Bute Street Festival

🎥 NEW EPISODE ALERT! 🎬
We’re sitting down with the incredibly talented Jasbir Nangla, one half of the team behind the gripping documentary The Tipping Point 🎞️✨ Jasbir takes us behind the scenes of his first-ever festival screening at the BIFA-qualifying Bute Street Festival – talk about a baptism of fire! 🔥🔥

Get the inside scoop on his creative journey, what inspired the film, and some EXCLUSIVE news on what’s coming next 👀✨

Don’t miss this one! Head to our YouTube page for the full convo! 🎧👊

In Conversation With... Jasbir Nangla Join us for an exciting episode of 'In Conversation With' featuring the talented filmmaker Jasbir Nangla, one half of the creative duo behind the powerful do...

🎬 Calling all filmmakers! ⏳ The Early Bird submissions for Bute Street Festival close on October 4th, 2024! Don’t miss your chance to submit via FilmFreeway and take advantage of the low submission fees before time runs out! 🔥🎥

Kickstart your Monday with some motivation! Last Friday, our Bute Street team hit the town for Revoluton Arts Public Trust opening event, where we proudly pledged: “We promise to make Luton a cultural and creative destination.”

Can you believe it’s been a month since we announced the Bute Street Festival 2024 winners? Lutonians brought a wave of support for their creatives and we warmly welcomed filmmakers from all over which made an insanely diverse lineup of short films. We’re excited to see what’s next for 2025 (feels wild even saying that). If you’re a filmmaker, now’s your chance to get involved—film submissions are officially open, and you can enter for just £10/$13! 🎬

Click here - https://filmfreeway.com/ButeStreetFilmFestival

🎉 Bute Street Festival is back with another epic episode of 'In Conversation With'! 🎙️ This time, we caught up with the amazing team at Revoluton Arts during the festival to dive deep into all things creativity! ✨

From their amazing commissioned short film documentary ‘Made in Luton’ with Sonia Chowdhury, to the importance of creating opportunities and finding meaningful collaborations, this chat is packed with inspiration and insights you won't want to miss! 🚀

🎥 Tap into the creative minds behind Revoluton and get ready to be inspired! For the full conversation click the link below! 🔥

In Conversation With... Revoluton 🎨 Join us for an inspiring episode of 'In Conversation With' as we sit down with the amazing team from Revoluton! 🎨Revoluton is shaking up the arts scene i...

We’re thrilled to share that Bute Street Projects has been awarded a significant grant as part of the Thameslink and Great Northern Rail “Your Station, Your Community” fund! This year, 37 impactful community-led social and environmental initiatives—an impressive 20% increase from last year.

Out of over 200 applicants, we’re honoured to be among the selected charities and community groups across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, London, East and West Sussex, and Brighton & Hove. Our Youth Film Programme, focused on engaging young people in film, music, art, and cultural heritage projects, will benefit from this generous funding.

Other grant recipients include Stevenage FC Foundation, launching a programme to address anti-social behaviour in schools, and Bedford Citizens’ Advice, starting a new outreach service for homeless individuals. We’re excited to contribute to positive change in our community alongside these incredible organisations!

🎬 Film Nights Are BACK! 🥳

As Hat Factory Associates we’re beyond excited to kick off the season with two quirky, must-see short films that’ll have you talking long after the credits roll. And in true Bute Street style, we’re following it up with an exclusive Q&A with the filmmakers! 🎥✨

If Halloween isn’t your vibe and you’re searching for something unique and cool to do on the 31st of October, this is it. Mark your calendar, because this is one event you won’t want to miss!

🎟️ Tickets are on sale now—grab yours through the link below before they’re gone!

https://www.culturetrust.com/whats-on/bute-street-film-night

To continue the feel-good feeling, film submissions for Bute Street Festival 2025 are now open! You can take advantage of our early bird fees via our page on FilmFreeway ✨️

The final set of awards feature our two new awards for Bute Street Festival 2024! The Hat Factory Award and the Thameslink Award. The winners are as follows:

Thameslink Award - Olana Light

Hat Factory Award - Mary Hearne

Justin John Doherty Indie Spirit Award - Vika Evdokimenko

Directors Choice Award - James Curle & Linda Ludwig

Wow, can you believe it’s already Friday? This time last week we were halfway through the festival—where did the week go?! Here’s a quick throwback to last Saturday, where we had an amazing time with all the fabulous people who attended. We were thrilled to have and join us for their scriptwriting surgery. It’s been incredible to create such an intimate space for films, music, and art, where creators can truly connect with an audience and witness the impact of their work firsthand. Don’t miss out on Bute Street Festival 2025.

Our Music Showcase will be concluding each evening of our festival this weekend! Check our artists tagged profiles and be sure to get your tickets!

THURSDAY 1ST AUGUST



FRIDAY 2ND AUGUST



SATURDAY 3RD AUGUST

Artist Q&A announcement
(Part 2)

We have a nice lineup of workshops, talks, and now Q&As with exhibiting artists to exist alongside The Labour of Care exhibition.

Saturday 3 August

arts

Artist Q&A announcement ✨️🎤
(Part 1)

Whether you know (of) them already or want to get to know them better, you're in luck! We have a series of Q&A's with exhibiting artists to fill up your cup of intrigue.

Thursday 1 August
/

Friday 2 August

Sew N Sew ()

We have Jaixia Blue coming down on Saturday, 3 August, to run a workshop, Meditative Collage, that "connects to themes of home and heritage through a meditative abstract collage workshop."

Bio:

Jaixia Blue is a West London born storyteller across multiple mediums, including music, poerty, and textile art. Through her printed textile project, Jigsaw Heritage, Jaixia, reflects on her grandmother's journey from Jamaica to London during the Windrush period, exploring their relationship and shared heritage through fragmented memories and handwritten musings. The project has been exhibited as a solo show in galleries and museums across London.

Tickets are available to purchase via butestreetfilmfestival.com.

Images courtesy of

'In the Making of... (The Luton Mural)', Silvia Lerin, a multidisciplinary artist shares her artistic journey that brought her from Spain to Luton, to play a significant part in the regeneration of the town through her vibrant mural art.

Bio:

My work comprises mostly painting and installations, and both are based on the manipulation of the material through folds, cuts, and superpositions, creating shapes until a balance in the composition is achieved.

For me, physical engagement with the material to transmit experiences and ideas is vital. Through investigating the material and its expressive possibilities I create works that suggest objects, places or emotions that I have previously experienced and that its unhurried observation triggers a reconnaissance of the object, the place or the emotion that inspired it via new paths of the imagination, in this sense the titles of the works either give a hint or are clearly a declaration of intentions.

Tickets are available to purchase now via www.butestreetfilmfestival.com

Images courtesy of Silvia Lerin

Join Davinia Clarke at BSF's 2024 festival for her 'Loving the Mundane: Mono-printing Workshop' on Thursday, 1st August.

"We will be working on creating images that bring us peace, joy, and appreciate the mundane moments in life in connection to the [exhibition] theme, 'Labour of Care'."

Bio:

London-based artist Davinia Clarke creates artwork of contemporary situations that evoke feelings of nostalgia. Specialising in digital painting and mono-screen-print, with a passion for energising colours and patterns. There will be moments when digital and analogue methods collide in her practice to capture the essence of the world around her in a vibrant way. Her work aims to encourage creativity, empower and educate herself and others.

Tickets are available to purchase now via butestreetfilmfestival.com

Image courtesy of Davinia Clarke

📣📣📣...

BSF are looking for volunteers to support our upcoming festival.

Responsibilities include (but are not exclusive to):

• Gallery invigilation - providing a warm welcome, enhancing visitor experience, and maintaining the space,

• Taking care of festival sponsors, exhibiting artists, musicians, filmmakers, etc,

• Being a point of call for visitor inquiries.

If you are interested, email us at [email protected] 📨

The deadline to apply is Monday, 22 July. 📍

As we are coming closer to our 6th annual festival, it felt fitting to show appreciation for our sponsors who help to make all of this possible...

Luton Rising
Thameslink
The Culture Trust Luton
Luton Heights Lettings

✨ Announcement ✨

We’re thrilled to add 3 new awards to our lineup:

* The Thameslink art award,
* The Hat Factory award,
* The Justin John Doherty Indie Spirit award

These will be presented alongside our longstanding awards:

* Best Short Film Award,
* Breakthrough Film Award,
* Best Artist Award,
* Best Music Video Award,
* Festival Directors Pick

We’re gearing up for an exciting year!
To get your tickets, click the link below…⭐️

butestreetfilmfestival.com

If you see our official festival poster fly by, take a photo and make sure to tag us 🤗.

Tickets still available via butestreetfilmfestival.com

✨️Exhibition Announcement✨️

We are thrilled to announce the group exhibition, "The Labour of Care", taking place 1st - 3rd August 2024 at The Hat Factory, LU1 2EY.

🗓 Dates and Times:
Thursday, 1st August: 5 PM - 10 PM
Friday, 2nd August: 5 PM - 10 PM
Saturday, 3rd August: 12 PM - 5 PM

📍 Location: The Hat Factory Arts Centre, 65 - 67 Bute Street, Luton, LU1 2EY

Amidst the clamour for productivity and progress, the profound significance of care can often be overlooked. Join us to pause and reflect on the multifaceted nature of care, acknowledging it as both an individual responsibility and a collective endeavour. Each piece serves as a testament to the resilience and strength inherent in acts of care, as well as the vulnerability and fragility that accompany them.

This exhibition is part of the annual Bute Street Festival, which also features film screenings, live music, talks, and creative workshops. Don't miss this opportunity to engage with thought-provoking art and connect with the creative community.

Tickets are available via butestreetfilmfestival.com!