A Cinematic Exploration of the Unheard .
Aesthetica Film Festival teams up with Audible, offering £20,000 to fund a new documentary.
What is the Listening Pitch?
The Listening Pitch is a documentary Film Grant of £20,000 delivered in partnership between Aesthetica and Audible. We are committed to telling stories with impact that all have listening at the forefront. Since 2021, we have funded and produced eight films. 2024's winning documentaries were Greensound by Liberty Smith and Ornella Mutoni's The Things We Don't Say, which has since been acquired by Guardian Documentaries. Other projects include Banana, directed by Matthew Herbert; Old Lesbians by Meghan McDonough; Birdsong by Sparsh Ahuja and Omi Gupta; Speed of Sound by Jade Ang Jackman; Echo by Ross McClean; and Blind as a Beat by Jessi Gutch and Liz Jackson.
2024 Winners .
2024's awards were given to two stand-out documentaries: Liberty Smith’s Greensound, which follows a group of men who begin taking forest walks after the closure of a steel plant in Wales, and The Things We Don't Say, by Ornella Mutoni, which navigates intergenerational trauma and healing in the wake of the Rwanda genocide. Mutoni's powerful film has since been picked up by Guardian Documentaries, and is available to watch via its online platform. Both films premiered at Aesthetica Film Festival 2024.
2023 Winners .
Two outstanding films were produced in 2023. Meghan McDonough’s Old Lesbians, since picked up by Guardian Documentaries, asks: How do we communicate a history of a population that is rapidly disappearing? Her moving project continues the work of activist Arden Eversmeyer, who travelled the USA to record stories from a fading community. Matthew Herbert’s film looks at the environmental cost of growing and exporting bananas, 250 million of which are eaten daily. Banana invites us to hear what the fruit hears, following the pickers, packers, machines and fridges involved in bringing us a food that is now part of our everyday.
2022 Winners .
2022's awards were given to three films: Birdsong (Sparsh Ahuja, Omi Gupta), Speed of Sound (Jade Ang Jackman) and Echo (Ross McClean). The selected films approach the subject of sound from different angles – from the dying whistling traditions of the Hmong people of northern Laos to a portrait of self-professed adrenaline junkie, Carina Edlinger, and the story of a man who communicates via an intricate system of radios. The winning films premiered at Aesthetica Film Festival 2022, with one being picked up by Guardian Documentaries.
2021 Winners .
2021's recipients are Jessi Gutch and Liz Jackson, with Blind as Beat. Jackson was an in-house documentary director at the BBC for 10 years. The film portrays her journey: from ex-documentary filmmaker who used sight as a primary sense, to someone who is visually impaired and using hearing predominately. “There is a growing movement for film to become more accessible. People are starting to see that the disabled audience is a big one – they should be thought of in the production process. In this script, we’ve tried to take the idea of audio description but elevate it to something visually evocative.``
The Films .
Watch all the fantastic projects made possible through The Listening Pitch.
Submission Information .
- Five filmmakers will be selected to present their idea at a live virtual pitch in May 2025.
- A panel will review the pitches and a grant of £20k will be awarded to the filmmaker with the strongest idea.
- The final film will be original and offer a new perspective on the theme.
- It will premiere at the ASFF in November 2025 and also be shared on Audible and Aesthetica social channels.
- Filmmakers from across the world are invited to apply for this grant.
- We will also require the film to have subtitles available to meet accessibility requirements. Please supply two versions: one burnt on and one without.
- We welcome submissions from first-time filmmakers and those underrepresented in the industry.
- This is a documentary film grant only.
- The Listening Pitch 2025 will open early 2024. Please check back for more details.
- 21 February – 21 April 2024: Call for Entries
- 21 April 2024: Deadline
- April-May 2024: Judging
- 1 May: Shortlist Announcement
- 9 May 2024: Live Pitch
- Summer 2024: Winner Announced
- ASFF Premiere and Live Q&A: Between 6-10 November 2024