
About Folkestone Documentary Festival
Conceived out of the monthly Doc Club held at The Silver Screen, and created by former programmer at the Harbour Screen James Collie, the festival was created in 2021 to celebrate documentary in all its forms, from social issues to culture to the environment and nature, or just great real stories, with community collaborations at the heart of programming.
Open to all, whether doc lovers or people new to documentary, whether public or industry. Come to the Kent seaside for a weekend of documentary films, discussions, walks and parties.
The Team
Charlie Phillips
Artistic Director
charlie@folkestonedocumentaryfestival.co.ukCharlie is a documentary film producer, commissioner, programmer, and consultant. He works with documentary makers from all across the world as producer and consultant on creative and financing strategies. As Head of Stories, he commissions all short documentaries for Lyfta, an immersive learning platform for schools, featuring storyworlds including documentaries about inspiring real human stories. Charlie was previously the Head of Video at The Guardian, overseeing all moving image for the Guardian's platforms, including its award-winning documentaries.
James Collie
James has a wide range of documentary experience which includes producing with Violet Pictures, programming (Folkestone Doc Club, Harbour Screen), film education (Screen South, South East Creatives, Kent Film Foundation) and cinema distribution. He is now based in Melbourne, Australia and served as the artistic director for the festival in 2021/22.
Jess Reilly
Programmer
jess@folkestonedocumentaryfestival.co.ukJess is a programmer for Folkestone Documentary Festival, working with the team to pull together a brilliant set of documentaries. She's also the Acquisitions/Sales Manager at Together Films.
Lisa Hobbs
Festival Producer
lisa@folkestonedocumentaryfestival.co.ukLisa is a graduate of NYU Film School. She has worked in the performing arts in Special Events Fundraising with The Brooklyn Academy of Music, American Ballet Theatre, and more recently The Henley Festival and The Henley International Film Festival. She has experience in creating, implementing, and managing patron and membership-based funding streams based around events.