The BFI Future Film Festival today confirmed the dates for the festival’s 14th edition, which will take place online from 18 to 21 February 2021. This year’s festival, which is aimed at aspiring filmmakers aged 16 to 25, will be completely free of charge, enabling young people from every corner of the UK, and across the world, to benefit from masterclasses and talks from the best in the business.
This year’s BFI Future Film Festival had submissions from more than 1000 filmmakers from around the globe, with 45 films being selected for the final programme. These films will screen online on BFI Player and are all eligible for the BFI Future Film Festival awards. The festival will close with a virtual awards ceremony on 21 February, with 3 awards being chosen by a high profile jury of industry professionals. Details of the film programme, the awards jury, and the films shortlisted for the awards will be announced on 22 January, while full details of the events programme will be announced on 29 January.
The 2021 festival also marks the launch of a new partnership between Julia and Hans Rausing and the BFI that will help young and diverse audiences maintain access to screen culture and education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Generous support from the trust has helped make it possible for this year’s BFI Future Film Festival to be free of charge for all attendees. The trust’s recent, transformative grant of £350k is helping the BFI bring its work to broader audiences across the UK and globally by enabling further transition of its programme to digital, and also offers wider and significant financial support to the BFI in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.