La Femme Independent FF Official Competition 2

La Femme Independent Festival aims to empower women and promote inclusivity, diversity, and equality. We believe that celebrating women's achievements and contributions will inspire future generations and create a more just society. Join us!

We invite you to join us for an enchanting week of film screenings, Q&A sessions with directors and actors, and exciting events. Our festival celebrates the art of storytelling and the power of cinema to inspire, entertain, and educate. From independent films to international blockbusters, we showcase the best of the best.  

The 2026 festival event at Riverside Studios in January will also feature a celebration of Diane Abbott and her acceptance of the La Femme Honorary Award, recognizing her pioneering achievements as the first Black woman in the UK Parliament and her tireless advocacy to support women and minorities, highlighting her remarkable accomplishments as a trailblazing and successful woman.

Ticket prices are £13 Full Price / £11 Concession / £9 Under 25 + £2 booking fee if you book online or over the phone. There is no booking fee if you book in person.

Shorts lineup:

I Am Eternatura | Lean on Me (dir: Marc James Hamill) - 4m

A series of powerful and dynamic visuals showcasing women in sports and activities.

Each scene highlights the women's strength, focus, and passion.

Eternatura's message, 'You can lean on me,' is a statement of commitment, care, and support.

Malli Kaluddam | Let's Meet Again (dir: Arpith Kandlakunta) - 21m

Malli Kaluddam follows Akash, a solitary poet living in London, whose chance encounter with Megha after a spilled coffee leads to an unexpectedly intimate afternoon. As they wander the city, sharing vulnerability, humour, and unspoken longing, time seems to pause. Through imagined parallel timelines, the film explores how the same moment can lead to connection, separation, or loss. Rooted in impermanence and choice, Malli Kalludam is a quiet meditation on timing, fate, and the hope that some meetings are never truly final.

Sagah (dir: Maité Lonne, Gaël Maleux) - 13m  

After filing a complaint, Sagah is summoned to the police station. But how do you recount the unspeakable when you're suffering from complex post-traumatic stress disorder?

Impure (dir: Xavier Mesme) - 13m

Years after Cristèle’s sudden disappearance, Mahé reunites with her lost love in the abandoned Catholic boarding school where they once studied. Their reunion rekindles a troubled past: their homosexual love affair interrupted by the unsolved murder of Anissa, their mutual friend. To Mahé’s shock, Cristèle reveals that her father, the strict

former headmaster, had locked her in a conversion camp to “cure” her of her sexuality. But the joy of their reunion turns into a nightmare when he unexpectedly appears. Hiding, Mahé uncovers his involvement in Anissa’s murder. As she tries to escape, her phone betrays her, triggering a deadly game of hide and seek.

Ikaw Mag-Sabi  (dir: Jelwen Arconado Arlantico) - 4m

Ikaw Mag-Sabi portrays the invisible burden faced by many children of migrant families: becoming a bridge between two languages and two cultures too soon. The protagonist, a Filipino girl, having learned the language of the host country before her mother, becomes her translator in daily life. What seem to be simple tasks — accompanying her mother to the supermarket, answering phone calls, or helping with school procedures — soon transform into a disproportionate responsibility. The girl must translate even in critical situations, such as medical appointments, where every word matters and any mistake can have serious consequences.

The short film delicately shows how this constant mediation displaces family roles: the daughter assumes adult functions while the mother, vulnerable due to the language barrier, depends on her. Amidst silences, gestures, and the intimacy of the home, the emotional cost of bearing a responsibility that doesn't belong to childhood is revealed. Ikaw Mag-Sabi not only showcases the experience of thousands of cultural mediator children but also invites reflection on the invisible impact of migration on family ties and on the construction of identity.

The post-screening panellists:

I Am Eternatura (Lean on Me) - Richard R West

Malli Kaluddam (Let's Meet Again) - Arpith Kandlakunta (Director)

British director Martin Piers Dunkerton

Martin Piers Dunkerton

British award-winning producer-director Martin Piers Dunkerton directed globally for the BBC and Channel 4 before his first movie with James Bond editor John Grover for UK cinemas. Martin moved to Los Angeles for 20 years and recently created a bridge between Hollywood and Bollywood, developing 5 movies - all filmed musicals for cinema - the first of which is now funded ($22M) and readying for production; LOVE DRAGONS, a British-Indian CoProduction to be filmed in London, Belfast, Mumbai and Kathmandu. Martin has been invited to speak twice at the House of Lords, London, about bringing the USA-UK-India together commercially & culturally via cinema.