Hello! My name’s Ash Williams, and I’m proud to be one of the organisers of the Fakenham Film Festival and Competition.

I’ve been passionate about films for as long as I can remember. From creating Lego stop-motion shorts as a child to crafting social documentaries in the Guatemalan highlands, my journey with filmmaking has been as rich as it has been varied. My experiences span professional, personal, and educational realms, giving me a deep appreciation for the art of storytelling through film.

I began my career in corporate and educational video production, but it was my work with students and school groups—helping young people bring their ideas to life on screen—that truly ignited my passion for teaching. Today, I’m the Senior Teacher at Burnham Market Primary School, where filmmaking and animation have become cornerstones of the school’s creative ethos.

Over the years, my dedication to both film and education has been recognized with several awards, including winning Best Picture at multiple film festivals. In 2022, I was honored to be nominated as Teacher of the Year at the Into Film Awards—a moment that underscored my belief in the transformative power of storytelling for young minds.

Since moving to North Norfolk in 2023, I’ve continued to create films while seeking opportunities to celebrate the region’s filmmaking talent. Becoming involved with the Fakenham Film Festival has been an incredible way to do just that. I’m excited to help shine a spotlight on the creativity and skill of local filmmakers and to foster a thriving community of storytellers here in this beautiful part of the world.

Hannah Brodie is a full time photographer and videographer based in Norwich covering weddings, commercial and family shoots. Hannah describes her work as candid, colourful and authentic. “I love getting to know people and the variety that my job brings” says Hannah. 

“My roots are from Fakenham, I attended high school, Brownies, Guides etc here. I have previously enjoyed filming content for Active Fakenham’s events over the years. In fact one of my career highlights was having one of my short films shown before the trailers at Fakenham cinema  I’m very much looking forward to coming back to photograph this years Red Carpet Event”.

https://www.hannahbrodie.co.uk/

David is a relatively new and amateur photographer based in Norfolk. He enjoys the process of taking photographs and the experiences and memories that photography brings as he sees a photograph as a snapshot of a moment in a story. David edits his own photos and is interested in improving his Light Room skills. David currently likes to focus on daily life and finds street photography fascinating. David is 14 and a Year 10 student at Fakenham Academy and his photos depict the Raft and Duck Races in 2024

Active Fakenham is a small voluntary group and works with local clubs, organisations and businesses to initiate, organise and promote activities that enrich the health and wellbeing of Fakenham’s residents and visitors.  It has no ongoing funding and no paid staff.

As well as organising events and activities Active Fakenham works to support local businesses and local talent.  Over the years it has worked with and commissioned local people, especially younger people, to document our events.  Some of these are featured in the 2024 Fakenham Film Festival.

Active Fakenham was set up by Richard Crook in 2012 and Richard continues to be the driving force behind the organisation.

Creative Arts East is a community arts charity working across rural Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, aiming to make creativity accessible and available to more people in more places, strengthening their personal & social outcomes as a result. 

Partnering with diverse communities and artists to co-design excellent and inclusive programmes that attract people to get involved, we develop creative practice and distribution models which really work for rural and disadvantaged audiences.

Find out more at www.creativeartseast.co.uk

Founded in 2002 Fakenham & District Community Archive are an enthusiastic group of volunteers who through public donations are dedicated to building and maintaining a digital photographic and oral history archive of pictures and memories from Fakenham and nearby villages.

We meet regularly in Fakenham Parish Church on the last Tuesday of each month from 2.00 - 4.00 pm. where you are invited to join us for a sociable couple of hours of friendly chat and reminiscing over a cup of tea and a biscuit.

At our meetings you can bring photos for scanning into the archive - which will immediately be returned, watch a slideshow, browse photo albums, scrapbooks and documents, listen to recordings of people recounting their memories or search the whole archive on our laptops https://fakenhamcommunityarchive.weebly.com/

The Society was set up in the summer of 2011.  We are a local non-profit society created for the enjoyment and appreciation of film, showing classic, foreign and contemporary films at the historic Central Cinema in Fakenham, Norfolk UK 

Membership for the season is £10 and each film night costs £5.00 for members and £7.00 for non-members. 10 films are shown in each season which runs from January to December, with a break of two months in July and August. Please note for 2024 a film will be shown in July and a further break will occur in December.  Films are screened at 7.30pm on the 2nd Thursday of the month (unless this clashes with a live stream event).

You can join the Society at any of the Society’s film nights at the Central Cinema, Fakenham.