The festival will take place at BFI Southbank, online and in cinemas UK-wide from the 20th February until the 6th March.
The BFI has announced the award nominations for the programme of fifty-four short films that have been selected to screen as part of the BFI Future Film Festival 2025, a festival which celebrates the work of young, emerging filmmakers which returns later this month.
Three of the ten awards, Best Film, Best Director and Best New Talent (which looks for the filmmaker who shows the most promise), will be judged by the BFI’s esteemed Festival Jury, consisting of filmmakers Baff Akoto (producer of QUEEN OF GLORY), Daisy-May Hudson (director of HOLLOWAY), Eloïse King (director of THE SHADOW SCHOLARS) and Pinny Grylls (director of GRAND THEFT HAMLET)
Meanwhile, nominees from across nine award categories will be in the running for ten prizes worth more than £15,000, BFI Player subscriptions and mentorships from industry leaders. The winners will be revealed at the BFI Future Film Festival 2025 Awards Ceremony, which will take place in person on Sunday 23rd February at BFI Southbank and be live streamed on the BFI YouTube channel.
Also announced is actor and filmmaker Alice Lowe (PREVENGE, TIMESTALKER) and theatre and film director Nadia Latif (THE MAN IN MY BASEMENT) who will take part in headline Hot Spot sessions at BFI Southbank. A highlight of the festival’s events programme, Hot Spot sessions offer the chance to hear directly from established screen professionals about their careers and tips to break into the industry.
Other guests taking part in the festival to offer insight and advice to up-and-coming filmmakers include: trainees and crew from CrewHQ, Warner Bros Studio Leavesden’s Skills and Training Centre, plus film and TV editors Carly Brown (DOCTOR WHO), Rachel Durance (HOARD) and Catarina Oliveira (BLUE PLANET II), documentary editor Xanna Ward Dixon (IF THE STREETS WERE ON FIRE). Also taking part in the festival will be Coal Supper founders James Carbutt and Will Todd, freelance producer Sarah Mavity, illustrator and animator Alice Bloomfield, colour grader Jo Barker, wildlife filmmaker Libby Penman, Black Pear consulting director and executive coach Sarah Wright, directors Leon Oldstrong (THE LIES OF OUR CONFINES) and Alice Russell (IF THE STREETS WERE ON FIRE), director and writer Dan Thorburn, writer Mick Ford (AFTER THE FLOOD), writer and climate campaigner Jessica Riches, Climate Spring head of scripted for film and international Len Rowles, Ecologi director for climate science and impact Sam Jackson. The line up is completed by Unit creative lead Jordan Scott Kennedy, Inclusivity Films founder Sarah Leigh, MsMono founder Karla Williams, writer and journalist Danny Leigh, Alliots senior media accountant Samuel Ampah, Reviewed & Cleared solicitor Adrian Dicker, director and choreographer HOLLY BLAKEY, movement director Yahamoto, NOWNESS commissioning director Katie Metcalfe, and Triple Exposure founder Gareth Graham. Speakers taking part in the online events programme accessible worldwide include writer director Aislinn Clarke (FRÉWAKA), INDUSTRY co-creator Mickey Down, writer, performer and filmmaker Amrou Al-Kadhi (LAYLA), writer director Abel Rubenstein (LIFE IN LOVE) and filmmaker Libby Burke Wilde (EARLY TWENTIES).
Tickets for events taking place at BFI Southbank are on sale now, with each individual session costing £7. The full programme and the schedule for events is available to explore now on the BFI website: https://www.bfi.org.uk/future-film-festival