About

Creative Documentary Filmmaker

Canon C70 | Premiere Pro | Super 8 Film | 16mm Film | Black & White Darkroom Photography

I'm an award winning documentary filmmaker/producer using film and digital media for positive social change. I’ve made documentary films for Channel 4 and Carlton TV and have shown my work on Reel Stories, FourDocs, Current TV, The Community Channel, art galleries, museums, conferences, film festival platforms and have toured the length and breadth of Cornwall promoting film in rural settings.

Born and brought up in North London with Italian parentage, my first professional job was at the prestigious Working Title Films (1994 - 1997). I moved to West Cornwall in 1997 to pursue my filmmaking career while also working at BBC and Channel 4 on short-term contracts.

In 2006 I set up awen productions CIC with two other filmmakers. I have over 20 years of professional media experience and rural community participation. I'm a creative development producer with astute fundraising skills. I'm a director, self-shooter and editor.

At the heart of my work is to raise under-represented peoples voices through film. I’ve made creative documentaries on subjects as diverse as rural issues, archive film, local heritage/history, human rights, youth culture, disability, farming, globalisation and the environment. My practice has developed and evolved to push the boundaries of collaboration and authorship. 

I have also been a media educator running workshops for young people and adults with learning disabilities. I have worked with a large range of clients producing films for the private, public and educational sectors and commissions include Cornwall Council, Arts for Health Cornwall & IOS, Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change, English Heritage, The British Council to name but a few.

My current 1-hour documentary, King for a Day, is being distributed by the accomplished DER (Documentary Educational Resources) in the USA, and being screened at:
Tate St. Ives (2023)
Nominated Feature Documentary (Screen) 2023 -  Celtic Media Festival 
Official Selection 2022 - Heritales International Heritage Festival (Portugal)
Official Selection 2022 - Berlin International Art Festival
Official Selection Finalist 2022 - Wales Film Festival

A recent documentary No Holds Barred - The Life and Art of Matthew Lanyon, co-directed with Judith Lanyon screened at independent cinemas and was selected at:
Winner Best Documentary 2021 - New Renaissance Film Festival, Amsterdam
Official Selection 2021 - Fine Arts Film Festival, Venice California
Finalist 2021 - Beyond the Curve International Film Festival
Selected 2021 - Celtic Media Festival

In 2020 I was one of 10 female entrepreneurs in the UK selected to take part in Creative England's Female Founders Scale Up programme, an eight month dedicated and prestigious scheme for ambitious female founders of screen-based companies.

I am passionate about archive in particular archive film and photography. For five years I ran The Tre Project funded by South West Screen / Heritage Lottery and others.  The project reached 35 communities across Cornwall and Isles of Scilly screening and making new films with archive materials.  

My interest in collaborative film, creative storytelling and ideas around place, identity and culture has further developed into a film-by-practice PhD, completed in 2023. In 2015 I was awarded one of Exeter’s College of Humanities Graduate School Penryn Doctoral Studentships to develop this work further. www.eprofile.exeter.ac.uk/barbarasanti

When I'm not making films, you will find me on the Cornish cliffs.