Students shot, directed and edited their own work, which was premiered at the Electric Palace Cinema in Hastings. Filmmaker Nick Winchester who attended the course said: “It was just the push I needed.” Winchester filmed at Hastings cemetery whilst the country was in the midst of a pandemic. In a twist to the gloom of the headlines, the camera found ‘life in death’s place’. One man in the film tells the camera how he came to the cemetery for his weekly exercise in lockdown. 

David Manning, a St Leonards local who attended the course, made a film about local potter, Lucy Cobb, who undertakes a journey along Hastings’ 140-million-year-old, wild coast, to collect her raw materials. 

Local Swimmer Zoe Bennett used the workshop to shoot and edit together intimate footage of the Azure Swimming Club and their solidarity at sea. Zoe says: “I learnt a lot and really enjoyed the week and will continue to refine my film.” 

Colleen Bartley interviewed people on the Pier with an open-ended question that served up some deep responses from locals and holidaymakers alike. She is continuing to edit her film and hopes to submit to film festivals when it is complete.

• Storytelling by the Sea will be running more workshops in the craft of documentary filmmaking. 

The next workshop will be running from the 5th October. 

• For more details or to book a place visit on storytellingbythesea.com