Rainbow Trout Films

13/06/2026

An amazing few days at Sheffield DocFest. Lots of meetings, talks and some great documentary films to boot…

10/06/2026

Super opening night . Badge collected, meetings and networking has begun… Great opening night film with We, the hated.

Already feeling inspired….

🎬

03/06/2026

More Cannes Film Festival highlights…

02/06/2026

Next week I’m heading to

Looking forward to meeting fellow documentary filmmakers and discuss our projects and potential collaborations.

I’ll be attending from the opening night on the Wednesday 10th to Saturday 13th June.

Watch this space for more details and exciting news…

Reach out if you would like to meet up.

29/05/2026

Thrilled to share that our short film Karate Dreams received an Official Selection at the Tokyo Lift Off Network Film Festival! 🎬🥋

While we didn’t advance to the final rounds, we were up against some incredibly strong short films and I couldn’t be prouder of what we made. Getting this recognition on an international stage is another milestone for the whole team.

Thank you to everyone who supported the project.

Matthew Handley
Rainbow Trout Films 🎥

Filmmaking IndependentFilm

28/05/2026

⏰ 3 HOURS LEFT — and we need your help!

We're so proud to have supported The Last Hike - Short film, a beautiful short film about family, grief, and the journeys we take to heal — directed by the brilliant James Mellor and Beth Whitehouse.

The film is shot. The story is there. Now we just need to finish it.

Funds raised today will go towards post-production and getting this film into festivals around the world — editing, sound design, an original score, colour grading, and everything that transforms raw footage into cinema.

We're at 39% of the target and the campaign closes at 2:22pm today. Every single pound makes a difference.

👉 Please donate and share — link below:
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/the-last-hike-help-us-finish-the-film

Let's get this film finished. 🎬🌊

Help us complete The Last Hike — a powerful short film about family, grief and the journeys we take to move forwards.

24/05/2026

Some Cannes Film Festival vibes… I’m still recovering…

More to come…

18/05/2026

Here are some brief ramblings from my experience here at the Cannes film festival this year.

Really do your research when you’re thinking of attending a film festival to find out which one is suitable for you and your project.

Hope you find this useful if you’re a new budding film producer filmmaker out there..

16/05/2026

Writing this from Cannes and feeling incredibly proud right now.

I’m delighted to share that Karate Dreams has just won the Sport Theme Film award at the Cine Paris Film Festival 🏆

The short documentary follows Mathew Handley, a martial artist from Halifax, West Yorkshire, who founded the Halifax Sport Karate Club to empower his community through karate. Balancing personal grief after losing a parent, Mathew channels his experience into building a dojo grounded in respect, resilience, and growth, both on and off the mat. It’s a quiet, powerful story, and one very close to home for me.

The film also features Olympic Gold Medallist Steven Da Costa, drawing a line from grassroots dedication to world-class inspiration.

At Rainbow Trout Films, we’ve always believed that local stories can carry universal weight — and this recognition from Cine Paris reinforces exactly that. Cine Paris is a serious international festival, with jury professionals from Sony, Cineberg Germany and beyond, and live screenings at the iconic Les 3 Luxembourg cinema in Paris.

We make films because stories like Mathew’s deserve to be told. This one clearly landed.

If you’re at Cannes this weekend , I’d love to connect — always open to conversations about documentary, sport, and independent filmmaker.

SportFilm Karate RainbowTroutFilms Halifax IndependentFilm Filmmaker