Recovery Street Film Festival
The Women's Recovery Mural by Maddie Kitchen
Over six months, the Women’s Recovery group from Better Lives, Islington’s Drug & Alcohol Service, came together to transform Caledonian Park with a mural of hope and creative healing. From first sketches and paintbrushes in hand, to its unveiling with Mayor Jason Jackson, their journey was one of empowerment, courage, and connection through art.
Maddie Kitchen FRSA is a filmmaker, producer, and lived-experience advocate, founder of Sobriety Films UK CIC and Creative Director of the Recovery Street Film Festival. Her work focuses on mental health, creativity, recovery, and social change. She is recognised for championing lived experience and trauma-informed approaches in the arts.
Sons of Jericho by Laura Roberts and Alex Black
This film features a rock band who formed in rehab through the love of music and wanted to show that you can have fun and spread a message of hope in recovery. It was filmed by 2 star productions who are a group of novice filmmakers who met in recovery and are chasing their passion of creating films.
Alex Black is a Staffordshire-based filmmaker who works with The Detox Factor as a cinematographer, writer, and assistant director, creating projects that share recovery stories. His 16-year-old daughter Daisy, a budding creative, also contributed to Sons of
Jericho.
REACH by Kayleigh Gibbons
This film explores the challenging first step toward recovery - reaching out for help. Using animation, it conveys the isolation I felt and how creativity helped me process and express the deep emotions and transformative moments of my journey. I've used animation to express thoughts and feelings from a deeper place. Moments of big change often inspire me, and creativity has given me a way to both express and make sense of these
experiences.
Kayleigh Gibbons is an animator, filmmaker, and lecturer at SGS College and the University of the West of England. A UWE Animation graduate, she has worked in children’s TV and
independent animation, and directed short films including REACH—a 7-minute BFI/Studio Panda project about asking for help—and Featherweight, which explores family and grief.
She continues to create character-driven animation while teaching emerging talent.
IS by Alex Mazonowics
My short film traces my recovery journey through music — from early days of sobriety playing the Theremin, to life in Turkey, to joining the New Note Orchestra and performing at the Royal Opera House. Accompanying images reflect growth, travel, community, and the healing power of music.
Alex Mazonowicz is a Brighton-based musician, editor, and recovery-arts advocate who uses creative expression to support healing and community. He co-founded the Addiction
Recovery Arts Network and edits its quarterly publication Performing Recovery.
Now in its 12th year, the Recovery Street Film Festival has invited amateur filmmakers with
lived experience of substance use - either personally or through someone close to them - to
share their stories on film.
What began with screenings in public and community spaces, including literally on the
street, has grown into a UK wide festival, with films viewed over one million times.
RSFF centres and elevates the voices of people directly impacted by substance use,
exploring both individual and interconnected experiences. The films often reveal the reality
of stigma, discrimination, mental health challenges, and the honesty and courage required
to reach out for support. They also highlight the strength of community, the possibility of
transformation, and the hope that recovery can inspire.
The festival is run by Sobriety Films UK CIC, alongside a cross-sector steering group including
Phoenix Futures, Waythrough, Adfam, Turning Point, Project Six and Freed Up.
The festival opens for entries on the 1st May and closes 23rd August. The award ceremony
and screening of the 15 shortlisted films takes place in the last week of Recovery month,
September.
You can see the previous years shortlisted RSFF here:
https://rsff.co.uk/previous-entries
For more information:
www.rsff.co.uk
www.sobrietyfilms.com