About Us
The Association of Independent Film Festivals (AIFF) was established by a collective of UK-based film festivals with the objective of promoting best practices and providing safeguards for filmmakers. This initiative was prompted by the current film festival landscape, which comprises over 12,000 festivals worldwide, but offers minimal protections for filmmakers and their work. Filmmakers face numerous challenges when navigating the film festival circuit. These include the escalating costs associated with festival submissions, the proliferation of online-only "film festivals" that solicit submissions without actually screening the films, physical festivals that misrepresent their events or venues, an absence of transparency in the selection processes, and the prevalence of fraudulent festivals solely aimed at making money. To achieve this goal, the AIFF charter has been developed by the directors of several prominent UK film festivals, who have made a collective commitment to uphold its principles.
Meet the Founding Directors behind The AIFF
Exit 6 Film Festival
Mark Brennan
Mark has worked in film and video production as a writer, producer and director or corporate and commercial content, as well as making his own short films which have screened at many festivals, including Aesthetica, HollyShorts, and the Leeds International Film Festival. Mark is also the director of the BIFA-qualifying Exit 6 Film Festival, an annual showcase of short films that’s been an ever-present on FilmFreeway’s Top 100 Best Reviewed Film Festivals list. As such, his experience as both a filmmaker and a festival director gives him a unique insight into both sides of the film festival circuit. He also works with festival strategists Festival Formula as well as short film funding and showcasing platform Genera Films.
Unrestricted View Film Festival
James Wren
James is a multi-award-winning actor, director, producer and writer. His TV credits include: MESSIAH (BBC), 20 THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU’RE 30 (C4) & LIVE AT THE ELECTRIC (BBC). Theatre credits include: LES MISERABLES (West End), WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND (West End), LOCK UP YOUR DAUGHTERS (Sheffield) and THE ADMIRABLE CRICHTON (Chichester). He worked for many years in comedy and created and co-hosted the smash hit late night comedy show SPANK! He has written and produced the feature films PEACOCK SEASON (2009), THE TRAP (2015), THE MAN YOU’RE NOT (2017) and the short films THE DAY THEY CAME TO SUCK OUT OUR BRAINS (2013), THE MONSTER (2015), SILENT COUNTRY (2016), GODLESS (2017), FINAL CURTAIN (2019), BULLY (2023) and HEDGED (2023). James is the Festival Director for the BIFA qualifying Unrestricted View Film Festival and the Artistic Director at Hen & Chickens Theatre.
Kino London Short Film festival
Dustin Curtis Murphy
As the CEO of Kino Short Film, Dustin is an advocated for indie filmmakers. He prides himself on being approachable in an all too often intimidating industry. Kino is infamous for their unique Short Film Open Mic - the most inclusive way to showcase short film. Additionally, Kino offers a Short of the Week online series, networking opportunities, short film production support and the BIFA Qualifying Kino London Short Film Festival. Dustin is also a multi-disciplined award-winning shorts, commercials, and narrative feature filmmaker creating work at the crossroads of social impact and commercial crowd-pleasers. His debut feature COYOTE, a dystopian sci-fi starring Therica Wilson-Read (The Witcher) and BIFA Winner Ruhtxjiaïh Bèllènéa (The Last Tree), is currently touring international festival and is available on digital in the US & Canada..
Kingston International Film Festival
David Cunningham
David founded Kingston International Film Festival (KIFF) in 2022, his ambition was to showcase and support the next generation of exciting new filmmakers, whilst campaigning for the survival of low budget British Indie films.
He began his career as an actor at Chichester Festival Theatre and went on to appear in a number of West End plays, significantly as Kenny in Man of the Moment directed by Alan Ayckbourn with Michael Gambon; Bravo in Circe & Bravo directed by Harold Pinter with Faye Dunaway; Tom Jnr in Sweet Bird of Youth directed by Harold Pinter with Lauren Bacall; Morris in Present Laughter directed by Richard Olivier with Peter Bowles. Film and TV appearances include The Bill; Howards Way; Late Expectations; Friend or Foe.
He has written several screenplays, his short film Avernus picked up 21 awards on the 20/21 festival circuit and is currently co-producing The Haunting, a feature film in the final stages of development. Filmography: www.blueelephantfilms.com
St Andrews Film Festival
Boris Bosilkov
Boris is a film director, cinematographer, and editor. He is the founder and director of the St Andrews Film Festival and one of the founders of the Filmmakers’ Society of St Andrews. Boris holds over ten years of experience in filmmaking. Alongside Mina Radović, he directed a variety of amateur and professional short films, the feature science fiction film Exodus (2013), promotional and music videos. He has won numerous awards, including Best Film and Best Director for The Cup awarded by Hollywood panelist Joe Russo (St Andrews, 2019). Boris’ film “Today” has been included in the official selection of the Athens International Film Festival in Greece, Serbest International Film Festival in Moldova. His film “(Dis) Connected” was screened at Alice e La Alter Film Festival in Milan, and in Kino Short Film Festival in London. Boris has also been a member of the jury panel for the art exhibition culture Y in St Andrews and Zagori Fiction Days in Greece.
Sunderland Short Film Festival
Chris J. Allan
Chris is a film practitioner from South Shields. Since 2020 he has been Festival Director of Sunderland Shorts, an event dedicated to showing the best filmmakers from around the World while championing National and Regional talent from established names to young, emerging and student creatives. Under his leadership the festival has received BIFA qualifying status as well as entering the Top 100 rated Film Festivals on Filmfreeway.
As a filmmaker with Wycombe 89 he has written and directed numerous projects, including short films and documentaries which have had international awards success. Chris received a Masters in Film Studies from Newcastle University and has taught on various film and media courses for over a decade. He is the current Secretary of the Royal Television Society for The North East & The Border regions, and is passionate about championing the next generation of screen talent and sharing stories from under-represented communities.
Tweetfest film festival
Angela Peters
Angela is the co-founder of BIFA qualifying TweetFest Film Festival and the long-standing organisation UK Actors Tweetup, where Angela has been interviewing casting directors, agents, award-winning directors, actors and producers for over a decade at intimate Q&As for actors and filmmakers. Angela is also an expert writer for Backstage, as well as writing for Spotlight and The Stage. Angela has watched thousands of short films over the years and has been on the jury of numerous festivals. A proud advocate of getting more women in film, Angela's female-led festival focuses on championing undiscovered and new talent while supporting a fairer gender representation in the industry as a whole. Angela is also an actress and voiceover artist who has appeared on television, in films around the UK and Europe, and seen in cinemas as well as on Netflix, Sky, Amazon and iTunes, and in over a dozen national and international commercials and theatre shows.
Spirit of Independence Film festival
Ben Wilkinson
Ben Wilkinson has worked in the film industry in South Yorkshire for a number of years, both behind the camera and now running the Spirit of Independence Film Festival. Following on from a community TV show Ben hosted focussing on local filmmakers, Ben was inspired to start the festival after seeing a film seeking crowd-funding advertised that highlighted what could be achieved in filmmaking on a micro-budget which became the driving force behind the festival.
Bute Street Film Festival
Benjamin Cyrus-Clark
Alongside being a director of BIFA qualifying Bute Street Film Festival, Benjamin is also a senior producer working across films and TV ADs, working across sports and luxury brands. He also lectures on the media course at the University of Bedfordshire. Drawing on his own experience trying to navigate the industry, Bute Street’s driving focus is to be grassroots to unearth and platform the next upcoming creative talents.