The Third Ear, winner of the Best Film awardThe BFI Future Film Festival 2024 came to a close this evening, with the winners of the BFI Future Film Festival Awards announced online and in person at BFI Southbank. The talented young filmmakers aged 16 to 25 that took home prizes included Tiffany Whitney Chang (Best New Talent for Stir), Nathan Ginter (Best Film for The Third Ear) and Bonnie MacRae (Best Director for All Up There). These three awards were judged by the BFI’s esteemed festival jury, who announced their choices at tonight’s ceremony, comprising filmmakers Adura Onashile, Alexi Tan, Chloe Abrahams, Dan Cadan and Naqqash Khalid.
A further seven awards were presented during the ceremony, all judged by industry experts, with winners including Radheya Jegatheva (Best Animation for Bird Drone), Minerva Navasca (Best Documentary for Guardians), Kit Warner (Best Experimental Film for Lucidity), Justin Kaminuma (Best International Film for Dreams of Home), David Huang (International Special Mention for Rock Springs), Zeb Goriely (Best Micro Short for 36,000 Words for Love) and Jack McLoughlin (Best Writer for Are You Okay?). The winners were awarded prizes including money totalling £18,000, BFI Player subscriptions, and mentoring support generously offered by this year’s festival partners. The awards were hosted by Elle Osili-Wood.
This year’s BFI Future Film Festival ran from 15 to 18 February at BFI Southbank and BFI IMAX, online, and in cinemas UK-wide, kindly supported by main sponsor Netflix. Young filmmakers were able to hear directly from some of the best in the business, including screenwriter and producer Jesse Armstrong (Succession, Peep Show), filmmaker Jeanie Finlay (Your Fat Friend), actor Olisa Odele (Big Boys), Frank Film Club hosts and creators Maisie Williams, Lowri Roberts and Hannah Marie Williams, Anthropocene: The Human Epoch filmmakers Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier and Edward Burtynsky, Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared producer Hugo Donkin, Emmy-nominated casting director Kelly Valentine Hendry (Bridgerton, Queen Charlotte), showrunners Martha Hillier and Bindu de Stoppani, broadcaster and producer Elle Osili-Wood, filmmakers from the NOWNESS network, Chicken House publisher Barry Cunningham, Lime Pictures’ Tim Compton, executive producer Liv West, TikTok filmmaker Tom Pablo, and video game designer Jörg Tittel.
The online programme, which included sessions exploring the filmmaker training ground that is UK soap operas, and practical advice on the skills needed for in-demand below the line roles presented by BFI Film Academy, is available to watch now on the BFI YouTube Channel.