Sunrise Film Festival Announces Line-Up For 4th Edition

Sunrise Film Festival (SFF) is thrilled to announce the official programme for its highly anticipated 4th edition, taking place this May (Thurs 22 – Sun 25 May) in Lowestoft, East Anglia.

Building upon its success as a BIFA qualifying short film festival, SFF 2025 promises an expanded and diverse cinematic experience, showcasing 187 exceptional short films from 42 countries across the world.

This year’s festival will feature a rich tapestry of stories from across their 10 competition categories, highlighting the talent and creativity of emerging filmmakers. The programme includes new additions such as a dedicated ‘SFF for Free’ offering, Virtual Reality (VR) experiences, and the World Premiere of a Lowestoft-based online series entitled Time Travelling with Myself.

The festival’s founder Joshua Fremantle is excited to welcome audiences back:

We’re proud that our festival continues to be affordable to access whilst the cost of living continues to rise, as well as opportunities to access culture becoming ever more inaccessible. More than ever a platform like ours is needed to make the industry more equal and representative of the diversity of those who work within the film industry. We look forward to welcoming many of our nominees, filmmakers and audience behind our selected films to Lowestoft in-person this May, as we continue to grow this celebration of independent film on the East Anglian Coast.”

The festival’s programming reflects a commitment to diversity and accessibility, with thematic strands designed to cater to a wide range of interests. Highlights include:

East Anglia on Film: Championing local stories and homegrown talent

(Films – Buffing The Walking Men | Dial | Father’s Day | Gardening | Merman | Shooting, Still Life)

Sharing Our Stories: Exploring the myriads of ways to be human

(Films – 261 | A Day In June | Ain’t Nuff Time | Elsa | Gabriela | Happy Snaps | Passage | Time Between Us)

It’s Giving Comedy: Celebrating the breadth of the comedy genre

(Films – Akimbo | Amigo | Nervous Ellie | OK/NOTOK | Safe | STI: Sexually Transmitted Introductions | The Morning After | Time Flies | Victory To The Mimers | Whistle)

Are You Afraid: A frightful late-night horror and thriller strand

(Films – Bloodsport | House Hunters | Out Of The Peat | Paranoia | Polymorphia | Strangers Like Us | The Comedown)

The Next Wave: Highlighting the work of exceptional filmmakers at the beginning of their careers

(Films – A Well Bread Woman | Antibodies | Belladonna | Eyes, Front | Fig Fever | Hatter | Radio | Romchyk | Silent Night)

Let’s Talk Mental Health & Break the Stigma: Addressing commonly misunderstood topics, amplifying lived experiences and the importance of mental health

(Films – Contact Hours | Daddy Issues | Hot Mess | I Killed A Worm | Penny Drops)

Out And Proud – Celebrating identity, love, resilience and the diverse experiences within the LGBTQ+ community

(Films – Bear And Clyde | Bi-Nocular Panic | Christmas, 1978 | Fizzing | Girly | Lavender Whispers | Some Kind Of Paradise | Until Today)

The festival’s programming lead Chloe Beale said:

“This year, Sunrise Film Festival welcomed a record number of short film submissions, equating to just over 124 hours of watching. With this spike in submissions came greater diversity in themes, styles and stories than we’ve ever seen before. The films you’ll see at SFF this year are bold, enlightening and outrageous, telling important stories from across the UK and for the first time ever in-competition from across the world. Our programme is arranged into thematic strands, meaning that whatever you’re interested in, we’ve got it covered. We once again recruited a group of volunteer curators, working alongside our festival’s founding team, to build a bumper programme that showcases the incredible talent and creativity of emerging filmmakers.”

The festival has extended its gratitude to the dedicated team of volunteers, including online screening committee members, judges, and the festival committee, who help make the event possible. With special thanks given to Lowestoft Town Council for their continued backing, their sponsors and partners who have contributed to the festival’s success, including support from Film Hub South East distributing funding from the BFI Film Audience Network, awarding funds from the National Lottery in order to bring this project to more audiences across the UK.

For more information about this year’s Sunrise Film Festival programme, ticketing, and festival events. Head to sunrisefilmfestival.co.uk