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Kate Stonehill is a Grierson award-winning documentary filmmaker and cinematographer whose work sits at the intersection of visual art and journalism, investigating power, technology and citizenship in the digital age.
Her debut feature, Phantom Parrot, unravels a secret U.K. government surveillance programme and follows a human rights activist as he is prosecuted under terror laws for refusing to hand over his passwords at the border. The film premiered at CPH:DOX and Sheffield Doc/Fest, where programmers called it "a must-see for anyone who cares about civil liberties in the digital age." Supported by the BFI Doc/Society Features Fund, the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund, Catapult Film Fund, and a Logan Nonfiction Fellowship, Phantom Parrot received a four-star review in the Guardian, screened in the U.K. Houses of Parliament, and was released in cinemas across the U.K. before being acquired by Tribeca Films for North American distribution. It is now available on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, BFI Player and Curzon Home Cinema.
Kate's short films have screened at leading international festivals including the BFI London Film Festival, DOC NYC, Camden International Film Festival and Hamptons International Film Festival, and been featured on Field of Vision, The Atlantic Selects, Vimeo Staff Pick and Short of the Week. In 2022, Bertha DocHouse selected her as one of three "exceptional British short filmmakers" to spotlight in their summer series. Her shorts include The Family Statement (co-directed with Grace Harper), nominated for a SIMA Award; the Grierson-nominated Mother (2020, co-directed with Jas Pitt); and the Grierson and RTS award-winning Fake News Fairytale (2018), which featured in the BFI season Born Digital: Raised by the Internet and was exhibited at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.
As a cinematographer, Kate has worked internationally across Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean, including on a number of news films for Channel 4. She has led workshops and courses at the National Film & Television School, the Royal Academy of Art in the Hague and UCL, where as a Senior Teaching Fellow, she helped design the B.A. in Media. She is a mentor with Arts Emergency.
Her debut feature, Phantom Parrot, unravels a secret U.K. government surveillance programme and follows a human rights activist as he is prosecuted under terror laws for refusing to hand over his passwords at the border. The film premiered at CPH:DOX and Sheffield Doc/Fest, where programmers called it "a must-see for anyone who cares about civil liberties in the digital age." Supported by the BFI Doc/Society Features Fund, the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund, Catapult Film Fund, and a Logan Nonfiction Fellowship, Phantom Parrot received a four-star review in the Guardian, screened in the U.K. Houses of Parliament, and was released in cinemas across the U.K. before being acquired by Tribeca Films for North American distribution. It is now available on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, BFI Player and Curzon Home Cinema.
Kate's short films have screened at leading international festivals including the BFI London Film Festival, DOC NYC, Camden International Film Festival and Hamptons International Film Festival, and been featured on Field of Vision, The Atlantic Selects, Vimeo Staff Pick and Short of the Week. In 2022, Bertha DocHouse selected her as one of three "exceptional British short filmmakers" to spotlight in their summer series. Her shorts include The Family Statement (co-directed with Grace Harper), nominated for a SIMA Award; the Grierson-nominated Mother (2020, co-directed with Jas Pitt); and the Grierson and RTS award-winning Fake News Fairytale (2018), which featured in the BFI season Born Digital: Raised by the Internet and was exhibited at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.
As a cinematographer, Kate has worked internationally across Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean, including on a number of news films for Channel 4. She has led workshops and courses at the National Film & Television School, the Royal Academy of Art in the Hague and UCL, where as a Senior Teaching Fellow, she helped design the B.A. in Media. She is a mentor with Arts Emergency.