Crafting Non-fiction Short Films
Ffilm Cymru Wales, BFI NETWORK Wales & BFI Doc Society invite all new and emerging filmmakers and artists in or from Wales to join us for a special online session on the art of crafting boundary-breaking short documentaries.
We’ll be looking at ways to develop cinematic and authentic non-fiction ideas and find your team.
We will be sharing guidance on the Beacons Short Film Fund (opening April/May) and Made of Truth: BFI Doc Society Fund which reopens in March and invites emerging documentary filmmakers, XR artists and other creatives to share original, cinematic and bold non-fiction stories that respond to the changing world around us. The fund recognises the quality of difference in perspective, the importance of who is telling the story, and strong collaborations. The fund can support up to 15 individual short non-fiction projects each year with a maximum of £25,000 of grant funding and is open to filmmakers from across the UK and Northern Ireland.
Walking us through their own creative journey will be alumni filmmakers from both short film schemes: Being Seen director Ren Faulkner and producer Toby Cameron (Beacons) and The Veiled City director Natalie Cubides-Brady (Made Of Truth).
This event is free and open to anyone born or based in Wales who is developing creative doc work.
The session will run for 60 minutes and you will have a chance to ask questions. Live captioning and BSL interpretation is provided, however if you have any questions or access requirements, please contact Tracy Spottiswoode on tracy@ffilmcymruwales.com or call 07902 492109 to discuss in confidence.
Ren Faulkner
After graduating from Arts University Bournemouth with a degree in Film Production, Ren returned to their home of Cardiff, and got stuck into the local film and music scene. Since then they've worked on BBC Wales productions (Black and Welsh, Festival of Voice), and shot music videos and live sessions with the likes of Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard and Cate Le Bon, as well as assisting on shoots and editing alongside their co-workers at On Par Productions. They directed their first documentary short Being Seen in 2023, which was funded by Ffilm Cymru Wales' Beacons scheme.
As a non-binary filmmaker, in their spare time they're found editing experimental documentaries about LGBT identity and experience and want to continue to bring these ideas to a bigger screen.
Toby Cameron
After graduating with a documentary degree from Newport Film School, Toby created On Par Productions as a means to hone his craft and tell stories about diverse members of society. He is a producer and director of commercials, short films, and television.
Most notably, his BBC One documentary, Born Deaf Raised Hearing was watched by 1.4 million people, and it recently won Best Photography at the BAFTAs 2023. He was on the BBC Wales New Directors Scheme in 2018, and he won Best Breakthrough at the RTS Cymru Awards in 2020. He recently produced a short documentary, Being Seen, and has just completed his first fiction short, Grappling, which he wrote and directed, making it his most personal story to date, both funded as part of Ffilm Cymru Wales' Beacons Scheme. He is currently developing a feature documentary and a handful of TV documentaries.
Natalie Cubides-Brady
Natalie is an award-winning filmmaker working at the intersection of documentary and fiction. She is fascinated by the relationship between landscape, time and memory. Her latest short, The Veiled City, had its world premiere at Berlinale 2023 and was funded by BFI Doc Society. It’s gone on to win Best Documentary at Curtas Vila do Conde, the Oscar qualifying Mikeldi for Best Documentary Short at Zinebi Bilbao, and British Short Film of the Year at the London Critics Circle Film Awards. It’s also been nominated for an IDA Documentary Award and is a Short Film Candidate for the European Film Awards 2024.
She is an alumna of Berlinale Talents and the NFTS MA in Directing Documentary.