Black Bark Films

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Black Bark Films At Black Bark Films we are a female led documentary film company that evokes authentic, meaningful c JO BARKER

Jo has always told stories.

At Black Bark Films we look to create connection, using film as a medium to evoke authentic, meaningful conversation. We create all kinds of film from long-form documentary to short promotional videos for community groups and projects including crowdfunders. We are self reliant and work in a horizontal way, working collaboratively with our clients and as a female led production company, we create film through a feminist lens. From storyboarding and developing ideas to delivery - we can help tell your story. She has been fascinated by them, listening to them and telling them since she wrote her first novella at 10 and shot her first short film at 17. She has always known she would be a filmmaker and through her Media Practise degree and subsequent years as a film editor in the television industry, she has honed and shaped her lens with which she sees the world and how she wishes to express it to others. The other half of her life is working with children with Autism, which she feels is important in supporting a part of her community who struggle to understand and communicate with the world. This is reflected in Black Bark Films through our values of empowerment and providing a platform for the voice of those we work with. HOLLY BLACK

Holly is a natural organiser. Her work as producer/ director for film began in 2015 with the creation of ‘100 Miles and 2 Mouths’. In her previous life Holly has worked in various communications and campaigning roles from co-ordinating the Robin Hood Tax Campaign for Oxfam, to the Soil Association and in festival production - as well as a children’s tv presenter (amongst other things). Holly has a background in Human Rights (MA), Historical and Cultural Studies (BA Hons), and Art and Design (Foundation Diploma) - experience which has given her the relevant tools to identify and cultivate stories borne of a deep interest in the world in which we live. Storytelling is the reason why Holly makes films - and although her main interest may lie in grassroots documentaries promoting social change, Holly understands that there is a sense of political responsibility in all forms of storytelling.

🎞 Film screening 🎞Come and join us on Thursday 8th October to see not one, not two, but three of our films!We'll be show...
22/09/2026

🎞 Film screening 🎞

Come and join us on Thursday 8th October to see not one, not two, but three of our films!

We'll be showing our 2016 feature length film In Our Hands made in association with Landworkers’ Alliance, doc short One Acre made with Dee Butterly and featuring the wonderful , and our recent film made with Rachael Durrant, The Land That Holds Us.

All three films tell stories of our relationship with the land, food and farming - and both shorts focus on stories of women.

We'll also be there to talk more about our work and the films we'll be watching together.

We hope to see you there at St Anne's House for this Thursday lates session Bricks 💕

Ticket link in our bio 🙌

🎊 official selection BIFF 2026 🎊So excited to see our lovely short doc Secret Of Her Success by the sea in Bournemouth l...
15/09/2026

🎊 official selection BIFF 2026 🎊

So excited to see our lovely short doc Secret Of Her Success by the sea in Bournemouth later this year!

✨️ Official selection She/Her Fest 🙌Another selection for The Secret Of Her Success at She/Her Fest! We're very excited ...
26/08/2026

✨️ Official selection She/Her Fest 🙌

Another selection for The Secret Of Her Success at She/Her Fest! We're very excited for this film to be screened in Seattle, Washington.

🎊 Official selection RS Filmfest 🎊Our short doc, The Secret Of Her Success, made in association with Dr Amy Edwards at U...
20/08/2026

🎊 Official selection RS Filmfest 🎊

Our short doc, The Secret Of Her Success, made in association with Dr Amy Edwards at University of Bristol as part of a wider research project has some screenings coming up - and we're excited that one of the first is a local Bristol screening!

These five inspirational women were a joy to work with - including Joan seen here with her husband Ray at their local bowles club - and we can't wait to see them back on the big screen again 💖

✨️ we're very excited to share that our short doc The Land That Holds Us, co-directed by Rachael Durrant and made in ass...
14/08/2026

✨️ we're very excited to share that our short doc The Land That Holds Us, co-directed by Rachael Durrant and made in association with University of Sussex, has been officially selected for 2 festivals this autumn. ✨️

Very excited to see it up on the big screen at Female Filmmakers Festival Berlin (FFFB) and Rural Action Film Festival.


05/06/2026

🧄🍅🌽The Land That Holds Us is a moving short documentary that follows four women forging lives in small-scale organic farming across the Sussex Weald and rural Mid-Wales. Through intimate interviews and beautifully observed footage from working market gardens, the film explores their relationship with land, labour and community. 🥦🍅🥔

Complicating romanticised visions of rural life, The Land That Holds Us offers an intimate and politically urgent portrait of the unspoken realities of contemporary small-scale horticulture. At once tender and quietly radical, the film asks who gets to belong on the land - and what more just, sustainable, and women-centred futures might grow when access to it is reimagined.

Contributors
Zoe Proctor, Farmer - Tir Awen Market Garden, Gilwern
Katie Hastings, Seed Sovereignty Coordinator - Wales Seed Sovereignty Programme
Rosa Farber, Custodian/ landworker - Laines Organic farm, Cuckfield
Collette Haynes, Organic grower/administrator - Ashurst Organic farm, Plumpton

Directors
Jo Barker
Holly Black
Rachael Durrant

Camera + Sound
Jo Barker
Aphra Evans
Paul Blakemore

Funding/support statements
This production was supported by a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship and was carried out as part of a multi-media research study on women’s farming journeys – ‘Women Back to the Land’ – led by Dr Rachael Durrant at the University of Sussex B

🎉 We have another screening of In Our Hands with the wonderful folk at at Hen and Chicken, Bristol, on Tuesday 19th May...
17/04/2026

🎉 We have another screening of In Our Hands with the wonderful folk at at Hen and Chicken, Bristol, on Tuesday 19th May. 🎉

The MAZI Project is very excited to be celebrating the 10 year anniversary of 'In Our Hands'.

Followed by a panel discussion focusing on the power of growing food in an increasingly unstable landscape. Using the 10th anniversary since Brexit’s as our start point, we will be asking our speakers "Has the instability throughout the last 10 years and today’s geo-politics created an opportunity for local food systems to be taken seriously at a national policy level?"

This panel discussion will draw into focus how the unstable global, social and political landscapes of the past 10 years is making it more and more difficult for our government to ignore the importance of addressing food security. We will be bringing The MAZI Project lens, representing food justice, reinforcing successful food security exists when all people have consistent access to nutritious and culturally appropriate food, not just those on a high income.

We will be hosting experienced speakers from farming, policy and community backgrounds to curate a robust and reflective conversation.

Doors open at 6:30

Film screen 7:00 - 8:10

Pannel discussion 8:10-9:15

Q&A 9:15-9:30

This experience is part of The MAZI Project’s series of events marking World Hunger Day, under the theme “Together for Joyful Resilience.”

Tickets sliding scale from £5 up.

Link for tickets in our bio 🎟

08/04/2026

‘Dance isn’t just what I do—it’s who I am. From competitive battles to transformative performances, I’m constantly pushing boundaries, inspiring others, and evolving as an artist.’ - Ramelle Williams

Throwback to working with the lovely and .jf for Confluence ✨️

08/04/2026

‘Dance isn’t just what I do—it’s who I am. From competitive battles to transformative performances, I’m constantly pushing boundaries, inspiring others, and evolving as an artist.’ - Ramelle Williams

Throwback to working with the lovely and .jf for Confluence 🎞

26/03/2026

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