Curating the future
Five years of students shaping the festival that’s put St Andrews onto the screen scene
The very first Sands International Film Festival (Sands IFF) opened in April 2022 with Hive, a searing drama based on the true story of Fahrije (Yllka Gashi), whose husband went missing during the war in Kosovo. The second started with the powerful Ukrainian film Klondike, directed by Maryna Er Gorbach; the third with C. J. Obasi’s Mami Wata, a black-and-white fantasy thriller based on West African folklore; and 2025 kicked off with James Griffiths’ British comedy-drama, The Ballad of Wallis Island. All champion different genres, stories, and styles.
Now celebrating its fifth year, Sands has become a globally recognised staple in the film festival calendar without losing the boutique identity it set out to embody. Run by the University of St Andrews and supported by Hollywood stalwarts Anthony and Joe Russo through their studio, AGBO, as well as key partners from the University’s community of alumni and friends, Sands is delivering on its mission to foster connection and community, nurture emerging talent, serve as a platform for exciting new voices, and offer an audience-friendly festival that concurrently provides opportunities for students to gain real industry experience.
Since its inception it has attracted big names like Stanley Tucci, Alan Silvestri, Tom Holland, Joanna Lumley, and Steven Soderbergh. It has seen casting directors, programmers, costume designers and music professionals join an intimate audience on stage at the Byre Theatre for presentations, conversations, and an exploration of diverse roles and perspectives in film. Under the leadership of Festival Director and seasoned Sundance Film Festival programmer Ania Trzebiatowska, Sands is now firmly on the map.
“We wanted to set up something different to all the other film festivals rather than try to compete with any of the existing events,” explains Ania, whose creative vision has shaped Sands from the ground (or should we say the beach?) up. “It had to feel coherent, diverse, and be something that the whole community felt invited to. Sands isn’t just for the University and its students – and efforts like this require time and building of trust and can’t come together overnight. We’ve had to work to make Sands the festival it is, to build something with the potential to be engaging for everyone, where they might just see, learn or feel something new.”
The idea stemmed from a suggestion from Joe Russo – one half of the directing duo and a member of the University’s Family Programme – to stage a boutique film festival in the town. Joe’s daughter, Sophia, graduated in Film Studies from St Andrews in 2018 – one of a few Russo family connections to this special place.
Since then, it has been a consistently collaborative process. Along with the Byre’s Director, Julie Ellen, and the theatre’s Deputy Director and Head of Programming and Marketing, Jan McTaggart, Ania has brought Joe’s vision to life and leads on all things creative and curatorial.
“The Byre is an incredible space for a film festival and we’re lucky to have it,” she says. “It’s the heart of Sands and provides a venue where we can programme a weekend of film and events without overwhelming the audience. You can attend everything, or dip in and out at your leisure.”
Staff in the Department of Film Studies were involved from the beginning of discussions about a festival in St Andrews and regularly bring their research expertise to Sands events. From introducing screenings and hosting Q&As, to leading conversations with industry professionals and contributing to roundtable discussions, their work on diverse topics such as animation, the sensory qualities of cinema, collaborative curation, audiovisual design, disability media, feminist film production, and non-fiction film informs the connections between the Festival and St Andrews’ research environment.
At the start, it was a case of asking industry experts whether they’d like to be part of something new and hoping that they did. The programme started to take shape, with producers and directors joining the line up. To date, audiences have heard from casting directors Debra Zane (The Hunger Games,the Ocean’s Eleven franchise, and American Beauty) and Kharmel Cochrane (Bridgerton, Saltburn and, most recently, Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Wuthering Heights).
Legendary composer and conductor Alan Silvestri led student and community musicians in a performance of some of his best-known works (Forrest Gump, The Polar Express, The Bodyguard) at the Laidlaw Music Centre – an experience that alumna and former Festival Assistant Olivia Booker (PhD 2025) describes as “simply magical”.
Olivia was one of the many students who have benefited from the opportunities offered by Sands. She completed her PhD in Ecocinema at St Andrews and is now Assistant Professor of Film Production at James Madison University, Virginia.
“Even when I was applying for my PhD there was talk of a film festival at St Andrews,” Olivia recalls. “I attend film festivals, but I was really interested in being involved in running one. I came on board right at the beginning and was involved in everything from logistics to collaborating with our team of student programmers. I continued working and volunteering at Sands throughout my PhD.”
Among that team in year one was Molly Ryan (MLitt 2022), who now also works in the film industry as Director of Cornell Cinema at Cornell University. Her decision to study for a postgraduate degree at St Andrews was influenced in part by Sands. Molly discovered a love of film and programming through her previous career in museums, which followed an undergraduate degree in History and Literature at Harvard.
“Coming to St Andrews was a moment for me to pivot career-wise, and to open up my possibilities for the future,” says Molly. “I’d had the chance to work with amazing art collections and on programming for a huge number of exhibitions, but it was the art of film that kept me hooked and I wanted to do something more with that passion. I was fortunate to be accepted into the programming team for Sands.”
Each year, the student curators watch a series of debut feature films before discussing their responses and deciding on a programme that will bring diverse voices, genres and emotions and create a festival that can give everyone food for thought.
“It’s a chance to discover emerging talent in the film industry,” adds Molly. “In that first year, we all really connected with a documentary film from Will Hewitt and Austen McCowan called Long Live My Happy Head, which was about a Glasgow-based artist who had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and was coping with that diagnosis while still making art.”
From a pedagogical perspective, bringing students and industry professionals together in this way is quite specialised. During the Festival itself, the students are given opportunities to interview the artists and experts. Molly conducted a conversation with Blerta Basholli, the Kosovan filmmaker behind Hive, which she describes as a “difficult, beautiful and powerful” film about the trauma of war.
“Sands gave me a lot of confidence in the potential directions I could go as a programmer, and also a framework for narrowing the field,” she says. “There’s a whole world of films out there and you need to be able to curate a programme that engages people in an expansive and dynamic way.”
The feeling, it seems, is universal. Joanne Yau (MA 2025) volunteered as a student curator at the 2024 Festival and describes it as one of the best experiences during her time at St Andrews, where she studied English and Film Studies.
“I really wanted to make sure that the programme felt accessible to many audiences, so that there would be a film that resonated with everyone – thinking about diversity and inclusivity was key,” says Joanne. “It was about presenting fresh, creative voices and directorial debuts. For me, Sands felt really innovative.”
Joanne learned from directors and producers while working at the Festival, and says the highlights were the panel discussions with industry experts – one with film critic Robbie Collins of The Telegraph in particular.
She’s now living in Hong Kong and working in a private museum where she helps to organise fine art exhibitions. “My experience at Sands has really helped me in my career today,” she adds.
As Sands concludes a successful fifth year, its commitment to student-shaped curation and empowering emerging voices sets it apart. It has made its home in St Andrews, stayed true to its core values, and proves that the future of cinema is as much about the people who curate the stories as it is about the stories themselves.
Find out more about Sands: International Film Festival of St Andrews.
This article first appeared in Chronicle 2026. For additional content, including news, stories and videos, visit Chronicle Extra, the digital companion to the magazine.