BFI NETWORK alumni at Edinburgh International Film Festival 2025

As the summer months are here, the film calendar is gearing up for Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF). This year’s programme features BFI NETWORK alumni landing at the festival with some striking debut feature films, and two BFI NETWORK funded short films also screening in the festival programme.

Following a standout premiere at Sundance, Brides will be having its UK premiere during EIFF. The film is the debut feature of director Nadia Fall and screenwriter Suhayla El-Bushra.

The film was co-produced by Alice Lusher, an alumnus of both the BFI NETWORK funded Insight producer programme and BFI NETWORK@LFF in 2019. The Insight producer programme was designed to actively support producers make that challenging leap up to feature film.

Thea Gajic’s debut feature Surviving Earth gained BFI NETWORK Early Development support in 2018. The film will be having its UK premiere at EIFF, following a successful run at SXSW earlier this year.

In 2018, Thea Gajic also received BFI NETWORK funding for her short film Eli. Produced by Benedict Turnbull and Harri Kamalanathan, with support from Film London, the story follows a close-knit group of friends whose relationships begin to fray after long-buried secrets surface, leading a young father to a pivotal, life-altering choice. Watch Thea Gajic’s short film Eli.

The programme also features two Scottish shorts, awarded BFI NETWORK funding through our partnership with Screen Scotland:

Funded in 2023, Distance to the Moon is a haunting and textured stop-motion animation short. Written and directed by Victoria Watson and Sacha Kyle and produced by producers Giles Lamb and Rhona Drummond, the film follows a lone Earth survivor who embarks on a surreal and introspective journey to the Moon. To find out more and book tickets visit the EIFF website to explore the Animation Shorts Programme – Edinburgh International Film Festival.

We’re also excited to see that the short Sleazy Tiger has been selected to screen with Gerard Johnson’s feature Odyssey, which will play as part of the Midnight Madness strand at the festival. Sleazy Tiger received funding through BFI NETWORK and Screen Scotland in 2023. Directed by James Ley and produced by Jack Cowhig and Laura McBride the comedy short follows hopeless romantic Alan who is excited for his first date with Blair. However, when Blair gives him a jar of homemade kimchi, Alan realises he’s going to struggle controlling his erotic desires. To find out more and book tickets visit the EIFF website to explore the Midnight Madness Programme.

The festival is also presenting the inaugural round of short films from the Sean Connery Talent Lab. The lab has recently announced the second cohort for 2026. We were delighted to see Iqbal Mohammed selected in this 2026 cohort – Iqbal has received BFI NETWORK funding for short film Tasbeeh and Early Development funding for his feature film project Bowling for Bradford. We’re excited to follow his progress through this brilliant programme.

And there’s even more to celebrate! BFI NETWORK and Screen Scotland are relaunching support for emerging filmmakers in Scotland with two new short film funds, each offering a budget of up to £25,000 as part of the Screen Scotland Talent Builder programme which will be supported by National Lottery funding. The North Star Shorts Fund is specifically aimed at emerging Scottish-based filmmakers producing their first funded film. Additionally, Screen Scotland will support recipients of the Next Wave Fund in creating new projects to further advance their careers. Screen Scotland will be holding a panel as part of EIFF’s industry programme on Sunday 17 August at Summerhall Library Gallery.