Charlotte SawyerDirector of documentary, music video and fiction

About

I'm a director and photographer based in Bristol. I trained in law and community theatre, and both still shape how I work: I make films with people, not about them.

For over a decade I've worked with contributors in Iraq, Ethiopia and Nigeria, as a shooting producer-director on advocacy films for Oxfam, and on music documentaries in Taiwan. I've made short films and campaigns for LUSH, Netflix, Fairtrade and Surfers Against Sewage.

My first feature, Rave On for the Avon, follows Bristol's wild swimmers fighting sewage in our river. It won the Sustainability Merit Award at Wildscreen 2024, was selected for FIPADOC, and has had more than 90 cinema screenings across the UK, Europe and Latin America.

I co-founded Eighty Sita Productions with Aggie Nyagari. I'm now developing Rise for the Wye.

Worked with

Oxfam, Surfers Against Sewage, LUSH, Netflix, Fairtrade