access Community Trust. As well as film, he loves music, art, history, football and nature. With the year-on-year growth of the festival, Patch is really excited to see how far it will go.

Favourite Film: The Iron Giant

Festival Trailer

We're committed to engaging overlooked audiences!

All entry fees & ticket sales from the festival go directly to support the ongoing work of our festival and support local young people with creative opportunities.

Become A Supporter

Want to gain exposure for your brand or organisation and help us make Sunrise Film Festival an even bigger success?

A major opportunity to support or sponsor a nationally reaching film festival based in Lowestoft, which supports underrepresented filmmakers, undiscovered film & emerging talent.

Whether it’s supported in kind with your own expertise or services you can offer to support the next edition in being the very best it can be, or by choosing one of our sponsorship packages.

We’d love to hear from you!

To find out more about how you can support us, email us at info@sunrisefilmfestival.co.uk

Sign up To our newsletter

A Discovery For New
Emerging Talent

Sunrise Film Festival is not only a BIFA qualifying short film festival, but also a place to discover new emerging talent, and those talented creatives that are yet to be discovered.

We proudly promote films from any filmmaker, creative or producer to the general public, which enables them to view something different, regardless of how big or small their budget for creating shorts, documentaries or experimental film.

We focus on sharing progressive and underrepresented stories.
We are committed to ensuring the widest audience possible, in a region that is under-represented for opportunities for engagement with independent film.