So, tell me about Watersprite.

Watersprite is an international film festival in Cambridge, run by students with a two-part initiative: one part is an international short film competition for students and the other part is a weekend full of events, workshops and panel discussions about the film industry in general.

It’s been running for seven years now; is there a theme that runs through all the festivals or is every festival different?

I think all the festivals are different, but what’s wonderful about this year’s festival is that we’re basing it more around women in the film industry. For example, both our galas have a broad focus on women both behind and in front of the camera, with producer Finola Dwyer (recent BAFTA winner for Brooklyn) giving a Q&A about her experience in the industry for our Opening Gala. We have had a male keynote speaker most years, so this year we wanted to emphasise that the industry is not just made up of talented men, but focus on all the women who do amazing things in cinema.

So, you said there’s two parts to the festival: the film competition and the workshops. Tell me a bit about the films that have been submitted and the judging process.

This year has been really exciting, as we’ve had a record number of submissions, with 360 submissions from 55 different countries. All of these were then judged, firstly by online judges and then by a live judging panel in London, to make up a shortlist of four nominees for each of our awards, which range from Best Fiction to Best Original Film Music. The Watersprite committee then brings these filmmakers together in Cambridge for the festival weekend. So, we have filmmakers coming from Rwanda, Myanmar, South Africa, and even a representative from Cuba. And the films are so interesting; a lot of them are only 15 minutes long, but you get a little snippet into what it’s like to live in a different political regime.

And have you been in contact with filmmakers who have won awards at Watersprite in the past?

Will McGregor, the maker of a film called Who’s Afraid of a Water Sprite, entered and won ‘Film of the Year’ at our very first competition, which inspired the name for the current festival. He went on to secure funding from the BFI in collaboration with Watersprite patrons and trustees for his first feature-length film. Since then he has directed TV shows, including Channel 4’s Misfits, and even directed a really cool commercial for the Super Bowl. And we supported last year’s Film of the Year winner Niranjan Raj Bhetwal with the aim of funding part of his film about the effect of the 2015 earthquake in his native Nepal.

It seems like the festival has quite an international scope. Is there a lot of Cambridge involvement as well?

The Cambridge involvement is really where the events kick in. For example, we have two events in particular aimed at filmmakers in Cambridge: ‘Script Lab’, where winners of our ‘Script Lab’ competition receive tailored advice on their scripts with top script developers, and ‘So You Think You Can Pitch?’, where you pitch your idea in under two minutes to a panel of industry executives, with the winner bagging a free trip to Pinewood Studios.

Why should students get involved in Watersprite?

The thing that makes Watersprite unique is that it’s a completely free festival; there are no submission fees for the filmmakers and all of the events are free to go to. But also you can learn so much from these industry experts in a very intimate environment, not only in terms of filmmaking, but also from a political and ethical point of view. For example, Marco Orsini is flying over from Monaco; he is the founder of the International Emerging Film Talent Association and is holding a conference at the Cannes Film Festival, and he will be giving a talk about the ethics of documentary filmmaking, having spent a lot of time in countries involved in the refugee crisis. He is a fascinating character and to be able to ask his point of view on so many topics is a really enriching experience.

And, finally, do you see Watersprite expanding in the future?

We’re already doing that bit by bit. This year we’ve launched a new award called ‘Filmmaker of the Future’, in an attempt to recognise vaster filmic talents. But, if it were possible from a managerial point of view, we could expand the festival and possibly have other Watersprites popping up around the world. If we had Watersprites in other countries, and worked with foreign universities, then we could showcase the best student talent. Sundance have done it – why not us?

Events run from the 4th-6th March in various venues across the city, and can be booked online on the ADC website.