Sands: Artistic Director Ania Trzebiatowska Talks Creating An Intimate, Filmmaker-Friendly Event As Scottish Festival Clocks Attendance High

“You have to show audiences that there are films out here worth their time,” veteran programmer and curator Ania Trzebiatowska says when quizzed on her position as Artistic Director of Scotland’s Sands International Film Festival. 

Trzebiatowska’s philosophy seems to be bearing fruit as Sands, which ended its fourth version on Sunday, clocked a 35% upward thrust in attendees throughout its 2025 version. 

The tournament opened on April 25 with a preview of James Griffiths’s buzzy characteristic The Ballad Of Wallis Island. The flick hit Sands after its debut at this yr’s Sundance Film Festival. Universal will unencumber the movie in UK cinemas on May 30. The pageant closed with John Maclean‘s survival thriller Tornado, featuring Tim Roth, Slow Horses’ Jack Lowden, and Japanese celebrity Kōki. In between, Sands hosted buzzy Q&A consultation with Joanna Lumley, casting director Kharmel Cochrane, and Sundance Programming head Kim Yutani.

Below, Trzebiatowska stocks how she and her colleagues have accomplished the uncommon feat of making a rising neighborhood round a brand new movie tournament, her curatorial objectives, and plans for the longer term.

DEADLINE: Ania, that is the fourth version of Sands. How do you’re feeling it went?

ANIA TRZEBIATOWSKA: I think it went smartly. People appear to be satisfied, which is excellent.

DEADLINE: What marks a a hit version for you guys at Sands?

TRZEBIATOWSKA: The objective has at all times been to ship a pageant that celebrates filmmaking along the filmmakers themselves. So you might have an target audience that may watch movies and really feel like they may be able to have interaction with the filmmakers and communicate with them out of doors the standard Q&A surroundings. We need to make folks really feel like they’re a part of one thing. This yr, we had a 35% enlargement in the case of audiences, which is very large. I’ve been pronouncing this to myself from day one: You need to earn this neighborhood’s accept as true with. You have to turn audiences that there are movies out right here which might be value their time, and that takes some time. 

Sometimes you’ll get stressed and suppose the relationship will have to be going down quicker. But we had to turn out to be extra embedded on this neighborhood. That ended in us making moderately other alternatives. This version had a mix of native and global ability. We closed the pageant with a Scottish movie and opened with a comedy that folks have been curious to look, and it was once easiest for this explicit neighborhood.

DEADLINE: While at Sands, I came upon that the town of St Andrews not has a full-time cinema. Their longtime cinema has been purchased and gutted through an funding team led through Tiger Woods and Justin Timberlake. That provides extra importance on your paintings with Sands. Is that one thing you have been excited about whilst programming the development?

TRZEBIATOWSKA: I will’t say I used to be excited about it a lot whilst programming as a result of that’s a large number of force. But it was once why I assumed extra about looking to display screen a mixture of issues which might be intriguing and thrilling in the market at the moment. The previous yr has been an out of this world yr for medical doctors, and that’s why this programme mirrored that. I used to be additionally made up our minds to open with a comedy. The international is a lovely grim position at the moment, and if we will do one thing to make it a bit of bit nicer for everybody to begin, then why don’t you? 

DEADLINE: Sands is clearly your 2d task. You’re additionally a full-time programmer at Sundance. That’s a heavy workload. Do you continue to really feel you’ll elevate on main Sands?

TRZEBIATOWSKA: This is one thing that I used to be considering so much about all through our curatorial convention, simply the sustainability of all of it, and the best way that we paintings within the trade. And how little we occasionally take care of ourselves. But I really like this pageant and I’m happy with the entire paintings that the crew has carried out. It is my 2d task, however there’s additionally this entire crew at The Byre Theatre, our central venue, who perform year-round. They have a complete theatre programme. They display screen movies and be offering a Panto season, so Sands doubles their workload, too. But they’re all so nice and make our visitors on the pageant really feel so welcome, so it’s now not simply me doing this sort of paintings. And then we’ve got the entire interns and our pupil curators. Everyone’s invested on this pageant. So positive, I’m actually drained, however it feels just right to drag this off, and I’m excited for the following version. It’ll be our 5th yr. 

DEADLINE: Do you might have anything else particular deliberate for subsequent years anniversary?

TRZEBIATOWSKA: I actually need to proceed to do what we do, and dangle directly to the issues that paintings, and now I’ve a greater sense of what works. But I’m indubitably having conversations with folks about coming to the pageant, administrators I would like to host, simply because I feel they are going to be a super have compatibility for us in the case of what they constitute and the type of gala’s they prefer. So I do have plans. 

I would like to have some other song tournament for the reason that Alan Silvestri dialog we had remaining yr was once particular. But it must be the appropriate factor. Everything must be quite natural. I don’t need to drive anything else into lifestyles.

DEADLINE: After 4 years and report attendance you’ve obviously found out the magic method. But is there anything else you’ve discovered that doesn’t paintings?

TRZEBIATOWSKA: Overprogramming, looking to do an excessive amount of directly. It simply doesn’t paintings. Sometimes you simply get formidable or excited as a result of you’ll do one thing. But there are different components to consider, like capability, and St. Andrews can handiest accommodate such a lot. So that was once a large finding out curve. Also, evaluating your self with others within the sense that we will have to be this as a result of others are doing that. Or stressing over such things as premier standing. It actually all about taking part in the most efficient movies.