VENETIAN MEN
Documentary Short Film / 2022
Two 15 year old girls leave South London in 1994 and find their teenage gaze in Venice, in a promise that is never fulfilled.
Was being 15 truly the last invincible age of our romantic lives?
ONLINE PREMIERE:
Girls In Film (2022)
Girls In Film (2022)
WORLD PREMIERE:
/ Best Documentary Short Film Competition. Flickerfest 31st International Short Film Festival, Australia. Academy Qualifying and BAFTA recognised (Jan 2022) / FESTIVALS & SCREENINGS:
/ Best Directing Category. Underwire, UK. BAFTA recognised. (2022) /
/ Official Selection. London Independent Film Festival, UK (2022) /
/ Official Selection. Women X Film Festival, UK (2022) /
/ Official Selection. Aesthetica Short Film Festival, UK. BAFTA qualifying. (2022) /
/ Official Selection. Crystal Palace International Film Festival, UK (2023) /
/ Women in Film and TV Short Film Club, London, UK (2023) /
/ A Night of Shorts, The Social, London, UK (2023) /
/ Girls In Film Galentine’s Screening, The Genesis Cinema, London, UK (2024) /
/ Best Directing Category. Underwire, UK. BAFTA recognised. (2022) /
/ Official Selection. London Independent Film Festival, UK (2022) /
/ Official Selection. Women X Film Festival, UK (2022) /
/ Official Selection. Aesthetica Short Film Festival, UK. BAFTA qualifying. (2022) /
/ Official Selection. Crystal Palace International Film Festival, UK (2023) /
/ Women in Film and TV Short Film Club, London, UK (2023) /
/ A Night of Shorts, The Social, London, UK (2023) /
/ Girls In Film Galentine’s Screening, The Genesis Cinema, London, UK (2024) /
AWARDS & NOMINATIONS:
/ Winner: Best Experimental Short. London Independent Film Festival, UK (2022) /
/ Nominations: Best Documentary. Crystal Palace International Film Festival, UK (2023) /
Directors Notes
MAGICLAND
Documentary Short Film / Commissioned by Channel Four’s Random Acts / 2019
Meet Jenny Mayers, the first black woman to be invited into the Magic Circle.
FESTIVAL SCREENINGS:
/ Latitude Festival, UK (2019) /
/ Official Selection. London Independent Film Festival, UK (2020) /
/ Official Selection. The Fine Arts Film Festival, USA (2020) /
/ Official Selection. Cheap Cuts Documentary Film Festival, UK (2020) /
/ Official Selection. New Renaissance Film Festival, UK (2020) /
/ Official Selection. Women Over 50 Film Festival, UK (2020) /
/ Official Selection. The Los Angeles International Children’s Film Festival, USA (2020) /
/ Official Selection. Margate Film Festival, UK (2020) /
/ Official Selection. Providence Children’s Film Festival, USA (2021) /
/ Official Selection. Hebden Bridge Film Festival, UK (2021) /
AWARDS & NOMINATIONS:
/ Nomination: Audience Choice Award Best Short Documentary & Special Jury Award Best Short Documentary. Providence Children’s Film Festival, USA (2021) /
FEATURED IN:
TMRW Magazine
BOYS
Short Film / Collaboration with The PappyShow Theatre Company / 2023
BOYS: a celebration of boys of colour finding radical joy as they become men.
Co-commissioned by New Diorama Theatre & London International Mime Festival.
Supported by Arts Council England Cultural Recovery Fund.
Born out of the ideas behind The PappyShow theatre company’s award-winning stage show (The Barbican, Vaults Festival), BOYS the film is devised by and stars a group of young men of colour. BOYS: a celebration of boys of colour finding radical joy as they become men.
Co-commissioned by New Diorama Theatre & London International Mime Festival.
Supported by Arts Council England Cultural Recovery Fund.
BOYS the film is a hybrid, blurring the lines between documentary, fiction and imagination. It’s improvisation, play and time spent with true friends. BOYS is the playfulness and pressure of being a boy, trying to be a man; the bright, bold colour of youth bursting through.
FESTIVALS & SCREENINGS:
/ The Barbican, UK (2023) /
/ London International Mime Festival, UK (2023) /
/ Official Selection. Moving Body Festival, Bulgaria (2023) /
/ Official Selection. Bolton International Film Festival, UK. BAFTA & BIFA Qualifying. (2023) /
/ Official Selection. Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival, Trindad & Tobago. (2023) /
/ MicroActs 16. London, UK. (2023) /
/ London International Mime Festival, UK (2023) /
/ Official Selection. Moving Body Festival, Bulgaria (2023) /
/ Official Selection. Bolton International Film Festival, UK. BAFTA & BIFA Qualifying. (2023) /
/ Official Selection. Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival, Trindad & Tobago. (2023) /
/ MicroActs 16. London, UK. (2023) /
ONLINE PREMIERE:
IN DEVELOPMENT 2024
Short films / Feature Films / Documentary / Narrative / 2024
In development with a slate of fresh projects.
Nostalgic trips, wild teenagers and rose-tinted glasses...new films coming soon!
Photo credit: Matthew Smith
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Trained at Camberwell College of Arts, University of Brighton & The Royal College of Art she has a background in immersive theatre and fashion photography.
Her largest immersive theatre show was commissioned by Emily Eavis for Glastonbury Festival and toured the UK for five years. She also co-founded We Are Photogirls, a fashion photography organisation empowering girls from all walks of life to redefine ‘beauty’, publishing the The DIY Fashion Shoot Book with Laurence King.
She is an Associate Lecturer on BA (Hons) Performance: Design and Practice at Central Saint Martins, London and a WFTV member.
Contact: celiawillis@gmail.com
In development with a slate of fresh projects.
Nostalgic trips, wild teenagers and rose-tinted glasses...new films coming soon!
Photo credit: Matthew Smith
Celia Willis is a writer/director/producer telling offbeat stories of quiet personal revolution. Her filmmaking mixes up fashion photography aesthetic, documentary, scripts and devised theatre making techniques. Collaboration, shared curiosity and excavating a story as a team, she nurtures talent both professional and street cast.
Her first short film MAGICLAND (2019) was commissioned by Channel 4’s Random Acts, and has screened at film festivals worldwide.
Award-winning short film VENETIAN MEN (2022) premiered in Best Documentary Short Film Competition at Academy Qualifying & BAFTA recognised Flickerfest 31st International Short Film Festival, Australia (Jan 2022), with other festival highlights including Aesthetica and Underwire.
BOYS (2023) a film collaboration with award-winning theatre company The PappyShow highlighted screenings include The Barbican, Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival and Bolton Film Festival (BAFTA qualifying).
Her first short film MAGICLAND (2019) was commissioned by Channel 4’s Random Acts, and has screened at film festivals worldwide.
Award-winning short film VENETIAN MEN (2022) premiered in Best Documentary Short Film Competition at Academy Qualifying & BAFTA recognised Flickerfest 31st International Short Film Festival, Australia (Jan 2022), with other festival highlights including Aesthetica and Underwire.
BOYS (2023) a film collaboration with award-winning theatre company The PappyShow highlighted screenings include The Barbican, Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival and Bolton Film Festival (BAFTA qualifying).
Trained at Camberwell College of Arts, University of Brighton & The Royal College of Art she has a background in immersive theatre and fashion photography.
Her largest immersive theatre show was commissioned by Emily Eavis for Glastonbury Festival and toured the UK for five years. She also co-founded We Are Photogirls, a fashion photography organisation empowering girls from all walks of life to redefine ‘beauty’, publishing the The DIY Fashion Shoot Book with Laurence King.
She is an Associate Lecturer on BA (Hons) Performance: Design and Practice at Central Saint Martins, London and a WFTV member.
Contact: celiawillis@gmail.com