LISP Film Festival

Welcome to the LISP Film Festival! Get ready to dive into a world of captivating cinema at Curzon Victoria, located on Victoria Street in London, UK. Our festival brings together a stunning collection of films that will leave you mesmerized. Network with fellow filmmakers and scriptwriters and get the best tips from our winners! Join us at Curzon Victoria for an unforgettable cinematic experience, Networking and Q&A sessions! Tickets are limited. Don't miss out on this incredible event!

How to Make IT Happen!

LISP Film Festival's Focus is How To Make It Happen!

We will ask our filmmakers how they brought their ideas to the silver screen, and from funding to shooting day, script to casting, we will talk about all the topics that make films happen!

As always, LISP selections are diverse and include a range of genres, from experimental to romance. You will get the chance to meet the filmmakers and ask questions about the process of filmmaking, from fundraising to distribution and script to casting!

LISP Film Festival is a sub-brand of the London Independent Story Prize.

London Independent Story Prize (LISP) is a not-for-profit organisation founded by storytellers for storytellers. LISP aims to nurture brave voices and create sustainable networking opportunities for writers and filmmakers. Our purpose is to build a community that embraces multicultural differences, bold voices, unique writers, and extraordinary artistic approaches to storytelling.

www.londonindependentstoryprize.co.uk

LISP Film Festival 2024 is Open for Submissions

Submissions via Film Freeway

 LISP Film Festival Programme Details 

Please note that, time slots are estimated and might change according to technical issues on the day.

17:20 - 18:25: Entanglement ( 01h:03m)

This film is created by Lliane Clarke and co-directed by Lliane Clarke, Kaye Tuckerman and Otgadahe Whitman-Fox.

'We asked First Nations and Diverse Women across the globe what the word Entanglement meant to them. How do we connect? Over 300 women submitted their stories.12 women writers. 12 personal stories. Heroic. Humorous. Powerful. Raw. All entangled, yet all have never met.'

Meg Clarke will be on our Filmmakers Panel and answer all your questions.

•  Meg recently relocated to London from Sydney where she completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting) at QUT.Recent screen credits include the long-running Australian TV series Home & Away, and Amazon feature film Five Blind Dates. She recently participated in a development of The Trial of Joan at The Young Vic Theatre London and has starred in numerous stage productions for Australian theatre companies, most recently the principal role of "Lou" at Belvoir 25A. Other stage credits include: Past the Shallows: ATYP & Archipelago Productions, Iphigenia in Splott: New Ghosts Theatre, The Chapel Perilous: Carissa Liccardello, Servant of Two Masters: Sport For Jove, Measure for Measure: Sport For Jove, Away: Lambert House, Yen: Bakehouse & New Ghosts Theatre Company, The Divorce Party: The Old 505 Theatre, Mercury Fur: White Box Productions & Bakehouse, Shandys Corner: New Ghosts Theatre & Bakehouse, Five Lesbians Eating a Quiche: Powerhouse Brisbane.In 2020, Meg co-founded a Film Production Company: MTM Productions, and is about to release her second film; Pearly Gates

18: 30 - 18: 50: Lambing (18 m)

Directed by Katie McNeice

'A young dad in rural Ireland must face his anxiety around gender and bullying when his baby is born intersex.'

Katie McNeice will be on our Filmmakers Panel and answer all your questions. Ask her all about the FUNDING options!

•  Katie McNeice is a multi-award winning Writer Director and Editor who crafts thoughtful identity-films with a particular focus on sexuality and gender. She was recently nominated for an IFTA for Best Script Film for her debut feature project WHO WE LOVE, which she shares with Co-Writer and Director Graham Cantwell. She is a Screen Ireland Rising Star, announced by Screen International earlier this year. She recently won a ZeBBie for her Short Script Lambing from the Writers Guild of Ireland, the highest honor achievable in screen, stage and radio writing in the country. Her debut short film IN ORBIT has received 58 awards including a Special Jury Mention at the Galway Film Fleadh and a ZeBBie nomination for Best Short Script from the Writers Guild of Ireland. Rural drama LAMBING is Ireland’s first film on the experience of intersex babies and their parents. This project is funded by the IMDb Script to Screen Award and the 2021 Kildare ShortGrass Film Bursary. This film screened at both Newport Beach and the San Diego International Film Festival this October, where it earned the award for Best International Drama. Upcoming shorts include Irish language project ‘FOCAIL BAILE CROÍ (Words Home Heart), funded by Comórtas Fisín Pitching Competition, Catalyst International Film Festival Screenplay Award and the 2022 Screen Kerry Short Film Bursary. FOCAIL BAILE CROÍ is produced by Maggie Ryan of Escape Pod Media. She has just been awarded €60k Focus Shorts funding from Screen Ireland for dystopian drama THE QUIET OCEAN produced by Tile Media and written by Barry Smyth. This film was also shortlisted for RTE Storyland 2023 Feature projects include WHO WE LOVE which made its World Premiere at the 2021 Galway Film Fleadh. This film earned her the Inaugural Rising Talent Award at the Kerry International Film Festival and was nominated for six IFTAs at the 2022 Irish Film & Drama Awards including Best Script and Best Film. It was released in Irish cinemas in Summer of 2023. She is currently developing a feature adaptation of award-winning LGBT children’s novel THE DEEPEST BREATH by Meg Grehan from Little Island Books. This project is being produced by Derabhla Regan of Wild Atlantic Pictures. Katie is also attached to NORTH OF NOWHERE, a neo-noir Irish thriller written by Sam Uhlemann and produced by Juliane Wothe of New Stage Films.  

18:50 - 19:05: Playtime ( 11m)

Directed by Jasper Shah - He will be attending the Filmmakers Panel after the screenings

'After another failed business pitch, Jack learns a friend from school has found success in a passion they once shared - but one he gave up on.'

• Jasper Shah is a writer, director, and producer based in London. His ideas primarily grow from his life living in the city; it’s people, architecture, atmosphere and mysteries — and the connections these form with each other. His latest short film, Playtime, explores a transitional period of a man’s life set in the liminal, threshold space of Russel Square, in-between the always-alive streets of London. It has been selected for six festivals, as well as nominations for four awards — winning a Best Director and Audience Award. 

19:05 - 19: 25: A Gentle Push (14 m)

Directed by Arabella Burfitt-Dons. She will be attending the Filmmakers Panel after the screenings

'Still reeling from a messy break-up, a Dublin journalist apprehensively agrees to re-enter the world of dating.'

• Arabella Burfitt-Dons -recently directed her debut feature 'Grey Matter' which will release in 2023 starring British talent including Stephanie Beacham (Dynasty) Eloise Smyth (Harlots) Elizabeth Berrington (Last Night in Soho) Harry Kirton (Peaky Blinders) and others. Arabella founded W4 Films, a London-based production company and has produced several feature films which have screened at prestigious festivals around the globe. Her more notable works include the rom-com mockumentary “Love Possibly” which won over 60 international awards on its festival circuit and Sky movies premiered comedy “Killer Weekend” starring Mark Heap. Psychological thriller “We the Kings” starring Timothy West (OBE) won best UK feature at Raindance Film Festival. Arabella's currently directing her second female-led feature, the musical drama "Dragged Up Dirty" starring Nick Moran (Harry Potter) and Tracy-Ann Oberman (It's a Sin).

19:30 - 19:40: Transfiguration

Directed by Mary Lukasiewicz - She will be attending the Filmmakers Panel after the screenings.

'Freya's consciousness re-enters her body, forcing her to awake and embark on a journey of self-exploration. They re-visit her past relationships with a partner, her mother and and powerful presence that knocked her off her path.'

•  Mary Lukasiewicz is an award winning filmmaker, writer, and performer. She has worked jobs all across the film industry, and has been lucky to work with incredible story tellers, including Ron Yerxa, Albert Berger, Michael Mann, and Roger Donaldson. She was the first assistant editor to Oscar winner Joe Walker, for Denis Villeneuve’s films “Sicario,” “Arrival,” “Bladerunner 2049,” and “Dune,” and Steve McQueen’s “Widows.” In 2022, Mary’s short story “Vibrant” was shortlisted for the London Independent Story Prize. Most recently, she produced and starred in “Cherries, Rare and Fair,” a new original musical, which was nominated for Best Musical at the 2023 Hollywood Fringe Festival. Mary is represented by Bloc Talent Agency in Los Angeles, and Alliston Taylor in London.

19:45 - 20:30: Q&A Sessions

The Filmmakers Panel will be led by Rishi Dastidar

•  A poem from Rishi Dastidar’s Laurel Prize long-listed third collection, Neptune’s Projects (Nine Arches Press), was included in The Forward Book of Poetry 2024. He is editor of The Craft: A Guide to Making Poetry Happen in the 21st Century (Nine Arches Press), and co-editor of Too Young, Too Loud, Too Different: Poems from Malika’s Poetry Kitchen (Corsair). He also reviews poetry for The Guardian (UK) and is a trustee of Wasafiri. 

20:30 -21:00: Informal Awards Ceremony and Networking