About Us

A Note from the Director

"Running the Short Sounds Film Festival was an exploration of how we perceive stories. We started this journey to bridge the gap between the eyes and the ears, and seeing the community grow around that niche was the greatest reward. As the landscape of film exhibition shifts, I’ve made the decision to archive the festival to ensure the work of our filmmakers remains accessible and honored, even as I move on to new creative chapters."
Adam J. Merrifield
Festival Director

Why we are Archiving

Every great soundtrack has its final movement. After years of celebrating the “cinematic ear,” the festival has reached its natural conclusion in its current format. We have compressed our history into this archive to ensure that the work of our alumni filmmakers remains documented and celebrated by the industry and the public alike.

The Short Sounds Film Festival was a not-for-profit organisation managed by volunteers who were committed to celebrating cinematic music and sound. The festival was created by the team at WHITE LANTERN FILM, an established independent production company specialising in the development and production of richly thematic British feature films. As a founding partner, the team played an integral part in the festivals growth and development. For more information on the founding partner please visit www.whitelantern.film.

A NEW ERA FOR THE SHORT SOUNDS FILM FESTIVAL: SSFF Student Takeover 2025

We’re back - with a BANG!

After a three-year hiatus, THE SHORT SOUNDS FILM FESTIVAL is relaunching for 2025 with a special STUDENT TAKEOVER event. We will continue to focus and celebrate the power of sound and music in film, but this time around the festival will be open exclusively to student film productions with outstanding sound and music. We are the only student short film festival dedicated to sound design and music composition and we’re here to champion the craft that brings film to life.

FESTIVAL PAUSED

5 YEARS OF SSFF!

In 2022, the Short Sounds Film Festival returned live and in person! From the 24th to the 25th of February, we screened an array of incredible, award-winning shorts and features, and also learned a thing or two from the industry’s best;

  • BAFTA award-winning audio director and sound designer Mark Angus
  • Animation and documentary sound specialist Larry Sider
  • Academy award-winning composer Rachel Portman
  • The incredibly creative team behind Shuttlecock (2019); producer Simon Costello, writer/director Tommy Gillard, and composer Freddy Mercer
  • And The Godfather of Foley himself, John Roesch, calling in all the way from California

WE GO REMOTE!

In 2021 the Short Sounds Film Festival returned with a new celebration of cinematic shorts and feature films. A festival to champion the audio wizards that fill our heads with sounds that make our hearts race and scores that storm our souls. Between 25th & 28th February 2021, the festival was hosted online due to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. We had an amazing programme of short films and movies richly authentic in their use of sound and music together with talks and virtual networking.

A NEW DECADE

After moving to new dates on the 27th and 28th February, SSFF2020 was a huge success.  A festival highlight was the screening of MAKING WAVES: THE ART OF CINEMATIC SOUND accompanied by a talk from the movie’s writer and producer. The festival also welcomed an array of insightful and engaging speakers including:

  • Actor, Comedian, Director and Writer Matthew Holnes
  • FOR SAMA composer and BAFTA Breakthrough Brit winner Nainita Desai
  • Award-winning writer and producer Bobette Buster
  • SAE Institute Interactive audio lecture Jamie Stonehouse

A SHORT BREAK

The previous two festivals were both held in October as part of BOMO, Bournemouth’s Art and Culture festival. Unfortunately, the organisers found this period increasingly crowded with other film festivals and avoiding clashes was becoming increasingly hard.  The decision was made early in 2019 to move the festival to a new slot in the movie calendar: February. This would enable the Short Sounds Film Festival to carve out its own distinctive voice.

TAKE TWO

The second Short Sounds Film Festival took place on the 1st and 2nd November 2018 with a star-studded list of guests: 

  • Actress, Director and Writer Jess Hynes
  • Blur drummer and composer David Rowntree
  • Oscar winning sound mixer Ray Beckett
  • BAFTA Cymru Award-winning composer Alexandra Harwood
  • Sound designer Ben Cozens
  • Pinewood's Head of Sound Glen Gathard

OUR FIRST FESTIVAL

Launched on 12th October 2017 over 4 days, our first festival was attended by over 600 people who enjoyed a unique programme of shorts, a live score by the BSO and a number of other amazing guests including:

  • Wonder Women Composer Rupert Gregson-Williams
  • Writer and Director of Detour Christopher Smith
  • Toydrum's James Griffith and Pablo Clements
  • BAFTA-winning Film and TV composer Kevin Sargent
  • Foley Artist Barnaby Smyth
  • BSO live score to Alfred Hitchcock's Blackmail

THE BIRTH OF A FESTIVAL

After touring their award-winning cult classic movie K-SHOP to film festivals worldwide, the White Lantern Film team were inspired to create a new film festival to celebrate and engage with talented film professionals. To complement the existing Bournemouth Visual Effects Festival, the team set about creating a new craft festival focused on sound – The SHORT SOUNDS FILM FESTIVAL was born!

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