Oska Bright Film Festival is the world’s leading festival celebrating films made by or featuring people with learning disabilities or autism, championing greater inclusion across the film industry. Funded by the BFI and supported by industry partners, Oska Bright delivers a BAFTA-qualifying festival alongside year-round training, mentoring and skills development.

In partnership with digital arts charity Lighthouse, Oska Bright is delivering a 12-month mentoring programme to support two emerging members of the festival’s programming team. Each participant is carefully matched with an industry mentor and supported to develop a tailored action plan focused on building skills, confidence and career progression. The programme strengthens long-term pathways for learning disabled and autistic film professionals.

Lizzie Banks, Oska Bright’s Deputy Artistic Director, said:

“We’re absolutely delighted to be continuing our partnership with Lighthouse this year. Building on the success of previous mentoring programmes together, we’re really excited to be able to offer this opportunity to other members of our learning disabled festival team and connect them with industry support, helping them take their work to the next level.”

Our first mentor/mentee pairing brings together Charlie Little (Mentor) and Kirsty Pentecost (Mentee),  two brilliant voices championing accessibility, inclusion and creativity in film.

Kirsty Pentecost is Chair of Trustees at Carousel and a member of the Oska Bright team. Kirsty helps curate the Oska Bright festival, reviews film submissions and supports the running of the festival week. In its last edition, Kirsty helped create the F-rated Wild Women strand to highlight female learning disabled filmmakers. Taking on a more recent role of Access Lead, Kirsty is developing the accessibility of the event through introducing sensory elements.  During the festival’s touring year, Kirsty hosts film screenings, presentations, and delivers workshops as part of Oska Bright DIY. She says, “working on Oska Bright has helped me to do everything I never thought I was able to do. Public speaking and running workshops in schools have helped me to step out of my comfort zone”.

Mentoring Kirsty is Charlie Little (they/she), an Access Consultant at Matchbox Cine, supporting film exhibitors and film organisations on access and inclusion for Deaf and disabled audiences. Charlie brings their lived experience of deafblindness to their work, advocating for a meaningful, intersectional, and holistic approach towards access across film exhibition.  Outside of their access consultancy, Charlie is an independent film programmer and has programmed for cinemas and festivals, including Edinburgh Filmhouse, BFI Busting the Bias, and BFI We Crip Film Festival. They also co-programme Deaf Action’s BSL Film Club and are part of the collective behind Leith Kino, a community cinema in Edinburgh. Their writing on disability in cinema has been featured in Little White Lies, Girls On Tops, Slate and The Skinny.

Charlie Little: @alittleoutlook (IG) and Charlie Little (LinkedIn)
Matchbox Cine: @matchbox_cineclub (IG)

We’ll be announcing details of more mentoring partnerships over the coming months, so stay tuned!

• Dates: Saturday 28 March - Thursday 2 April 2026
• Times: Times in the programme indicate the start of the screening and all doors open half an hour before.
• Venues: Brighton Dome Corn Exchange, Studio Theatre, Sea Lanes Clubhouse, The Rose Hill, Dukes at Komedia
• Tickets start at £6. For some screenings there is a small booking fee

To see the full programme and buy tickets, visit oskabright.org 

Oska Bright is committed to making their screenings as accessible as  possible. All screenings will be subtitled and relaxed.  Some screenings will be BSL interpreted, see their website for more information.

OBFF is the world’s leading festival for films made by or featuring learning disabled or autistic people, run by disability-led arts organisation Carousel, which supports learning disabled artists to flourish and be celebrated.

Supported by the BFI and Arts Council England, they produce the BAFTA and BIFA-qualifying festival, deliver accessible screenings, and nurture the next generation of filmmakers.