A film festival is one of the few events where a new writer or video creator can produce a burst of timely, searchable work in a short window, and meet the people whose films they are writing about. The 45th Cambridge Film Festival, from 22 October to 1 November 2026, is a good one to practise on: large enough to matter, compact enough to cover properly, and generous to new voices.
Here is a plan in three stages.
Before - three weeks to the first screening
Know the basics cold. The festival was founded in 1977 and is run by the Cambridge Film Trust, a registered charity. Its main venue is the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse on St Andrew's Street, with other venues in the city. It is BAFTA- and BIFA-qualifying. The organisers describe the 2026 edition as nearly 100 titles from more than 25 countries, with more than half of the films directed by women. Getting these facts right in your first post is what separates coverage from reposting.
Mark 30 September. That is the day the full programme is published. The first useful piece you can publish is a considered shortlist, not a copy of the press release: which five films you are going to see and why. Readers use shortlists to plan their own festival, so this is the post most likely to be found and shared.
Choose a lane. Covering everything produces thin work. Pick an angle you can sustain for eleven days: documentaries, debut features, films directed by women, family films, or films with Cambridge connections. The festival's own structure suggests several of these. Its jury prize, the Golden Punt, is for the best discovery feature, which makes debuts a natural lane.
Understand what makes a screening newsworthy. Only films having their UK premiere at the festival can win its audience awards, for fiction, documentary and short film. A UK premiere with a filmmaker Q&A is the kind of screening where you can report something nobody else has yet.
During - eleven days, two weekends
Publish while the film is on screen. A review that goes out the night of the screening is read by people deciding whether to catch the second showing. A review published three weeks later is mostly read by nobody. Short and fast beats long and late during the festival itself; save the long essay for afterwards.
Use the Q&As. Screenings with filmmakers present are where your coverage becomes original. Note the questions that got a real answer. Quote accurately, and if you record, ask first.
Keep one format consistent. A recognisable format makes a series: the same structure for every review, the same short verdict line, the same image style. Consistency is what turns fifteen posts into a body of work.
Disclose what should be disclosed. If you received a press pass, a free ticket or any other benefit, say so plainly. Readers forgive a lot but not hidden arrangements, and editors check.
Mind the images. Film stills and posters belong to distributors. Use official press materials only where their terms allow, or your own photographs of places and events, or openly licensed images with the credit their licence requires.
After - turn coverage into a portfolio
Write the round-up. Once the award winners are announced, publish a round-up: your best films, the winners and what the programme said about the year. A round-up that includes the winners keeps being found long after the festival ends.
Collect the work in one place. Fifteen scattered posts are hard to show an editor. One page with your festival coverage, a short introduction and links to the best three pieces is what you send when you pitch.
Look at the festival's own routes in. The Cambridge Film Festival runs CFF Reel Voices with Anglia Ruskin University, a mentoring scheme for emerging film journalists and critics with workshops, one-to-one support, early access to screenings and published reviews. Its CFF Youth Lab, for 16 to 24-year-olds, offers discussion groups, workshops and career support, and its members judge an award. If your own coverage this year goes well, these are the natural next step for next year.
A short checklist
- Facts checked against the official festival site, not against other blogs
- Shortlist post published within a day or two of 30 September
- One sustainable lane, one consistent format
- Reviews published within 24 hours of each screening
- Benefits disclosed, images properly licensed
- Round-up after the awards, and one portfolio page linking your best work
The festival is eleven days long. Planned well, the work you publish in those eleven days can keep working for a year.
Festival dates and details from the Cambridge Film Festival website, checked 11 September 2026.
Image: director Sally Potter at the 2023 Cambridge Film Festival. Photo: Kitsonian / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
