Jade Van Jaarsveld

I’m a South African-born, English-raised, multidisciplinary writer and a freelance filmmaker with a passion for emotionally-driven storytelling.

 

As a graduate from Birmingham City University’s BA Filmmaking course, I have worked on films that have been recognised on the festival circuit – THE SCRUM, a micro-documentary that I was a first assistant director and interviewer for, made the official shortlist at the Expresso 90 Film Festival, and FORGET ME NOT, a short film I produced, was a finalist in the London Film Club Shorts Festival, part of the official selection for the Short Is Beautiful Film Festival, and earned three awards (Best Film, Best Actress, Best Director) at The Lie Feed Film Festival - it has most recently been screened at Worcester Film Festival in September 2026. My own final major project, THE INHERITANCE, has been selected for screening and is a Best Student Film nominee at Birmingham Film Festival 2026.

 

I’m also a performance poet – in 2019, my poem WE, THE HOMELESS, was highly commended in the Orwell Youth Prize. My debut poetry collection, THREE YEARS, was published by BookLeaf Publishing, and I later released a further version, THREE YEARS: EXTENDED EDITION, self-published on Kindle Direct Publishing.

 

Currently, I'm seeking a producer for my upcoming short film, BABY STEPS, and I'm also developing a children’s book.