Storytelling, at its most powerful, is never just about what’s in front of the camera. It’s also about what lies behind it – the hands that hold it, the eyes that frame the shot, the journey that leads to a particular moment of focus. In a compelling new collaboration between Aesthetica and MPB, the UK’s top camera reseller, filmmakers are invited to explore this intersection of memory, technology and artistic growth through MPB: The Next Shot, a call to reflect on the cameras that have shaped their creative practice.
At its heart, this initiative is about storytelling: not just the narratives captured on film, but the personal and intimate story of the tools that made them possible. MPB: The Next Shot recognises that cameras are more than objects; they are collaborators in the creative process. A well-worn lens, a second-hand DSLR, or a camcorder from the early days of a filmmaker’s career might seem like simple gear, but they are also time capsules – embedded with the energy of ideas, sweat of persistence and triumphs of captured light.
Aesthetica Film Festival is a launchpad for the visionaries of tomorrow and a place where emerging filmmakers become household names. As a BAFTA-Qualifying event, the festival is renowned for spotlighting exceptional talent whose work goes on to receive international acclaim, including premieres and awards at Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW and beyond. These are the auteurs who redefine the cinematic landscape – Oscar winners, BAFTA nominees, boundary-pushers who disrupt genre and form.
The films shown at Aesthetica span fiction and documentary, animation and experimental, but what unites them is a bold commitment to storytelling. These are works that interrogate the world we live in, that blur the lines between cinema and visual art, and that stay with you long after the credits roll. MPB: The Next Shot is a natural extension of this ethos. It is an invitation not only to showcase your vision, but to trace its roots. To reflect on the evolution of your practice and the tools that shaped it. It’s about process as much as product, legacy as much as innovation. This is for people who are making their mark.
The project invites filmmakers to submit a reflective piece – a narrative built from archival footage, past work and self-recorded interviews. These short films will be crafted into final edits by Aesthetica’s editorial team and showcased as part of the 2025 Aesthetica Film Festival, both in person and online. No need to shoot anything new. This is about working from memory: what you’ve captured and what that material says about your journey. The result is a personal portrait of the relationship between artist and camera.
There’s a poignancy in this proposition. To trace your career through your kit is to remember the makeshift locations and long nights, the improvisations and serendipities. Perhaps your first camera was borrowed or bought second-hand; perhaps your favourite lens once belonged to someone else. MPB’s model – based on recirculating photo and video equipment – lends itself beautifully to this kind of intergenerational storytelling. It reminds us that gear has a life before and after us. When you sell or trade in your kit, you’re not just recycling technology – you’re passing on a tool with history, memory and possibility.
It’s a concept that resonates with filmmakers like Agnès Varda, whose poetic blend of documentary and fiction often blurred the boundaries between the personal and the political, or Wim Wenders, whose work in both cinema and photography reflects a profound sensitivity to the materiality of image-making. Even contemporary auteurs like Chloé Zhao or Barry Jenkins – whose visual language merges realism with lyrical intimacy – understand the deep emotional weight of how something is shot, and with what. The camera is never neutral. It’s a character, a witness, a ghost.
Participants selected for MPB: The Next Shot will receive a £500 honorarium, an edited short film, two unlimited passes to the 2025 Festival, and exposure across Aesthetica and MPB’s platforms. It is a moment to pause and assess your own creative lineage. What was the first project that really mattered to you? What gear did you use? And how did it feel to upgrade, to move on, to let go of one camera and invest in another? These are questions not often asked in industry spaces. But they matter.
Indeed, there’s a kind of sustainability here that goes beyond environmental impact. It’s about sustaining narratives, community and care. Your old camera might now belong to a young filmmaker just starting out. The scratches on its body might become part of someone else’s aesthetic. The lens you once peered through might now be capturing stories from another continent, another life. This quiet continuity – the afterlife of gear – is the subtext of MPB: The Next Shot.
Director of Aesthetica, Cherie Federico, says: “The Next Shot is about honouring the invisible moments that shape us as filmmakers – the quiet breakthroughs, the tools we’ve trusted, and the emotional connections we build with the creative process itself. At Aesthetica, we’re passionate about storytelling in all its forms, and this initiative invites artists to reflect not just on what they make, but how they make it. It’s about legacy, sustainability and recognising that every camera, every lens, carries its own history.”
To apply, filmmakers must respond to a series of reflective prompts exploring their relationship to equipment, memory and legacy. If your camera could speak, what kind of character would it be? How do you emotionally process upgrading your tools? What part of your kit felt like a turning point? The call is open to any filmmaker who has something to say about their creative journey.
In a world constantly chasing the next new thing, MPB: The Next Shot offers a space to look back – not in nostalgia, but in gratitude. To honour the imperfect tools that helped us grow. To acknowledge the unsung collaborator: the camera. And to consider how what we pass on might shape the visions of those to come.
Find out more: asff.co.uk | Apply now: tinyurl.com
Deadline: 8 September 2025
Words: Anna Müller
About Aesthetica Film Festival
Aesthetica Film Festival is one of the UK’s leading cinematic events, a BAFTA-Qualifying festival that champions bold, innovative and independent storytelling. Taking place across the historic city of York and online, the 2025 edition offers an expansive five-day programme featuring outstanding films from emerging and established voices. From narrative shorts and feature-length documentaries to experimental works and hybrid formats, Aesthetica is a global platform for filmmakers whose work goes on to receive international recognition at festivals such as Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca and the Oscars.
More than a film festival, Aesthetica is a hub for the future of screen-based storytelling. The event includes XR Lab, exploring the forefront of immersive cinema; the Games Lab, spotlighting innovation in narrative-led gaming; and the Podcasting Lounge, a space to experience audio storytelling in new ways. Beyond the Frame and the UK Film Production Summit connect creatives with industry leaders, offering insight into funding, distribution and the ever-evolving production landscape. The festival also hosts the UNESCO City of Media Arts EXPO, celebrating York as a global centre for media innovation.
Aesthetica Film Festival 2025 invites audiences and creatives alike to engage with cinema as an evolving art form that reflects the complexities of our time, and dares to ask what comes next.
About MPB
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