SIMONE SMITH 

Simone Smith is a Screen International Rising Star, a BAFTA-nominated filmmaker, and BAFTA New Talent award-winner whose work has been described as "surreal poetry" by BFI Sight and Sound. Her short films have screened at major festivals worldwide including Edinburgh International Film Festival, Glasgow Short Film Festival, BFI London, Aesthetica, Encounters, Chicago Underground, and HollyShorts.

Born and raised in Glasgow, Simone began her creative journey in Computer Animation and Digital Art, building a foundation that shaped her distinctive approach to experimental film. She first made her mark as a VJ in Glasgow’s underground club scene, crafting live visuals at iconic venues and festivals, including The Arches, Club 69, and T in the Park, where she collaborated with legendary DJs like Andrew Weatherall.

During this time, she joined BBC Scotland, rising from Runner to self-shooting Director. Her exploration of performance led her to train under master theatre-makers Al Seed and Olivier de Sagazan before collaborating with the groundbreaking experimental theatre collective The Wooster Group in New York, founded by Elizabeth LeCompte and Willem Dafoe.

Drawing from lived experience and a fearless approach to form, Simone creates cinematic works that blur the boundaries between art and narrative, translating raw emotional truth into visual language. Taking a hands-on approach, she shapes every aspect of her films - from writing and directing to editing and sound design - inviting viewers to connect with the complex realities of human experience through a distinctly personal lens.

Her short film SLAP was BAFTA-nominated and won Jury Special Mention at Glasgow Short Film Festival for "her own sensory style in design and narration," while BFI's Sight and Sound Magazine hailed it as an "impressionistic knockout." Her debut short RED won a BAFTA New Talent Award for Best Editing, earned a nomination for Best Sound Design, and was praised by Stanley Kubrick's producer, Jan Harlen, as "very original" and described by Ain't It Cool News as "a true work of art."  

THE MöBIUS TRIP, supported by Short Circuit/BFI-Network, premiered at the Glasgow Short Film Festival and won another Jury Special Mention Award praised for its "radicalism" and "strong and adventurous cinematic vision." It has since screened at 50+ festivals worldwide and won 15 awards - including Best Directing, Best Editing and Best Sound Design - alongside the UK Special Mention at Encounters, Best Film at Torino Underground, Best Midnight Movie at Final Girls Berlin, the Grand Jury Award at Chicago Underground Film Festival. It also made the prestigious BIFA-longlist for Best British Short Film. 

Simone is an EIFF Talent Lab alumna (2019), a BFI Network@LFF participant (2023), a Glasgow Film Talent mentee (2024), and a Screen International Rising Star. She has three feature films in development: UNTIL SHE BLEEDS /// IT'S TOO LATE YOU CAN'T SAVE ME /// and OH, VIRGINIA!

"My work is a constant work-in-progress where I aspire to explore freely through instinct, and without any kind of pre-conception the construction of the still and moving image. I follow my instincts and emotions, expressing what I can't not express. It is animal, intimate, instinctive, a place to be both violent and tender, a diary of visual exercises with multiple interpretations, a spiritual place."

Simone is represented by Rowena Wallace at PEACH HOUSE.