Stepping Into the Frame: Becoming the Creative Director of the Recovery Street Film Festival

I’m beyond excited (and, if I’m honest, a little bit in awe)  that I’m stepping into the role of new Creative Director of the Recovery Street Film Festival, with Sobriety Films. It’s a role that feels deeply personal, incredibly meaningful, and one I’m truly honoured to hold. 

When I set up Sobriety Films as a social enterprise in 2019 our mission was to champion recovery from addiction, mental ill health and trauma through film production, filmmaking workshops and screenings.  Part of that dream was to create a UK film festival that showcased the most striking and influential films about recovery in all its aspects, featuring and made by people of lived experience.

My first film ‘How I Got Sober’ was selected that year for the Reel Recovery Film Festival USA.  I travelled to LA for the screening and Q&A, it was an incredible experience meeting fellow filmmakers from around the world.  Leonard Buschel, its creator and Ahbra Kaye the programmer, took me under their wing and we are still ‘friends across the pond’ today.

My short ‘SING’ featuring Katie Kaboose, was screened at the Recovery Street Film Festival in 2019 as well – it was a busy year.  Having been to my first RSFF in 2018 and met the organisers Jim Armstrong and Bob Campbell, little did I know that this was the beginning of a friendship and creative collaboration that would bring me to this point today!

Through the RSFF and Phoenix Futures I got to speak at the Society for Study of Addiction, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, provide online filmmaking workshops and present for the festival when it was online during lockdown. 

‘Say Something’, my film about 17 year old Niamh and her struggle for sobriety was shortlisted in 2022 and we attended on masse with the contributors from our Reframing Recovery Filmmaking Project.  The icing on the cake was that Sushila, one of our staff and a filmmaker in her own right, came second with her powerful film ‘I am’.

Of course none of this would have been possible without my recovery, which began in 2006, after 13 years of alcohol dependence, precipitated by severe depression and trauma.  I’m one of those lucky people who qualify for the moniker of ‘dual diagnosis’ or ‘co-occurring conditions’ as they are now called. 

My life hasn't been a walk in the park, more like a hike up Mount Everest in flip-flops.

It has been marked by long periods of incapacitating anxiety and mental anguish, even in recovery, but I have been blessed with the support and love of my family, friends, recovery community and the medical profession.  And it’s made me who I am today!

There’s another thing that has kept me alive during dark times, that’s given me inspiration and hope – creativity and my love of film.  Quite simply, the creative process and its multi-facetted playground of promise, gives me freedom and ‘flow’, the chance to engage and be connected with my real self.  In early recovery it provided me with the building blocks of self-esteem and confidence and continues to reinforce self -belief.

Hence choosing this year’s theme of  “Creative Healing’.  I think it’s something that everyone can relate to, creativity can be expressed in so many different ways, painting a picture, writing a poem, planning a garden, making a new recipe, meditating, dance and song, the list is endless.  What is your creative passion? 

Healing, in a recovery sense,  is anything that feeds our soul and makes our hearts sing.  Those of us who have lived through addiction or who are living it, are sensitive souls, we are complex and often misunderstood people.  We have suffered greatly and had to learn lessons in life reserved for the strongest of minds.  We are dynamically adaptable and resilient. 

This is equally true of the family, friends and practitioners who have accompanied us on our journeys – their experience, narratives and well- being are paramount, their recovery journeys just as poignant. Being what is known as a ‘a double winner’, I know both sides of the addiction lexicon.

The Recovery Street Film Festival isn’t just about film. It’s about Truth. Lived & Living Experience. Courage and Growth. And perhaps most importantly, it’s about hope — the kind that emerges when people are given the space and support to tell their stories, in their own words, on their own terms – to be seen and heard.

Over the years, I’ve seen how powerful storytelling can be, especially when it comes from the heart. These films don’t just raise awareness; they shift perspectives, break down stigma, and create connection.

Taking on this role feels like coming full circle. I’ve always believed in the transformative power of film and creativity — how a camera, a pen, or a few minutes on screen can unlock something that years of silence couldn’t. Now, I get to support others in doing exactly that.

My vision is simple: to honour the raw, real, and diverse experiences within the recovery community, and to make the festival even more accessible, inclusive, and creatively bold. I want to encourage new voices, new formats, and new ways of telling stories — whether that’s through animation, poetry, experimental film, or a single powerful monologue shot on a phone.

To everyone who’s ever shared their story, or thought about doing it: thank you. This space exists because of your courage and talent. And to those still finding their voice — we’ll be here, ready to listen when you’re ready to speak.

I can’t wait to work with you this year as your lived experience fellow and peer filmmaker.

For now, I just wanted to say: I’m here. I’m grateful. And I’m ready to help bring these powerful stories and films to light.

Let’s make something beautiful together.

With hope and creativity,

Maddie Kitchen FRSA
Creative Director, Recovery Street Film Festival