Short film funded projects by region
South West
Bare Roots
Producer: Lucy Mainstone
Writer: Ellen McDougall
Director: Ellen McDougall
Genre: Drama
Format: Live action
Description: In the depth of winter, an estranged mother and daughter plant a bare root hedge, unearthing the loss and heartbreak they have each buried, and exposing their needs for home, and each other.
Featherless
Producer: Luke Jeffery
Writer: Penn Bálint
Director: Penn Bálint
Genre: Drama
Format: Live action
Description: When trans man Cy begins transforming into a bird, he has to contend with the denial and gaslighting of those around him. An allegory for the disabled experience (from medical gaslighting to the importance of disabled community).
I Don’t Live Here
Producer: Unity Haggard; Laura Cameron (co-producer)
Writer: Josephine Starte
Director: Toby Parker Rees
Genre: Comedy/horror
Format: Live action
Description: In the wake of a tragedy, Charlotte returns to her dilapidated childhood home in Exmoor for a family dinner, where her mother’s unpredictable behaviour causes the evening to take a bizarre and terrifying turn.
Pen Mari
Producer: Denzil Monk, Rachel Burton & Pierre Schomburg
Writer: Callum Mitchell
Director: Siôn Marshall-Waters
Genre: Horror
Format: Live action
Description: In the desperate search to acquire a horse’s skull — required to participate in a local folk procession — a man is drawn into the black market for animal parts.
South East
Daddy Daze
Producer: David Ajayi
Writer: Phil Ossai
Director: Phil Ossai
Genre: Comedy/drama
Format: Live action
Description: Darrel is a sardonic stay at home dad trying to form his own fatherhood journey. A routine trip to solve his traditional Nigerian father’s tech issues quickly descends into an attack of outdated gender roles and passive aggressive comments.
Daddy’s Girl
Producer: Carla Mooney
Writer: Josephine Lohoar Self
Director: Josephine Lohoar Self
Genre: Comedy/drama
Format: Live action
Description: Catherine, a highly intelligent 12-year-old girl fantasises about murdering her stepfather Phil, but when her mother leaves on a business trip one weekend, Catherine’s resentment towards Phil thaws and she is forced to re-examine her unresolved feelings of grief.
Moderator
Producer: Zoe Jones
Writer: Benedict Cohen
Director: Benedict Cohen
Genre: Comedy/drama
Format: Live action
Description: To cope with their gruesome job, two content moderators start having sex at work. But they must battle with their new-found addiction to trauma bonding, lest it consume them.
Swipe Right
Producer: Bradley Kiel
Writer: Esther Ajibade
Director: Esther Ajibade
Genre: Comedy
Format: Animation
Description: A comedy based on a first-generational, Black cis-woman going through a lot of downs finding a dating match in London. Her world becomes an online platform where she meets interesting people on the way, which will make her question her self worth.
North
Cass & Roya
Producer: Mike Cochran
Writer: Natalie Beech
Director: Alice Cornelia
Genre: Drama
Format: Live action
Description: Agoraphobic, wealthy Roya pays drug addict Cass in prescription drugs to go out with a hidden camera and earpiece and befriend Roya’s estranged adult daughter, while Roya watches from home.
Lonelier Than Love
Producer: Lily Corke Butters, Michelle Brøndum
Writer: Felix Mufti
Director: Em Gi J lbertson
Genre: Comedy/drama
Format: Live action
Description: Lonelier than Love is an addict’s account of love, explored through the lens of a co-dependent, queer relationship.
Meat Raffle
Producer: Harry Shaw
Writer: Stuart Armstrong
Director: Stuart Armstrong
Genre: Comedy/drama
Format: Live action
Description: A closeted divorced dad attempts to rig his local pub’s turkey prize draw to impress his distant son at Christmas.
MyMan: An Origin Story
Producer: Kenton Thomas
Writer: Kenton Thomas
Director: Jamie Swaby
Genre: Action-adventure
Format: Hybrid
Description: MyMan is an autobiographical tale from an alternate timeline, where a young man’s discovery of superpowers (or super imagination) becomes his escape from the harsh truths of Black teenage life amidst knife crime and gang culture.
NOWT
Producer: Casey Bernice Shaw
Writer: Emma Doherty
Director: Milda Baginskaite
Genre: Drama
Format: Live action
Description: A rebellious teenager falls dangerously in love with an older boy, leading her down a path that could change her life forever.
Midlands
The Butcher
Producer: Ashley Morris
Writer: Stuart Edwards and Selina Mosinski
Director: Stuart Edwards and Selina Mosinski
Genre: Comedy/horror
Format: Live action
Description: An ageing community led by a sadistic Butcher will do all it can to see a young local carry on their ritualistic traditions.
Chokehold
Producer: Catriona Kelly
Writer: Christopher Bevan
Director: Christopher Bevan
Genre: Drama
Format: Live action
Description: In a desperate attempt to escape his troubled home life, a young teenage boy runs away to seek out his estranged father, a once-famed professional wrestler now working in a small coastal town.
Funny History
Producer: Tidza Karup
Writer: Daisy Moore
Director: Daisy Moore
Genre: Drama
Format: Live action
Description: Grace returns home for her mother’s birthday for a weekend of family rituals and nostalgia. As old home videos reveal the richness of her own childhood, she faces the emotional weight of her looming abortion appointment.
Smooth the Edges
Producer: Alessandro Luchetti & Liza Mortimer
Writer: Charles Newland
Director: Charles Newland
Genre: Drama
Format: Live action
Description: Chantel, a young woman of Romani-Gypsy heritage conceals her ethnicity to avoid workplace discrimination, but after losing her job, she confronts her identity while navigating the challenges of finding new employment and facing the prejudices of those around her.
Starboy
Producer: George Somner
Writer: AR Ugas
Director: AR Ugas
Genre: Drama
Format: Live action
Description: A rising rapper grapples with the consequences of his music’s influence when he attends the birthday party of one of his young fans.
London
Birdhouse
Producer: Jo Sargeant
Writer: Moritz Valero
Director: Moritz Valero
Genre: Drama
Format: Live action
Description: In a world where friends are hard to find, especially for those who don’t quite fit the mould, an unsuspecting young man finds himself in a cacophony of trouble, as a local gang leader takes advantage of his need for connection and sets up shop in his flat.
He Died But Wouldn’t Leave
Producer: Sarudzayi Marufu
Writer: Zara Symes
Director: Zara Symes
Genre: Horror
Format: Live action
Description: A woman’s father dies but won’t stay dead, forcing her to confront her estranged relationship with him and her own fear of mortality.
I Love You In Different Ways
Producer: Benji Landman
Writer: Joseph Wilson
Director: Joseph Wilson
Genre: Drama
Format: Live action
Description: 12-year-old Lucian explores his sexuality via fantasy and family, in a pre-internet world. Set in the summer of 2000, the seeds of Lucian’s complex relationship with his body, food and sex emerge.
In 2024 BFI NETWORK shortlisted 31 short films projects for funding.
These short film projects have been approved for funding from the 2024 open call, at the time this page was last updated.
Further projects from the 2024 open call will be added to this list once their final funding awards are confirmed.