Women of the Sea: Film Fund

Celebrating the stories and fortitude of women of the sea, this fund is about changing the narrative in surfing in filmmaking.

March 2024, we were delighted to launch the Women Of The Sea Film Fund presented by Finisterre x LS/FF – a £5k grant to help you make your next film.

Open exclusively to emerging or established women filmmakers, the fund is about celebrating the stories and fortitude of women of the sea.  Filmmakers were invited to submit their pitch for a film of up to 10 minutes in duration, that explores any aspect of surfing or surf culture that champions women making waves, commandeering space in the line-up.

Thanks to our friends at Finisterre, the winning submission will receive a £5000 film fund and the final project will be premiered on the big screen as part of the line up at London Surf / Film Festival 2024.

“Since 2011 we’ve been privileged to premiere some 250 films, championing those creatives who bring fresh perspectives and new lines of story telling to surfing and surf culture,” says Festival Director Demi Taylor. “This fund is about changing the narrative in surfing and filmmaking, and we’re delighted to be working with our friends at Finisterre to bring this incredible opportunity for women in filmmaking to life.”

2024 ENTRIES ARE NOW CLOSED

Winner 2023 Women of the Sea Film Fund: Granny Grommets Dir. Leah Rustomjee & Creative Producer Coco Jackie at their world premiere LS/FF 2023  // Image: Adj Brown x LS/FF

Looking for inspiration?

Last year’s winning film ‘Granny Grommets’ Dir. Leah Rustomjee premiered at LS/FF 2023 to a full house.

Leah’s pitch was to produce a ‘…humanising and inspiring portrait of ‘The Granny Grommets’ – a group of women aged 50+ who meet every Friday morning to surf and laugh together.’

The resulting film was so much more, a reminder that there’s no age limit on enjoying the ocean, capturing the hearts and minds of everyone away at LS/FF 2023 to win the highly coveted Viewer’s Choice Award.

Granny Grommets Dir. Leah Rustomjee // Winner 2023 Women of the Sea Film Fund and LS/FF 2023 Viewer’s Choice Award

What does a pitch look like?

We’d like to know a little bit about you, and any previous experience you may have in filmmaking or storytelling.

We’ll want to know about your idea: what and / or who is the film about? How you’re going to tell the story and why this story is important.

If you have any supporting documents – from visual references to full blown pitches – we’d love to see them too. There’s no set format, but please do keep this to below 10 pages.

– 2024 ENTRIES ARE NOW CLOSED –

Photographer Abbi Hughes at home in the ocean  // Image: ALEXANDER BAXTER x Finisterre