Women Over 50 Film Festival

WOFFF is coming back to Depot this September and Super Early Bird Festival Passes are on sale now Join us on Saturday 5 September 2026 for a joyful full day of short films, awards and talks celebrating women over 50 on screen and behind the camera. Now the programme isn’t set yet, (submissions are open!) so we can’t tell you what’s on, but we can tell you to expect fun, fearless and real stories, brilliant filmmakers, international shorts and a warm, welcoming festival atmosphere, all at our home cinema @lewes_depot 🎟 Super Early Bird Festival Pass: £25 📅 Book online by 31 May 2026 Book now by visiting the Depot website or following the link in our bio.

For over-50s in Leytonstone We’re back at Good Shepherd Studios tomorrow (7 May), for an afternoon of short films and creative activities. From 2pm it’s chair-based yoga-inspired exercise. At 3pm it’s time for hot drinks and snacks, followed by two short films: 🎥 The Last Mermaid, dir. Fi Kelly Pearl is an overweight, chain-smoking, Irn Brew-swilling mermaid who just wants to keep herself to herself. 🎥 The Pearl Comb, dir. Ali Cook In 1893 Betty Lutey, a Cornish fisherman’s wife, captures the medical profession’s attention when she becomes the first person to cure someone of Tuberculosis. A doctor is sent to investigate her amazing claim but what he uncovers is even more hard to believe. It’s free to attend and you don’t need to book. Just drop in to Good Shepherd Studios in Leytonstone from 2pm. These screenings in our local community are possible because of the support we receive from @tnlcommunityfund and @film_london 🩷

Always lovely to catch up with WOFFFers in the wild. This weekend Nuala met Risa, the central participant in the documentary RISA by @katewearedance and @JackFlameSorokin winner of the WOFFF25 Best Documentary, featuring the tiny and mighty @RisaSteinberg . Over tea @TheGoodEgg they talked dance, choreography and teaching - elements explored in the gorgeous black & white RISA documentary - and then segued onto vocations and mothering and bones and life, love & work as we age. What a brilliant Saturday morning filled with all the blues. Haste ye back, Risa!

Tomorrow, Tuesday 28 April join us at Toynbee Hall for @elop_lgbt ’s LGBTQ+ Over 50s Group. Together we watch short films made by and about older LGBTQ+ filmmakers, have a coffee and get to know new friends. If you’re in East London, drop in, we’d love to welcome you. On screen this time: 🎬 Gert’s Boys (dir. Sara Laura Schwartz) In a warehouse in Oakland, California, Gert McMullin oversees the world’s largest piece of community folk art commemorating over 110,000 lives lost to AIDS. The Quilt was launched in 1987, demanding a public and government response to AIDS in the USA. 🎬 #DaughterFail (dir. Krissy Mahan) A queer story of a mom in an elder-care nursing home. Secrets are uncovered and a reunion is thwarted by COVID-19. – Hot drinks & snacks – Free & open to all LGBTQ+ people aged 50+ – Toynbee Hall, East London – 28 April from 4pm Only possible thanks to funding from @tnlcommunityfund and @film_london 💛

Screenings in London and in Kentucky coming up! I’m humbled and proud that on 28 April 2026 one of my films about #queerEldercare — “#DaughterFail” - at a collaborative @elop_lgbt @wo50ff event. @elop_lgbt ELOP runs a free weekly LGBT+ over 50s social group. Amazing! I wish I could attend. And later in May, a film I made with @sparksnsmoke will be shown at @cinemasystersfilmfestival . My films have open captions and are shown at accessible venues. Go to dykeumentary dot com to see all my films and catch up with screenings. ID: Fisher-Price little people stand proudly together in front of sign that reads “Gloucester Towne- Low Income Housing For The Elderly” Second image: A church entryway info rack lists the last week’s attendance (22) and offering (360). The text reads “And The Homosexuals” in red text. #queerFilm #lesbianfilm

WOFFF is at @portofemme in Portugal this week 🇵🇹💚 WOFFF Founder, Nuala has been invited to Porto Femme International Film Festival which promotes films directed and produced by women and non-binary filmmakers highlighting feminist solidarity, social justice and equality. Nuala joins Adebusola Adeboyejo and Nati Juncal on the jury for the National Competition which awards prizes for films from Portuguese filmmakers. As well as films, there’s tons more happening at the festival - workshops, debates, panels, networking events, exhibitions and parties. WOFFF is participating in industry talks and networking events. If you’re in Porto, come and say ‘hi’.

📣 Three days until our regular submissions deadline The stories yet to be told are those that need to be heard. Older women everywhere have fun, fearless, wise, real, entertaining and important stories to tell. We want to hear them! The regular deadline for submitting to our 2026 short film programme and to our Best Short Script Competition with @shedunnitproductions is this Sunday 26 April. If your film/script has a woman over 50 as a central character or has a woman over 50 in the core creative team (writer, director, producer) then it’s eligible. All submissions must go through our FilmFreeway page so head there for more info and guidance. We accept submissions from all ages, genders and life experiences, if the fee is holding you back, we offer bursaries to help. Find out more about that in our FilmFreeway page, link in bio. Regular deadline: 26 April 2026 #ShortFilm #ShortFilmFestival #WOFFF26 #OlderWomenInFilm #WomenOver50

Join us for our April Meeting in celebration of Lesbian Visibility Week (April 20th-26th), with special guests @wo50ff ! This is a fantastic opportunity to meet fellow LGBTQ+ residents, share experiences, and discuss topics that impact our community. Whether you’re a regular attendee or a newcomer, everyone is encouraged to participate and contribute. Our theme for this month is Lesbian Visibility, in celebration of Lesbian Visibility Week (April 20th-26th). At this meeting, we’ll be discussing the experiences of LBT+ women who live, work or study in Tower Hamlets. We will also be joined by the Women Over Fifty Film Festival (affectionately known as WOFFF), who will be screening a selection of short films, all made by or about lesbian, bisexual and trans women over the age of 50. WOFFF champions and showcases the work of older women on screen and behind the camera. Their biggest and ultimate goal is to achieve equality and parity for older women in film. They do this by spotlighting women over 50 who are making film, and championing all filmmakers who are centring women over 50 in their work, celebrating older women on both sides of the camera. Have your say on how to make Tower Hamlets safer and more welcoming for LGBTQ+ residents. Let’s come together to support and empower each other. See you there! When: Wednesday 29th April, 6pm-8pm Where: Positive East, 159 Mile End Rd, E1 4AQ /e/tower-hamlets-lgbtq-community-forum-april-meeting-tickets-1987690034400?aff=oddtdtcreator&_gl=1*1wg21nu*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTk2Mzk1MDgwMy4xNzc2NjgyMTAx*_ga_TQVES5V6SH*czE3NzY2ODIxMDAkbzEkZzAkdDE3NzY2ODIxMDAkajYwJGwwJGgw

We’re back at Good Shepherd Studios in Leytonstone today with some short films and creative activities. It’s free to join and we would love to see you. From 2pm it’s chair-based yoga-inspired exercise. At 3pm it’s time for hot drinks and snacks, followed by two short films celebrating age, movement and creativity: 🎥 Ode to Age (dir. Kati Kallio) The ageing body can be wild, free and beautiful. A gang of older women discard the beige clothes on offer and instead leap into the Finnish summer in full technicolour. 🎥 RISA (dirs. Kate Weare, Jack Flame Sorokin) An intimate portrait of renowned American dancer and teacher Risa Steinberg. In her New York City apartment, she dances and talks her way from room to room, reflecting on her prolific and ongoing career in the dance world. No need to book, just drop in to Good Shepherd Studios in Leytonstone from 2pm. These screenings in our local community are possible because of the support we receive from @tnlcommunityfund 🩷

The WOFFF Best Short Script Prize is now open for 2026! We’re so pleased to be partnering with Shedunnit Productions again for the eighth year. 🥳 If you write (or want to), this is your sign submit your script to WOFFF this year! Key details: - Must be written by a woman over 50 or have a woman over 50 as a central character - Must be original and unproduced - Regular deadline: 26 April (£14 submission fee) - Students: free to submit Enter via FilmFreeway, link in bio. Photo by @alonglines shows Helen Jacey founder of Shedunnit and @mishahassan winner in 2025. #Scriptwriters #ShortScriptPrize #ShortFilmFestival #WOFFF26

Tomorrow we’re in Waltham Forest 💚 We’re at Waltham Forest Community Hub @wfcommhub tomorrow, Wednesday 25 March for our monthly short film event. We’d love to see you anytime between 11am and 2:30pm to watch some films and have a coffee with us. No booking needed. This month we’re screening three films: 🎥 Old Girl in a Tutu: Susan Rennie Disrupts Art History(dir. Cheri Gaulke) Feminist scholar Susan Rennie seizes her iPhone and sneaks her queer, octogenarian body into great works of art, disrupting the narrative of the male gaze. 🎥 The Illustrated Woman (dir Isabel Hergura) In Ahmedabad Isabel hosts an animation workshop with a group of temporary tattoo artists, the Mehndi. They talk about their dreams - to fly, to have a women’s parliament, to travel to Switzerland and to claim independence through rap. 🎥 Visible Mending (dir Samantha Moore) Love, death, and knitting. People reconnect with their sense of self through knitting. One person knits to recover fine motor skills after a stroke, another to process anxiety, and a terminal cancer patient knits to give shape and meaning to their days. Thank you to @tnlcommunityfund for supporting our film events in our local community.

We’re back at Round Chapel Old School Rooms @old_school_rooms on Thursday 12 March with some short films and chat. From 12:30 - 2:00 pm join us for tea and cake followed by short films. The theme is Radical Leaps One Step at a Time. Film screening are: 🎥 Old Girl in a Tutu (dir. Cheri Gaulke) Feminist scholar Susan Rennie seizes her iPhone and sneaks her queer, octogenarian body into great works of art, disrupting the narrative of the male gaze. 🎥 Holding Stone (dir. Evie Bulloch) An exploration of 80-year-old Angela Bohrer's experience of mud-larking. A meditation on sculpture, shape, form and tactility. 🎥 Chai-Coffi (dir. Sanjoli Malani) | India | Drama | 23min Against her family’s wishes, grieving widow Lata journeys from her home searching for solace. On the road, she meets 12-year-old Mira who’s carefree, independent and full of energy. 🎥 Gossip (dir. Harri Shanahan) Two older lesbians are on a train-powered honeymoon. A ticket collector looks on, fascinated by how much they’re loving life and each other. 🎥 Pegs & Bacon (dir. Sarah Mason) 84-year-old May Stock is the heart and soul of a small farm shop nestled in a quiet Yorkshire village along the Pennine Way. No need to book, just drop in to Round Chapel Old School Rooms 2 Powerscroft Road, Hakcney, E5 0PU Hackney. These screenings in our local community are possible because of the support we receive from @tnlcommunityfund 🩷