Sunrise Film Festival - Lowestoft

16/06/2026

Local Talent In The Spotlight For Our East Coast screening! ☀️🍿

Join us as we celebrate the incredible creative talent of Norfolk and Suffolk with East Coast Film (15)

A curated showcase of bold, low-budget short films made entirely by regional filmmakers working outside the main industry.

From deeply personal stories and moving documentaries to experimental cinema and striking artist moving-image work, these films prove that you don’t need a big budget to have a massive creative vision. 🌊✨

Support the local voices, passion, and determination shaping the independent film scene across our two counties!

When?
East Coast Film (15) - Thursday, August 20, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Marina Theatre, Main Auditorium

View our full programme on our website, and book onto this screening with a pass.

13/06/2026

Our Outdoor Cinemas are back as part of our wider festival programme this August! ☀️

And we’ve got plenty for you to choose from, with 9 family friendly screenings alone 🍿📽️

You can grab your tickets here - https://sunrisefilmfestival2026.eventive.org/schedule?filterTags%5B6a147767fa330dafe5c3d0bb%5D=true

Animated favourites and family classics are lighting up the coast with the return of an outdoor cinema at the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft.

11/06/2026

We’re proud to be showcasing local talent at Sunrise Film Festival once again this year!

This includes the work of Logan’s that encompasses are biggest select of East Anglian films ever, with 31 films screening across the festival.

Discover more on our full programme 👇
https://sunrisefilmfestival.co.uk/programme

We’re incredibly proud to share that Logan Clarke, one of our talented Visual Effects and Post Production degree students, has had his short film Long Distance accepted for screening at this year’s Sunrise Film Festival.

Created during his first year at The Place, Logan’s film explores the evolution of a long‑distance relationship with sensitivity and creative flair.

Course Leader Phil Bury said:
“We are extremely proud to hear of Logan’s successful acceptance to the festival. It is a really good short film that captures the essence of distance relationships.”

You can check out the festival schedule here:
https://sunrisefilmfestival.co.uk/programme/festival-schedule/

Huge congratulations, Logan!

Sunrise Film Festival - Lowestoft

05/06/2026

Thanks for coming and supporting ☀️

04/06/2026

Thank you for sharing 💛🧡🩷

🎥 , East Anglia’s weekend-long film festival, has officially unveiled the programme for its highly anticipated fifth edition, this August:

https://folkfeatures.co.uk/sunrise-film-festivals-most-ambitious-programme-to-date/

26/02/2026

An update on the future of Sunrise Film Festival

For those based in and supporting our festival, from our local community, you may have seen in local media the very sudden and devastating news that, as of the 25th of February, Access Community Trust has entered administration.

Sunrise Film Festival was founded by Joshua Freemantle in 2021 while he was at the regional charity, where he worked to establish a vital platform you all know and love, underpinned by our ethos and genuine commitment to championing accessibility and empowering diverse talent on and behind the screen.

This has led to phenomenal growth for the festival, with rising submissions, a supportive community of loyal festival patrons with whom we have formed personal connections, and our impactful Break the Stigma strand, which continues to shine a light on lived experience in all its forms on screen.

As of the 9th of February, a process has been underway to form an independent organisation for the future of the Sunrise Film Festival, and the festival is now being led by a dedicated board of directors that make up the board of Sunrise Film Festival CIC.

Together, we will work as a board to take forward the immediate community projects and objectives set out by Sunrise, as well as explore funding and fundraising locally for this year’s festival.

We strive to be honest and transparent with you, and we feel it’s important that all of you who support us and want to be involved in our festival are informed about this important update.

If you’d like to support the future of our festival and help us continue to make it accessible to all, you can make a donation of any size by visiting our website https://sunrisefilmfestival.co.uk/donate

Our festival continues to be shaped and made possible by our amazing volunteers, who form our festival committee, and we thank them for their time and commitment to the Sunrise Film Festival.

Board of Directors,
Sunrise Film Festival CIC

17/02/2026

Two incredible years at the Marina Theatre - Lowestoft 💛🧡🩷

Two years of our favourite little red carpet being rolled out, screenings with enthusiastic audiences that love and support the independent films we show, Q&As with natural nerves, and those magic unplanned moments before each screening when the lights dim inside the beautiful Marina Theatre.

As we step into our third year working alongside the incredibly supportive Marina Theatre Trust, we just want to pause and say thank you. What started as a new chapter has become our wonderful festival home, and we couldn’t be prouder to be heading into our 5th edition at the Marina this year.

The guidance, belief, and practical support from the General Manager, Programme & Marketing Manager, Technical Manager, and every single member of the Front of House, Box Office, and volunteer teams have helped Sunrise grow into the festival you all know and love.

Together, over the past two years, we’ve achieved:
✨ 4,000+ admissions across ticketed & open access events
🎬 300+ films screened
⏱️ 180+ hours spent producing and hosting the festival
🏆 40 awards presented

These numbers represent the filmmakers we’ve platformed, the audiences we’ve inspired through talented filmmaking, and a community coming together to celebrate diverse stories on the big screen.

We also want to thank Lowestoft Town Council for their continued grant support, which has been a significant contributor to making the Marina our festival home.

Alongside the genuine investment and enthusiasm from the Marina team, which is helping to secure the future of the festival at the theatre.

Here’s to year three at the Marina… and to celebrating our 5th edition in style 🎥✨

16/02/2026

🎉 Lowestoft is entering the competition to become the first ever UK Town of Culture in 2028, and we are proud to be backing the bid!

We believe that Lowestoft should be celebrated and that all the wonderful grassroots organisations, residents, community supporters and businesses should get involved too!

There are two local public meetings coming up:
Monday 23rd February – Battery of Ideas – London Road North – 2.00pm
Wednesday 25th February – The Seagull Theatre – Morton Road – 6.00pm

🎉 This is a chance to get involved with the Lowestoft Town of Culture Bid and we're right behind this exciting opportunity!

You can also complete the questionnaire for the Bid here - https://tinyurl.com/culture-questionnaire