A filmmaker from Bewsey who has been sober for more than 20 years has been invited to take part in a new north west cultural celebration of Dry January.
David McCollom is bringing his award-winning short film about one woman’s path to sobriety to a public screening and panel discussion as part of DRY26, a programme of arts events exploring recovery from substance use.
The film, called The Light Side, follows the recovery journey of high-profile sober coach and author Lucy Rocca, whose Facebook page Soberistas has over 14K followers. In September 2025 it was named joint winner of the Recovery Street Film Festival at the London Screen Academy.
It will now feature alongside a number of other short films that explore recovery at the festival’s first screening outside of London on Friday 16 January 2026 at Manchester Metropolitan University. A new partnership with Manchester-based arts organisation Portraits of Recovery, organiser of DRY26, has led to the festival’s first outing in the north.
In the film, Rocca, from Sheffield, speaks about how binge drinking since her teens stifled her ability to write. Since deciding to become sober in 2011, she has published five self-help books, started working as a sober coach and built the online Soberistas community.
Filmmaker David says that he channels his own lived experience into his craft. His company DMC Media, which he has been running for 19 years, not only produces commercial films for national clients but also runs a 10-week filmmaking course for people in recovery or with mental health conditions, which he delivers in communities and prisons across the region.
He said: “My own recovery journey is the bedrock of my work. Getting sober wasn’t about closing a door; it was about opening a world of creativity and purpose I never knew was possible.
“Making films like The Light Side allows us to speak to that ‘grey area’ of drinking that so many people struggle with quietly. To share this story from Warrington on a Manchester stage shows others in recovery that their voices matter and their stories have power.”
David’s film, with a run time of just over two-and-a-half minutes, will be shown alongside five other short films, which offer different experiences of recovery from substance use.
The screening takes place during DRY26, a month of films, exhibitions, workshops and talks that celebrate abstinence and position it not as a form of loss, but as a possibility. DRY26 is produced by Portraits of Recovery, the UK’s only arts organisation focused on recovery from substance use.
Mark Prest, founder and CEO, Portraits of Recovery, said: “We are thrilled to be working with the Recovery Street Film Festival and to be showing David McCollom’s award-winning short film, which presents an authentic and hopeful vision of recovery.
“With DRY26, we want to show that sobriety isn’t about restriction, but about opening the door to a richer, more creative, and connected life.”
The Recovery Street Film Festival has been amplifying the voices of filmmakers with lived experience of substance use for over a decade. From its grassroots beginnings, the festival has grown into a national event, with entries viewed over a million times.
Maddie Kitchen, creative director, Recovery Street Film Festival, said: “David’s film is a beautiful example of how personal recovery journeys can illuminate the path for others.
“His skilful storytelling captures both the struggle and the profound hope that defines recovery. We are proud to have recognised his work at our festival and are delighted to see it reach new audiences in Manchester, continuing its vital role in challenging stigma and fostering understanding.”
Tickets are priced at £2 and are available on Portraits of Recovery’s website https://portraitsofrecovery.org.uk/whats-on/dry26-recovery-street-film-festival/
Recovery Street Film Festival Screening & Panel Discussion
Friday 16 January 2025 4.30-6pm
SODA, Manchester Metropolitan University, 14 Higher Chatham Street, Manchester M15 6ED
