Student’s documentary gets festival screening

A student film showcasing a Lincoln community project has been selected for a Nottingham film festival.

The documentary created through a partnership between the City of Lincoln Council and the University of Lincoln was screened at the eMerge Student Film Festival on March 23.

The film was produced by MA Film Production student Alfie Schoffield as part of a university module delivered in collaboration with the council and Lincoln Arts Centre.

As part of the module, students were required to create documentary films highlighting community groups and organisations across Lincoln.

Alfie’s film features Lynn Ritson, a volunteer at the Dawber Gardens, and forms part of the In Their Words: Women on Film” initiative. This series of short documentaries showcases women driving community change in the voluntary sector and is supported by Arts Council England.

The documentary also forms part of the wider ‘Our Communities – Documenting Lincoln’ repository, produced through the Creative & Civic Partnership, a collaboration between the City of Lincoln Council, University of Lincoln School of Creative Arts and Lincoln Arts Centre.

This partnership gives students the opportunity to work on live briefs, creating films that showcase the wider Lincoln community, and the impact of externally funded projects across the city.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund has supported a range of initiatives in Lincoln aimed at building pride in place and improving life opportunities. Locally, this has included the Community Grants Scheme, launched in 2024 with support from Investors in Lincoln.

The Dawber Garden Community Trust was successful in receiving funding through the UKSPF Community Grants scheme and utilised the funding to build accessible raised beds, which were recently enjoyed by students at St Francis Special School.

Alfie said: “It was an absolute pleasure to work with Lynn and both research and learn about her work and how best to portray that on-screen, keeping the focus on her work whilst still showcasing the Dawber Gardens. I think In Their Words: Lynn Ritson is some of my best work, and I'm very glad it is being shown at EMerge, so more people can see the hard work Lynn and the other volunteers have put into the Dawber Gardens.”

The eMerge Student Film Festival is a short film and documentary festival hosted at Nottingham Trent University showcasing a selection of student work chosen by a panel of industry judges.

Films from the 2025/26 screening will be uploaded to Our Communities: Documenting Lincoln - Lincoln Arts Centre shortly.