The UK’s leading international women’s film festival is back for 2025

Women X is proudly hosted by Rianne Pictures, we are a BIFA accredited festival supported by Film Hub North with National Lottery funding on behalf of the BFI Film Audience Network.

Darlington’s Indie Film Festival

Check out the 2025 film programme

Our biggest year ever, over 140 short films from across the world curated just for you!

Click below to head the film index!

Relaxed Family Screening Double Bill

Join us for a family screening of two Julia Donaldson favourites! A Room On The Broom and The Stick Man!

With dimmed lighting, reduced sound and family crafting session in our cafe space!

It’s a weekend experience

We’re more than just back to back films in a dark room, from our ‘meet the filmmaker roundtables’ to our themed quiz nights and our festival cafe craft sessions. Accompanied by our industry parties and writers lab workshops, coming to Darlington for our festival is a break away to fill your film loving heart with an inspirational and fun experience.

When: Friday 19th September to Sunday 21st September 2025

Where: Darlington Hippodrome, Hullaballoo Theatre & Darlington Library (County Durham)

What: A weekend of independent short films from across the world made by women, for everyone to enjoy.

Why: In the mainstream film industry, women hold only approximately 22% of key creative roles like directing, writing, producing, and executive producing. Our festival works towards changing this figure.

How: Filmmakers enter our competition, we curate the best of the films, you come to enjoy them and support their careers at the same time.

What people love about Women X Fest…

  • A really wonderful time, everyone in the Rianne Pictures team was so welcoming and set up a really great atmosphere to meet other filmmakers, unwind and work on our projects all whilst attending the festival. Screening blocks were well curated and packed with great stuff. Definitely one to attend again!

    Jodie Irvine, 2024 Alumni

  • I'm so thankful and appreciative of the work Rianne Pictures and their determination to put women and non-binary narratives on the forefront. I feel so honored that they screened my film. Can't wait to submit again!

    Giovanna Trujillo, 2024 Alumni

  • Brilliantly supportive festival, BIFA qualifying - and great communication from the team. So happy to have screened with our short 'fishing' :) Love what they stand for at Women X. Also the social media is iconic!

    Esme Allen, 2024 Alumni

  • Love what the team at Women X are doing and was so proud to bring Fifty-Four Days, Ceres and Measure to the festival this year. I look forward to submitting many more films in future!

    Cat White, 2023 Alumni

  • Women X is such a joyful festival, with so many brilliant women working to make every event inclusive, supportive and enjoyable. It's the kind of festival i would travel to attend even without a film showing. I can't wait for the next year!

    Misha McCullagh, 2023 Alumni

  • Another magical year at the Women's X festival! The selection of the films was top-notch. Our film shined along the other gems in the "Something Wicked This Way Comes" strand. Big kudos to the curation of the programme. Another big applause, to the people organising the festival, the films themselves and the filmmakers; all were really inspiring!

    Athanasia Bartzoka, 2022/2023 Alumni

  • Women X was a great event. Communication was very clear and the sense of community was strong. The festival had a great turn out and the audiences felt engaged, enthusiastic and supportive. It was a great environment for filmmakers to mingle and connect.

    Joanne Michael, 2023 Alumni

  • Women X is an absolutely fantastic festival and this year was no exception. As a filmmaker, the communications and what they needed before the festival was great. It was super easy to get to the festival and once there, there was so much to do. I really enjoyed the workshops they put on and left feeling inspired and with new connections that I hope to nurture and collaborate with for the future. 10/10 excited to go back.

    Samantha Castro, 2023 Alumni

  • One of my absolute favourite festivals! Really terrific support and the loveliest team and audience

    Louise Nesbitt, 2022 Alumni

  • Cannot say enough good things about this festival! From start to finish, it was an amazing experience. The panels, each program, the talkbacks, the social networking events, accommodations made at the venue... all of it! Caris and team are creating an incredible community and it was a true gift to participate in it this year. Can't wait for the next one!

    Averi Israel, 2022 Alumni

  • Women X may be a new festival but the professionalism of the organisers and care put into the festival is far superior to many "established" festivals I've attended. The team's communication is fabulous and they worked miracles around the whole Covid situation, as well as selecting a really terrific program. They give female filmmakers lots of support and a great platform to talk about their work. A brilliant festival!

    Natalia Andreadis, 2021 Alumni

  • If you're looking for a festival that's personal, supportive, inclusive and run by caring people who clearly love film, and want to bring people together. And do it with style. Women X is everything. HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend x

    Kathryn MacCorgarry Gray, 2020/2021/2022 Alumni

Venue, Location and Accessibility

Our festival home is Darlington Hippodrome, opened originally in 1907, the Edwardian building has come a long way since then. Particularly the addition of the Hullaballoo Theatre in 2017, the children’s theatre which was the old Fire House. Women X is hosted between both the Hippodrome and Hullaballoo, providing a mixture of rich history and modern theatre for all our attendees.

With a cafe in the building you won’t have to venture far for that coffee and cake during a break between screenings, and there’s lots of comfortable break out areas for you to take a break or connect with new film friends. Our venue is also 100% wheelchair accessible and we have gender neutral bathrooms across the festival weekend.

We also strive to provide as many subtitled films as possible, along with large print versions of our daily schedules.

Getting to us is SO easy too! Darlington Train Station is just up the road with a few minutes walk, with direct trains to London, Manchester, Edinburgh. There’s a cheap car park across the street, and a bus stop just outside. You can stay in one of the central hotels or catch a taxi, there’s a mixture of budget friendly holiday places and B&Bs, as well as Premier Inns, Travelodges and Bannatyne with a spa if you’re feeling fancy.

Darlington has a buzz of nightlife and some gorgeous small businesses where you can grab a bite to eat and a coffee in between your exciting event schedule, especially as the town centre is next to our venue!

You can read more on how to get to the festival here!

Women X Film Festival

19-21 September 2025

Darlington, County Durham

One of my absolute favourite festivals! Really terrific support and the loveliest team and audience

Louise Nesbitt, 2022 Alumni