Recovery Street Film Festival 2026: Rewriting the Script in Leicester
We are delighted that the Recovery Street Film Festival is heading to Leicester for the very first time - with the generous support of Leicester City Council Public Health.
Now entering its 12th year, RSFF 2026 will take place at the prestigious Phoenix Cinema and Art Centre on Saturday 26 September 2026, from 2–4pm.
The festival will bring together filmmakers, audiences, and recovery communities from across the UK for a powerful celebration of creativity, connection, and change. Ticket details will be announced soon - we can’t wait to welcome you.
New for 2026 is the ‘Best Young People’s Film Award’, open to filmmakers aged 16–25, recognising the importance of young people’s voices in shaping recovery narratives.
Created for people affected by substance use - alongside families, friends, and allies - RSFF is becoming one of the UK’s most distinctive community-led film festivals, championing lived-experience storytelling and creating space for voices too often unheard.
This Year’s Theme: Rewriting the Script
Everyone has a story. Sometimes it can feel like that story has already been written for us - by stigma, trauma, systems, or expectation. But stories are not fixed.
Rewriting the Script is about turning points: the moments where something shifts, a different choice is made, and a new path opens up.
This year, we invite filmmakers across the UK to submit short films exploring recovery, identity, resilience, transformation, and the power of reclaiming our narratives.
We are looking for work that is bold, honest, inventive, emotional, funny, unexpected, and deeply human. Documentary, drama, comedy, animation, spoken word, music, experimental, hybrid forms - or something entirely new.
Whatever your style, this is your chance to take control of the narrative. To flip it. Challenge it. Rewrite it.
Submissions Now Open
Submissions are open from 1 May – 23 August 2026 for short films between 1–3 minutes.
Submit your film via FilmFreeway
https://filmfreeway.com/RecoveryStreetFF2026
A National Festival Rooted in Community
Led by Sobriety Films UK CIC, RSFF brings together filmmakers, participants, practitioners, and audiences in a shared celebration of recovery storytelling.
This year, Glasgow-based Freed Up CIC joins the steering group alongside Turning Point, Waythrough, Project 6, Adfam, and Phoenix Futures.
We are incredibly grateful to Leicester City Council Public Health for supporting RSFF through a £15,000 grant, helping bring the festival to Leicester for the first time.
RSFF has also received tremendous support from The National Lottery Community Fund to deliver a five-month participatory filmmaking programme running from June to October 2026.
Across England, six intensive workshops will support participants to develop filmmaking skills and create powerful lived-experience films for the festival.
Alongside the Leicester event, outreach screenings of the 15 shortlisted films will take place in communities across the UK - sparking conversation, challenging stigma, and widening access to recovery stories.
Watch this space for updates.
“A Dynamic, Diverse and Innovative City”
RSFF Creative Director Maddie Kitchen said:
“This year, we are incredibly excited to be hosted by Leicester, a dynamic, diverse and innovative city. Rewriting the Script is about recognising our capacity to change. Through film, we can challenge narratives, shift perspectives, and create space for different kinds of stories to be heard.”
