Meet Shajna
The Film Bunch
Shajna is a filmmaker and founder of The Film Bunch. The Film Bunch showcases short films from upcoming filmmakers from around the world. Their mission is to improve access for deaf and hard-of-hearing people to mainstream short films, so they provide subtitles, British Sign Language interpreters and live captioning at their events.
Every month, they hold a short film screening and networking event in East London to bring film fans together. It’s a chance for people to indulge themselves in great films, in great company. They mix it up with Q&As, quizzes and themed events.
It can be difficult for filmmakers with hearing loss to fully participate at networking events, meaning they miss out on opportunities. Our events create an open and supportive space for everyone to connect and collaborate.
We want to see subtitles used more, widening access to everything from YouTube to blockbuster cinema. We will show filmmakers how using subtitles can increase their audience, including deaf/hard-of-hearing viewers and non-native English speakers.
We understand how hard it can be for filmmakers when they’re starting out and are crippled by expensive submission fees for film festivals - our submission service will always be 100% free of charge.
The Film Bunch aims to reduce the stigma associated with hearing loss and to give indie filmmakers exposure for their work. They also provide practical filmmaking workshops to give people the opportunity to make short films.