Animation Festivals Directory

Sunrise Film Festival based in Lowestoft, Suffolk, UK was founded in 2021 and is run voluntarily by passionate independent film enthusiasts and filmmakers to provide an important accessible platform for filmmakers like themselves.

Our last edition took place in August 2024, We’re passionate about creating a platform for filmmakers who are yet to be discovered (or picked up by the bigger film festival circuit), whilst making film accessible and proudly showcasing independent film to new audiences across overlooked communities.

Since 2021 we have screened just over 420 independent films as part of our official selection to our live audiences and have presented 44 awards at our festival award ceremonies since inception. We work hard to help in promoting your work to new audiences, and during 2024’s edition alone we reached over 30,000 people with our content on Instagram across the festival.

We’re also a BFI Film Audience Network-backed film festival and a BIFA (British Independent Film Awards) qualifying festival for British Short Films (Section B*) at BIFA 2024/25.

We value and proudly promote films from any filmmaker, creative, or producer to the general public, which enables them to view something different, regardless of how big or small their budget for creating a film is, in a region that is under-represented for opportunities to engage with independent film. Including receiving submissions from first-time filmmakers, female/non-binary filmmakers, neurodiverse filmmakers, stories from the LGBTQIA+ community, people with lived experience, as well as films focussing on social and environmental issues.

*Rules & eligibility on Section B at BIFA can be found by visiting https://www.bifa.film/about/rules-and-eligibility/

Year established: 2021

Is this festival exclusively animation?: No - this is a film festival but with a specific animation category

Is there a marketplace at this festival?: Yes

Physical event or online?: Physical Festival