New board set to lead Sunrise Film Festival in Lowestoft
Celebrating diverse stories and underrepresented filmmakers the next BIFA qualifying Sunrise Film Festival will return to Lowestoft for its fifth celebratory edition from August 20 to August 23 this year.
The Sunrise Film Festival logo. Image: Sunrise Film Festival CIC (Image: Sunrise Film Festival CIC)
Taking centre stage at the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft once more, festival organisers this week vowed that the popular film festival will be carrying on.
It comes after the "sudden and devastating" closure last week of the regional charity Access Community Trust - where the founder of the Sunrise Film Festival, Joshua Freemantle, had worked.
Mr Freemantle had founded the festival in 2021 while working at the trust, and he was "shocked" with its closure.
Having established a vital platform that champions accessibility and empowers diverse talent on and behind the screen, the festival has grown in stature.
And now an independent organisation will take the festival into the future as it is now being led by a dedicated board of directors that make up Sunrise Film Festival CIC.
Mr Freemantle, chair of the board of Sunrise Film Festival CIC, said: “Together, we will work as a board to take forward the immediate community projects and objectives set out by Sunrise, as well as explore funding and fundraising locally for this year’s festival.
"We will now be working hard to take forward this new chapter.
"What we have achieved in a coastal town over the past five years has been incredible to see.
The Marina Theatre in Lowestoft pictured in 2024. Picture: www.vistaviews.co.uk (Image: www.vistaviews.co.uk)
"As a board, we are focused on delivering and fundraising for the fifth festival at the Marina Theatre this August.
"Our festival continues to be shaped and made possible by our amazing volunteers, who form our festival committee, and we thank them for their time and commitment to the Sunrise Film Festival."
Now, to help support the festival in the future and allow it continue to be accessible to all, people are being asked to donate online via its website.
