A Masterclass with Richard Belfield

SIFFA hosted an exclusive masterclass, The Sun of Sergei Prokofiev: How to Film a Great Composer, led by Richard Belfield at Raindance Studios, London’s renowned home of independent film.

Filming a great composer

Belfield’s career has been built on investigative documentaries, with films for the BBC, Channel 4, Discovery, Al Jazeera and National Geographic, two of which have reached global audiences of more than 150 million. He is also the author of five books, the most recent a bestseller. The session drew on all of it: a working filmmaker’s account of how lived experience becomes cinematic narrative, and how you set about capturing a figure as towering as a great composer on screen.

Across the afternoon, attendees explored creative approaches to real-life storytelling: finding the story inside the facts, earning trust on camera, and shaping raw material into something that holds an audience.

An unforgettable finale

The masterclass closed in a way few in the room saw coming: an intimate private concert from our special guest, Gabriel Prokofiev. A composer, pianist and producer, and the founder of Prokofiev Studio, Gabriel is the grandson of the great Sergei Prokofiev and son of the artist and poet Oleg Prokofiev. He has built an outstanding international career of his own, bringing classical music into dialogue with contemporary culture while honouring the legacy of one of the twentieth century’s most celebrated artistic families.

Joined by the exceptionally talented young saxophonist Oliver Tesic and an outstanding cellist, Gabriel filled the room with music, warmth and creativity. There was no distance between the performers and the audience, only the rare privilege of hearing world-class musicians at close quarters, sharing their artistry and their love of music. It was a perfect ending to a day given over to learning, inspiration and artistic exchange.

Why we do this

We created SIFFA to bring extraordinary artists and audiences together, and to celebrate the power of culture to connect generations. An afternoon that moved from a masterclass on filmmaking to live music carried down through a great artistic family is exactly what the festival is for.

Submissions for SIFFA 2026 are now open, and we warmly invite filmmakers from around the world to take part. If you are looking for a place to begin, our current Prokofiev Challenge, also run by Richard Belfield, asks you to make a short film set to a passage of Prokofiev’s music, with winning entries screening at the festival.