Feeling disillusioned with the treatment of filmmakers at many film festivals, Colin O’Reilly decided to try things another way.

Beginning with a small committee at the Quarterhouse in Folkestone, he teamed up with local creatives including fellow filmmaker Ben Barton (founder of Kent Kino) and the FFF was born. Submissions opened for the inaugural events on FilmFreeway.

Over Christmas and spring, we planned our first series of live screening events.

We started small. To showcase some of the first films sent in to our brand-new festival, we began a series of pop-up screenings in venues around our seaside town of Folkestone.

This included screening events at local music venues and pubs, and even at F51, the world's first multi-storey skatepark.

But as the number of submissions grew, so did we.

By the summertime, our monthly pop-up screening events had become a huge success, with many directors attending in person for Q&As and networking, while people from Folkestone and beyond joined us to watch brand-new films that they couldn’t see anywhere else.

In July, we held our first ever Gala screening and awards ceremony. We packed out the Quarterhouse, a premier venue in Folkestone, followed by our first-ever after party and celebration event.

As our first full year as a festival came to a close, we had received over 600 submissions from filmmakers all over the world.

It was clear we needed to expand.

We decided to run two seasons every year – spring and autumn. This meant we could showcase more films at our regular pop-ups, and at our bigger Gala events.

In November 2024, we held our second Gala, this time at the beautiful Silver Screen Cinema in Folkestone. This art deco cinema has since become the heart of our festival.

By 2025, we continued to grow. Our monthly screening events continued to be very popular, and we received a record number of submissions.

Feedback told us we are one of the friendlist and most welcoming film festivals in the UK, something which makes us feel exceptionally proud.

Season 3 and Season 4 also included a Gala event, held at the stunning Silver Screen Cinema.

As we entered the new year, more events continued, and FFF had become a must-attend event in Folkestone, and for the filmmaking community nationwide.

Using feedback from film directors, producers, screenwriters and actors, we grew Season 5 and held more local screenings, culminating in a large festival held over two weeks. This included six screenings, including our latest Gala at the Silver Screen.