Each Common Room event is structured to feel calm, intentional, and human.

The evening includes:

• A curated selection of short films

• Three screening sections, with short breaks in between

• A brief, time-limited group conversation at the end (around 15 minutes)

The event runs from 6:00pm to 10:00pm, leaving space to arrive, watch, pause, and talk without rushing.

Longer conversations happen later, off-stage, through the podcast.

We welcome narrative, documentary, experimental, and hybrid short films.

We’re drawn to work that:

• Is made with intention and care

• Has been shaped by specific choices or constraints

• Feels personal, curious, or open-ended

• Sits well alongside other films in a shared programme

Polish and budget matter less to us than clarity of voice and thoughtfulness.

Common Room isn’t about winning or being seen once.

It’s about:

• Showing work together

• Spending time in the same room

• Letting films speak to each other

• Building familiarity over repeat events

The aim is to create a space filmmakers want to return to — not a ladder to climb.

Alongside the screenings, Common Room hosts an ongoing podcast and video series.

Following each event, selected filmmakers may be invited to take part in a recorded conversation about their work — including process, discoveries made along the way, challenges faced, and how the film changed once it was shared with an audience.

These conversations are:

• Recorded remotely, with video

• Informal and reflective rather than promotional

• Focused on making, thinking, and learning

Not every conversation is recorded, and not every recording is published. Participation is always optional.

The podcast exists to extend the experience of the event, not to replace it.

This will be the first edition of Common Room.

We’re starting small and deliberately, and we’re excited to begin building a space that we hope filmmakers will want to return to over time.

• Submission fee: £7

• Maximum runtime: 12 minutes

• All genres welcome

Selected filmmakers must be able to attend the event in person, and we ask that they plan to attend the full evening where possible. Common Room is built around shared presence.

• Audience tickets: £10

• Complimentary tickets for selected filmmakers