The Si Spencer award

In February this year we sadly lost our dear friend Si. He was a musician, writer, director, poet, quizmaster and a wonderful human. We miss him greatly. Si was a judge for UVFF since the very first festival. He never wavered in his enthusiasm and support for up and coming talent.

Honouring the man he was, The Si Spencer Award will be presented to a UK filmmaker whose film is judged (by his wife and a panel of industry friends) to best reflect Si’s tastes.

See a  beautiful tribute to his career HERE

Emilie has worked as a senior event producer in the film and television  industry for many years, including roles at the BFI London Film Festival, Premier PR and Apple TV+. Si Spencer was a wonderful friend  and a brilliant human. Not only extraordinarily talented, but his work  also possessed infinite cultural and emotional depth. He brought all of  this to our chats, along with bags of quirky inspiration, endless wit  and the kind of unconditional support that made you feel like The Bionic  Woman - a gift he gave generously to many.

Rachel Clements works as a Lecturer in Drama at the University of  Manchester, where she researches and writes about contemporary theatre  (particularly playwriting). One of her favourite parts of her job is  supporting emerging artists (particularly, though not  only, writers), and seeing their work develop. She met Si Spencer in  2005 when she was working behind the bar at The Albany and he wanted to  tell someone about how much he hated the dentist. She learned more from  conversations and friendship with Si about  story structure in films, graphic novels, and TV than from anywhere or  anyone else. She misses him terribly.

James is an actor, writer, producer and director. He is Festival Director for Unrestricted View Film Festival and Festival Producer for Unrestricted View Horror Film Festival. Si Spencer was a great friend, a true gentleman and an enormous talent. His loss has left a huge hole in all our lives. I'm honoured to be a judge for an award, in his name, that supports emerging filmmakers, as he always did.