BFI NETWORK: celebrating major achievements throughout 2025

As 2025 draws to a close, we look back on a year that has showcased the incredible range of stories and talent from BFI NETWORK supported filmmakers from across the UK. It’s been amazing to see so many BFI NETWORK alumni filmmakers connect with audiences both at home and internationally and take the significant steps in furthering their careers by creating award-winning debut features. For BFI NETWORK and our partners across England, Ffilm Cymru Wales, Screen Scotland, Northern Ireland Screen and BFI Doc Society, we’re incredibly proud to celebrate the creativity and growth of our filmmakers this year.

It has been a significant year for debut features made by BFI NETWORK alumni with many films enjoying successful runs at festivals such as Cannes, Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Venice Biennale, Edinburgh International Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival launching to critical acclaim with many winning awards, as well as receiving major recognition at this year’s British Independent Film Awards.

Harry Lighton, writer and director of Pillion starring Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling, was previously supported through BFI NETWORK to make his BAFTA nominated short Wren Boys (2018), and was also on the 2017 cohort of the BFI NETWORK X BAFTA X BFI Flare mentorship programme. He has had a remarkable journey this year, from Pillion’s world premiere at Cannes in Un Certain Regard, where he won the Best Screenplay award, to receiving the BIFA award for Best British Independent Film and the Gotham award for Best Screenplay.

Similarly, BFI NETWORK@LFF alum Akinola Davies Jr’s debut feature My Father’s Shadow also premiered at Cannes, where it received a Special Mention for the Caméra d’Or. Writer-director Akinola Davies Jr also secured a major BIFA win, taking home the Best Director award. Imran Perretta’s feature debut Ish, produced by Dhiraj Mahey and BFI NETWORK supported producer Bennett McGhee, continued this impressive international streak by premiering at Venice Film Festival Critics’ Week where it won the Audience Award. Dhiraj Mahey also went on to receive the BIFA Breakthrough Producer award.

The BIFAs also recognised alumni including Daisy-May Hudson, director of Lollipop (produced by Savannah James-Bayly), whose lead actress Posy Sterling won the Breakthrough Performance award, and Alice Lusher, co-producer of four-time nominated Brides. We also saw BFI NETWORK supported writer-director Laura Carreira receive multiple nominations for On Falling, produced by fellow BFI NETWORK supported producer Jack Thomas-O’Brien. The film won Best Feature Film and Best Writer at the BAFTA Scotland Awards, adding to an impressive awards run that includes the Silver Shell for Best Director at the San Sebastián International Film Festival and the Sutherland Award for Best First Feature at the BFI London Film Festival.

We’re also excited to see Olive Nwosu’s debut feature Lady (produced by Alex Polunin) officially announced to premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. This follows Olive and Alex’s earlier BFI NETWORK short Egúngún (Masquerade), which was supported through the BFI NETWORK and British Council More Films for Freedom fund in 2021.

Funding and supporting short filmmakers is at the heart of what we do at BFI NETWORK. By awarding good cause National Lottery funding, we’ve created a space for early career filmmakers across the UK to take creative risks and hone their craft. It’s been great to see the filmmaking teams hard work pay off and we’re delighted to see so many BFI NETWORK supported shorts take home awards this year!

Future Takes high-budget shorts Flock and Magid / Zafar enjoyed successful screenings at this year’s LFF before going on to receive major recognition at the BIFAs, where Flock (directed by Mac Nixon, written with Daley Nixon, produced by Matt Ashwell) was nominated for Best British Short and Magid / Zafar (directed by Luís Hindman, written by Sufiyaan Salam, produced by Aidan Robert Brooks) won the Best British Short Film award.

Our partners in the Nations continue to support exceptional work. In Scotland, Lisa Clarkson’s Parental Advice (written with Janice Galloway and produced by Alex Polunin) triumphed at the BAFTA Scotland Awards, winning Best Short Film. In Wales, the Ffilm Cymru Beacons short Mother’s Day (directed by Emily Burnett, produced by Laura Southgate) was recognised with a BAFTA Cymru nomination and the award for Best Welsh Short Film at the British Short Film Awards.

We’re also thrilled to celebrate success at the 2025 Iris Prize, where two BFI NETWORK supported films triumphed – Blackout, written and directed by Chris Urch, took home the Best British Short Award, and Sleazy Tiger (directed by James Ley, produced by Jack Cowhig and Laura McBride) saw Jay Newton win Best Performance in a Male Role. Two Black Boys in Paradise, directed by Baz Sells (written by Dean Atta, produced by Ben Jackson) and funded through our sister fund, BFI Short Form Animation Fund, also received an Iris Prize nomination. You can stream all three shorts now on Channel 4.

We’ve also seen success from filmmakers supported by our BFI NETWORK Short Film Fund in England and our flagship professional development programme BFI NETWORK@LFF. We are delighted that Onyeka Igwe (BFI NETWORK@LFF) was announced as a joint winner of the Film London Jarman Award 2025. The BAFTA Breakthrough 2025 cohort also featured four NETWORK alumni, including Owen Tooth, Pinny Grylls, Akinola Davies Jr and Laura Carreira. Additionally, this year’s Screen International Stars of Tomorrow line-up saw eight of the nine selected filmmakers having been supported by BFI NETWORK. A huge congratulations to Ted Evans, Sami Ibrahim, Matty Crawford, Tobi Kyeremateng, Warda Mohamed, Jess O’Kane, Anna Snowball and Liam White on this career-defining recognition.

As we come to the end of a truly phenomenal year, we want to extend a huge thank you to our delivery partners and the incredible filmmakers who continue to push the boundaries of storytelling. The success of 2025 is a testament to the vibrant creativity alive in the UK film industry. With a fresh slate of projects in production and development, we can’t wait to bring more distinctive voices to the screen.