Established
2016
The festival began as a dedicated setting for moving image work within contemporary art.
About the Festival
A critical platform for artists working with moving image
The BF Artist Film Festival was established in 2016 by curator Beth Fox to give artists working with moving image the opportunity to have their films screened in a cinema setting.
Curated by
Beth Fox
Curator Beth Fox founded the festival and continues to shape its programme.
Selected by
Open Call
The programme is open to national and international artists and selected through open call.
Purpose
Bringing moving image into focus
Although video art now appears in degree shows, commercial exhibitions and international biennales, it can still be overlooked in a gallery setting.
The festival responds by presenting films in a cinema environment and by supporting early and mid-career artists nationally and internationally.
- Cinema settings. Films are offered the opportunity to be screened in their entirety.
- New audiences. The festival aims to engage audiences beyond established gallery settings.
- Varied opportunities. Screening formats are developed with national and international artist-led spaces.
- Collaborative curation. Each programme is shaped through open call and curatorial selection.
Partnerships
National and international artist-led spaces
The festival has partnered with artist-led spaces across the UK and abroad to present selected moving image work.
- The Bomb Factory Art Foundation
- Art Week Exeter
- SET
- East Bristol Contemporary
- Serf Leeds
- GRAFT Lancaster
- Nottingham Trent University
- nodoCCS Venezuela
- Pixelache Festival Helsinki
- Art Licks London
The BF Artist Film Festival is described as a critical platform for artists working with moving image, offering screening opportunities to early and mid-career artists both nationally and internationally. Since its establishment in 2016, the festival has operated as a dedicated setting for moving image work within contemporary art, treating the cinema as a space where film, video, and installation-adjacent practices can be encountered by audiences in a focused, shared environment.
The programme is curated by the festival's founder, Beth Fox, who continues to shape its direction and selection. Alongside the curatorial strand, works are selected through an open call that welcomes entries from artists across the country and abroad, making the festival's archive a record of the range of experimental practice, narrative, documentary, essay, animation, and collage currently being produced in the moving image field.
The festival's wider context includes collaborations with arts spaces, cultural projects, and community organisations, as well as connections with venues and platforms in cities such as London, Bristol, and Leeds. These partnerships extend the conversation around artist film beyond a single event, supporting audiences and helping artists develop their practice, find opportunities, and share work in a cinema setting with a curious and engaged public.
The festival also runs project-based and career development strands, including workshops, labs, and mentorship activity for participating artists, alongside a curated set of screenings and premieres. By combining open calls, curated programmes, and practical support, the BF Artist Film Festival positions itself as both a showcase for new moving image work and a lasting institutional resource for the artists, spaces, and audiences that make up the contemporary media landscape.