17 January 2022

Moana Pasifika Moving Image Commission 2022

Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival is very excited to support a newly commissioned single-screen moving image work by a Moana Pasifika artist at this year’s Festival in September In Partnership with CIRCUIT and Tautai Pacific Arts Trust, BFMAF will support a Moana Pasifika artist based in Aotearoa New Zealand to create a new single channel […]

13 September 2021

Online Festival Programme

While the In-person festival in Berwick has come to a close, the festival continues to unfold online with a series of performances, screenings, in-conversations, exhibitions, podcast and commissioned texts until 30 September. Buy your Online Pass here for £10 (or £15 with catalogue). Please note: Online passes are geoblocked to the UK. If you are an […]

31 August 2021

Screen Time: Run your own film night!

Aged 18-30 and interested in film? Ever wanted to run your own film night? Or got a story to tell? We’re thrilled to announce the launch of Screen Time a new scheme for those interested in cinema. Through a series of free online workshops weekly on Thursdays from 23 September – 21 October, you’ll work with 2 […]

19 August 2021

BFMAF 2021 Programme Announced!

On behalf of our programming team Christina Demetriou, Jemma Desai, Alice Miller, Myriam Mouflih, Herb Shellenberger and Peter Taylor, Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival is proud to announce the programme of its 17th edition, taking place in Berwick-upon-Tweed from Friday 10 to Sunday 12 September 2021 and also available digitally via our website unfolding […]

19 August 2021

Guiding Thoughts

What is the Fate of the Middle Place? This title of our Young Filmmakers’ new short film refers to their future vision of Berwick-upon-Tweed. The question could be asked of the festival itself, where it acts as a middle place, a meeting between our local communities and the international communities of artists and filmmakers, and […]

13 August 2021

Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival returns for 2021!

We are excited to announce that Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival will return to Northumberland and home town Berwick-upon-Tweed for its 17th edition from Friday 10 to Sunday 12 September 2021. As we begin to gather again, our reflections on last year have deepened our commitment to creating a more safe and caring space […]

22 July 2021

BFMAF are on the look out for young local filmmakers!

Ever wanted to make a film? Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival are running a FREE filmmaking summer school for 12-16 year olds, open to anyone, no experience required. Work with an artist and filmmaker to learn filmmaking techniques and create a new collaborative film to be shown online.The workshops will take place at The […]

15 April 2021

Announcing Jemma Desai as Head of Programming

Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival (BFMAF) is thrilled to welcome Jemma Desai as its new Head of Programming. Jemma Desai is a programmer, researcher and writer based in London. Her practice engages with film programming through research, writing, performance, as well as informally organised settings for deep study, and her work experience spans distribution, […]

24 March 2021

New board members, people on the move and regular deadline

We are delighted to welcome Dawn Bothwell, Yvonne Smith and May Adadol Ingawanij as new members of the festival’s board. Dawn Bothwell, a curator, writer and musician, is co-director of CIRCA Projects and has curated an array of projects in Gateshead and Newcastle upon Tyne. Yvonne Smith is Head of Cinema Operations at Centre for the Moving Image (CMI), incorporating Edinburgh […]

24 March 2021

Early Career Critics Workshop

The Early Career Critics workshop’s took place during the 16th BFMAF digital edition and we are thrilled to present the writings that came out of this process. Six young critics from different academic and professional backgrounds came together to discuss and write about the festival’s programme, under the mentorship of critics and curators Tendai Mutambu, […]

11 February 2021

BFMAF seeks new Head of Programming + Films and people on the move

BFMAF is on the hunt for a new Head of Programming. For its 17th edition, the UK’s leading festival for new cinema and artists’ moving image is looking for an experienced film programmer to guide its selection process together with Festival Director Peter Taylor. Applications are welcome until Thursday 11 March – visit the opportunities […]

28 January 2021

Submissions for the 17th Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival are now open!

Submissions for the 17th Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival (BFMAF) are now open! The festival is looking for moving image works that disregard boundaries set by genre, form, convention and expectation. Feature, medium and short-length films are all welcome. The 17th edition is planned to take place in Berwick-upon-Tweed from Thursday 9 to Sunday […]

5 January 2021

2020 Press Coverage

Welcome to our press page! Here you can find a selection of the coverage produced in occasion the 2020 Berwick Film and Media Arts festival. Read about the experience of writers and critics during the festival’s first online edition and take a peak on reviews about the artworks and filmmakers selected at the 16th festival. […]

15 October 2020

16th Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival wraps-up: Thank you and see you in 2021!

The 16th Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival (BFMAF) took place from 17 September to 11 October 2020 as its inaugural online edition. In response to current global circumstances, the festival reimagined its 4-days physical event to three weeks of online screenings, live discussions and extended resources available on demand 24/7 to ticket-holders in the […]

6 October 2020

Previews slate and new live events announced

For the final week of its 16th edition, Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival (BFMAF) is delighted to announce its new Previews programme strand highlighting forthcoming feature-length films. For its first edition BFMAF has invited artist filmmakers Tim Leyendekker (NL) and Fern Silva (US) to introduce their debut—work in progress—feature films. Fern Silva’s first feature […]

22 September 2020

Live Events Calendar Announced

Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival (BFMAF) reveals its calendar of live events to accompany the online cinema programme. All discussions will stream live BST from the festival’s website, Facebook page and twitch channel. Kicking off today at 8 pm will be the first of 4 artists’ conversations from the Filmmakers in Focus series: Ayo […]

17 September 2020

16th Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival opens the 2020 online edition!

Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival kicks off its 16th and first entirely online edition today, showcasing the most distinctive works of new cinema and artists’ moving image being made around the world today. To celebrate the festival’s inauguration, BAFTA-winning sound recordist Chris Watson will reimagine the recordings made for Luke Fowler’s film Enceindre which […]

14 September 2020

Tickets on Sale and 2020 Essential Cinema and Propositions Slates Announced

Tickets for the Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival’s 16th edition are available to buy online for £7.50. For the price of a single cinema ticket, festival pass holders will access the entire programme of 53 films for three weeks. The festival is taking place entirely online from Thursday 17 September to Sunday 11 October […]

12 September 2020

2020 New Cinema Competition

Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival is delighted to announce the main programme for its sixteenth edition, taking place from Thursday 17 September to Sunday 11 October 2020. Online access to the Festival in the UK will be through Festival Passes and professional accreditation will be available worldwide. For the first time, Berwick Film & Media Arts […]

3 September 2020

2020 New Cinema Competition

Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival is delighted to announce the main programme for its sixteenth edition, taking place from Thursday 17 September to Sunday 11 October 2020. Online access to the Festival in the UK will be through Festival Passes and professional accreditation will be available worldwide. For the first time, Berwick Film & Media Arts […]

12 August 2020

New Artist’s Commissions for Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival 2020

Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival presents newly commissioned works by artists Renèe Helèna Browne and Zinzi Minott, premiering at the 16th edition of the festival this Autumn. Renèe Helèna Browne’s Daddy’s Boy (2020) is a personal exploration of the influence of paternal lines on bodily experiences of gender. The film combines reflections on the contemporary legacy […]

12 August 2020

One of the world’s ‘coolest Film Festivals’?

Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival (BFMAF) is delighted to announce that it has been named one of MovieMaker Magazine’s Top 25 Coolest Film Festivals. These festivals made many sacrifices for the greater good this year because of COVID-19, from postponements to pivots online. But the stellar reputations they’ve built for being fun, supportive, and […]

4 August 2020

Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival Goes Online!

The 16th Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival (BFMAF) will take place from Thursday 17 September to Sunday 11 October 2020. The UK’s festival for new cinema and artists’ moving image will present a new online edition where artists’ and filmmakers’ work are expanded through conversation, new writing and podcasts over three weeks this autumn. […]

29 July 2020

Announcing 2020’s Filmmakers in Focus

We are excited to announce the 2020 Filmmakers in Focus for the 16th Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival, taking place from Thursday 17 September to Sunday 11 October! Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival (BFMAF) has selected four Filmmakers in Focus for its 2020 online Festival. With uniquely varying and very specific practices across narrative and […]

29 July 2020

Youth Filmmaking Project with Kimberley O’Neill

We are on the lookout for 13-18 year olds based in and around Berwick, to be part of a youth filmmaking project during August 2020. In the last 4 months we all have shared experiences of the lockdown, as it changed our day-to-day lives in surprising ways and altered our relationship with the places we […]

30 June 2020

We talk Design with Emer Tumilty & Matt Walkerdine

The BFMAF 2020 design is live! We spoke to its creators Matt Walkerdine & Emer Tumilty about how they approached the this year’s brief Emer & Matt, thanks for taking the time to talk to us. We are really liking the new design! Could you tell us a little about the direction it’s taken this […]