Rewriting the Script: Recovery Street Film Festival 2026
By Maddie Kitchen FRSA, Creative Director, Recovery Street Film Festival
Maddie Kitchen outside Phoenix Leicester
'My vision of establishing the Recovery Street Film Festival as a truly public-facing film and cultural event has moved a step closer. This year marks a significant milestone as we proudly partner with Leicester City Council and the prestigious Phoenix Cinema to open RSFF 2026 to the wider public. Free tickets will be available from mid-August through the Phoenix box office, making this unique celebration of film, culture, recovery, and stigma-breaking accessible to everyone.
Jit Chauhan and Maddie
Leicester feels like a particularly important place for recovery storytelling. It has strong community roots, powerful lived experience networks, and a real commitment to inclusion and change. Every time I’m there, I’m reminded that “rewriting the script” doesn’t just sound good - it’s already happening in community spaces, services, and people’s lives. As a reflection of this we are delighted to welcome Leicester recovery advocates Aunee Bhogaita and Jit Chauhan to RSFF 2026 as guest judges.
This year’s theme, Rewriting the Script, is about taking back the narrative. It’s about moving beyond shame and stigma towards something far more honest and human: empowerment, humour, resilience, creativity, and truth. It’s about refusing to let outdated labels have the final word and placing lived experience exactly where it belongs - at the centre of the conversation.
Submissions Are Open
We’re accepting film submissions until 23rd August. Films should be between 1 and 3 minutes long and respond to this year’s theme.
Short films might be brief, but their impact isn’t. Again and again, we see how just a few minutes of storytelling can open up conversations, challenge assumptions, and shift how people think about substance use and recovery.
Why This Work Matters
Rob Stebbings (Adfam) at Riverside Festival Leicester promoting RSFF
RSFF has been on the move recently, and everywhere we go, the same thing happens: people share their experiences. Those moments matter.
In Belfast, Glasgow, Bristol, and Leicester, we’ve seen how film can create space for honesty and connection - helping to challenge stigma by showing the reality of people’s lives, rather than the stereotypes that so often define them.
Whether it’s a filmmaker sharing their journey, a workshop participant finding their voice, or an audience member seeing their own experiences reflected on screen, these are the moments where stigma begins to shift.
Tanicha RSFF Assistant & Filmmaker
Young People’s Voices
I’m particularly proud of our Young People’s Prize, which focuses on voices aged 16-25.
If we’re serious about tackling stigma, we have to be serious about who gets heard. Young people are often talked about, but not always listened to in meaningful ways. Some of the most urgent, creative, and thought‑provoking work we see comes from younger filmmakers, offering fresh perspectives that challenge assumptions and broaden the conversation.
It’s also been a joy working alongside Tanicha, our RSFF Assistant and a talented filmmaker in her own right, whose lived experience and creative insight are helping bring this strand of the festival to life. Inviting her to join the judging panel is a natural extension of her contribution to the Young People’s Prize and reflects RSFF’s commitment to ensuring young voices are represented and valued at every stage of the festival.
Growing a Movement
RSFF workshop in Blackpool with Project K
Thanks to support from the National Lottery Community Fund, we’re delivering filmmaking workshops across England - creating more opportunities for people with lived experience not just to tell their stories, but to lead how those stories are shared.
RSFF is growing into something bigger than I first imagined: a cultural space where film, recovery, community, and stigma reduction come together. It’s becoming more visible, more ambitious, and increasingly recognised as a platform where lived experience drives the narrative.
Join Us in Leicester
This year’s festival takes place on Saturday 26th September, 2 - 4pm, at the Phoenix Cinema in Leicester, followed by a celebratory after‑party hosted by Dear Albert at the Stairway Project.
The 15 shortlisted films will also be screened throughout Recovery Month in September and shared via our YouTube platform - helping these powerful stories reach far beyond the cinema.
Final Thanks
Thank you to everyone who continues to support RSFF - our partners, filmmakers, contributors, communities, and volunteers. Every story shared helps challenge stigma, centre lived experience, and build a more honest and compassionate understanding of recovery.
Together, we are rewriting the script.
Find out more:www.rsff.co.uk
Submit your film:https://filmfreeway.com/RecoveryStreetFF2026
You can listen to Maddie talking more about the RSFF here: ‘Rewriting the Script – Recovery, Creativity and the Power of Film’ podcast on Soar Sounds Community radio in Leicester.
https://www.soarsound.uk/rewriting-the-script-recovery-creativity-and-the-power-of-film/