Cornwall Film Festival

The 2025 Cornwall Film Festival marks a bold and ambitious new chapter for one of the South West’s most distinctive cultural events. Running across fourteen days in November, the festival transforms Cornwall into a hub for film culture, connecting local audiences with global stories while celebrating the region’s creativity, heritage, and environment.This year’s edition is anchored around an expanded core programme of UK and international cinema, showcasing award-winning features, independent gems, and a vibrant selection of short films. Our curatorial approach continues to champion discovery – introducing Cornish audiences to emerging voices and world cinema while spotlighting work made in and about the South West. A highlight is our New Wave Jury programme, which empowers young people aged 18–25 to select and award films, cultivating the next generation of critics, curators, and cultural leaders.The festival’s Industry Focus is dedicated to Producing, reflecting the vital role producers play in bringing stories to the screen. A day of panels, masterclasses, and networking events on Thursday, 20th November, will explore everything from creative collaboration and rights management to sustainability in production, offering invaluable insight and skills to regional practitioners. Speakers will include established producers, funders, and industry leaders, ensuring knowledge flows across the UK and into Cornwall’s screen sector.As part of the BFI’s national blockbuster season Too Much: A Season of Melodrama, Cornwall Film Festival will host a curated strand of films that celebrate excess, heightened emotion, and cinematic intensity. These screenings will be contextualised with introductions, discussions, and creative responses, adding depth and dialogue to the national conversation.Our heritage and environment work continues to be woven into the festival fabric, with a special focus on the SS Torrey Canyon project (Black Tide). Through screenings, talks, and archive presentations, audiences will encounter stories of Cornwall’s maritime past, the world’s first supertanker oil disaster, and its ongoing environmental legacy – bridging history with urgent contemporary issues of climate change and ecological responsibility.The festival also champions cross-disciplinary creativity, presenting new commissions and expanded cinema projects that push the boundaries of how film can be experienced. These sit alongside our education and outreach programmes, engaging schools, colleges, and community groups with workshops in film criticism, filmmaking, and digital storytelling.Festival venues span from Falmouth’s The Poly – home to the Preview Week (17–23 November) – to cinemas, galleries, and community spaces across Cornwall. The festival culminates in a celebratory weekend bringing together audiences, filmmakers, and partners in a shared celebration of screen culture.Cornwall Film Festival 2025 is proudly delivered by Mor Media Charity, whose work connects people, stories, and places through film and digital media. With support from the BFI Film Audience Network, local partners, and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, this year’s edition demonstrates our commitment to sustainability, accessibility, and inclusivity.From red-carpet premieres and regional talent showcases to thought-provoking heritage projects and youth-led programming, the 2025 festival invites everyone – cinephiles, casual audiences, families, and industry professionals – to join us. At its heart, the festival remains a space for discovery, dialogue, and celebration: bringing global cinema to Cornwall, amplifying local voices, and ensuring that screen culture thrives in our communities for years to come.