School of Film & Television students submit short films into Straight 8 competition
24 February 2026
Credit: Ruby Cooper and Ruthie Brooks-Steele
Three short films produced by students from Falmouth's School of Film & Television (SoFT) have been entered into Straight 8, an independent filmmaking competition with direct links to Cannes Film Festival.
Many acclaimed filmmakers including Edgar Wright and Alice Lowe began their journeys with Straight 8, which first launched in 1999 and has since invited filmmakers to use the Super 8 mm format to make short films and enter them into the annual competition.
After a masterclass visit from Straight 8 founder Ed Sayers on Penryn Campus, Falmouth lecturer and former Straight 8 Top Eight winner Dean Puckett, alongside his producing partner Rebecca Wolff at Grasp The Nettle Films, whittled 29 student submissions down to just three to be entered into this year’s competition. Each year the successful films premiere at the Cannes Film Festival or at the Straight 8 Top 25 IMAX screening in central London.
All three selected films were crewed and successfully shot over a ten-day period, with guidance and support from Dean and the SoFT team. For the Straight 8 competition, filmmakers must shoot their film on a single roll of Super 8mm film, in-camera, with no post-production edits. Sound and music are added separately a week later, and the roll is then sent off to Straight 8 without the filmmakers initially seeing what they’ve shot.
Dean told us: “The teams worked brilliantly and professionally, producing work to an impressive standard. This is an incredible opportunity for our students to showcase inventive and resourceful filmmaking to a large international audience. We’ll keep you posted on how our entrants get on!”
The selected films
The first film chosen is BA(Hons) Film student Gwyn Horn’s film Big Dick, a comedy exploring the simultaneously toxic and romantic consequences of men trying to ‘big dick’ each other.
Gwyn told us: “Straight 8 has helped me become bolder in my filmmaking. Every shot and action has to be deliberate and can’t be taken back, which has made me more decisive and confident. I’m really grateful that my Straight 8 film and entry were funded, as I wouldn’t otherwise have had the means to take part.”
MA Feature Filmmaking student Sonny Barton’s film Tickle has also been chosen, a short which tells the tale of a harmless display of affection turning deadly when a boyfriend tickles his girlfriend for the first time.
Sonny shared: “Straight 8 was valuable to me because it strips everything back. There’s no safety net, no fixing it later — you just have to commit. That pressure really suited Tickle, which is all about escalation and pushing something playful too far.”
The final film chosen for submission is Drinking Buddies, a collaboration between BA(Hons) Television & Film Production students Esme Cornish and Ollie McCartney in which a young boy is taken to the beach by a group of masked captors, never to be seen again – until the truth is unveiled over a pint.
Esme reflected: “I learnt so much from taking part in Straight 8. The induction onto the Super 8 cameras through SoFT was invaluable, not just for the shoot but beyond. As I don’t usually work in the camera department, it was incredibly educational to get hands-on with Super 8 and learn about different film stocks. We filmed Drinking Buddies in one weekend, and it was the perfect test of adaptability.”
Winning films will be announced in May 2026 on the Straight 8 website and via Instagram.
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