Sarah Winfield

I am a UK-based producer-director with a background in business, research and education. As a diagonal thinker (right and left brain equally engaged at all times), I have an enduring passion for the arts and an insatiable intellectual curiosity that spans the fields of history, education and all things media-centred. As a teenager I dreamed of a gilded career as a portrait painter. Following in the footsteps of the old masters, I trained in classical realism at the Angel Academy in Florence before enrolling as a French Literature student at l'Université Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV). Returning to the UK in 2002, I pursued undergraduate studies at the University of Cambridge while managing an art gallery in Massachusetts during the summer season. Graduating with a Starred First in English Literature and Education, I worked as a language teacher and lecturer in the UK and Japan. Inspired by my experiences overseas, I returned to Cambridge to undertake a Masters in Educational Research followed by a PhD which explores the origins, development and impact of international education. With a background in business and education and a zeal for enterprise of the socially aware, system changing variety, I was recruited as a researcher by the Judge Business School, Cambridge University. As a producer for Delphin Films, my documentary works capture edge of frame worlds, offering real intimacy of experience that force viewers to think about complex social issues through a human lens. Our award-winning film, ‘Through the Fire’, shot in Mogadishu and Hargeisa and directed by Eunice Lau, is now screening internationally. Our latest project, ‘A-Town Boyz’, is a feature-length documentary about the Asian American diaspora and the lure of gang life for youths who struggle to assimilate into society. The film is executive produced by Spike Lee. As a producer-director for Tripos Productions, I make original, intelligent and creative films for a range of platforms, contexts and clients. My media work has been featured in the Guardian, The Times and the BBC. I am a co-founder of the Cambridge Media and Film Academy (CAMFA) and Watersprite Film Festival. Now in its fifth year and supported by BAFTA, Watersprite has grown to become one of the leading international student film festivals.