Award nominations announced for BFI Future Film Festival 2024

The BFI has announced the award nominations for the programme of fifty-five short films that have been selected to screen as part of the BFI Future Film Festival 2024, the UK’s largest festival for young, emerging filmmakers which returns from 15 – 18 February at BFI Southbank, online and in cinemas UK-wide.

Every film in this year’s festival was eligible for the BFI Future Film Festival Awards 2024, supported by Netflix. 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, who will be announced soon. Nominees across nine award categories will be in the running for ten prizes with money totalling more than £18,000, BFI Player subscriptions and further mentorships from industry leaders. The winners will be revealed at the BFI Future Film Festival 2023 Awards Ceremony, which will take place in person on Sunday 18 February at BFI Southbank and livestreamed on the BFI YouTube channel.

The BFI Future Film Festival 2024 maintains a tradition of live and in-person screenings and events at BFI Southbank alongside a globally accessible online programme, kindly supported by main sponsor Netflix, and for the first time a UK-wide programme in collaboration with BFI Film Academy partners, supported by the National Lottery. A variety of festival passes for BFI Southbank are on sale now. A Full Festival Pass, which allows access to two industry events per day and all three of the film programme screenings, will be available for £45. Also available are 4 Industry Event Passes at £30, 2 Industry Event Passes at £15 and an Opening Day Pass, giving access to Thursday’s events only, at £10. The full programme and the schedule for events is available to explore now on the BFI website.

THE NOMINEES

This year’s programme of fifty-five shorts made by young filmmakers aged 16-25 is an extraordinary collection of films that tackle a broad range of subjects, from mental health and sibling relationships to grief and the immigrant experience. These films, which will be available to watch at BFI Southbank during the Festival and for free worldwide on the BFI YouTube channel from 15 – 29 February, all display phenomenal skill, creativity, and no doubt showcase many of the film industry’s future stars, both in the UK and internationally.

Best New Talent (supported by Warner Bros. Discovery, judged by the BFI FFF Main Jury)

Prize: £5,000 + mentoring package + BFI Player subscriptions

• ROOM (Ian Dani Kim, 2023) is a stop motion animation that follows a teenage boy’s struggle with mental health, which he expresses by locking himself in an imaginary room inside his head.
• STIR (Tiffany Whitney Chang, 2023) depicts tensions rising as, while an annual dinner unfolds, the women in the kitchen grapple with an unusual predicament – the accidental murder of a family pet.
• THE BOSS LEVEL (Owen Heaton, 2023) is an action-comedy following Rachel as she attempts to make an audition on time, despite the efforts of her restaurant boss who is determined to stop her.
• THE DARKLING FOX (Henry Fish, 2023) shows a hunter trapped in an isolated and mysterious woodland as he begins to be tormented by his former prey.

Best Director (supported by Triple Exposure, judged by the BFI FFF Main Jury)

Prize: £1,500 + mentoring package + BFI Player subscriptions

• ALL UP THERE (Bonnie MacRae, 2022) is a portrait of youth, womanhood and medical misogyny following 20-something Eilidh as she urgently seeks answers after debilitating pain pauses her life.
• CARIAD BRAWDOL (Rhys Prichard, 2022) follows two brothers from a small Welsh town as they share their final day together, filled with uncertainty and tension, before one departs for university.
• DOG FACTORY (Brody Salmon, 2023) finds two brothers playing in the apocalyptic ruins of a Lancashire mill town, before they encounter a dangerous loner living out of an ice cream van.
• WHEN ALL IS SAID & DONE (Satchel Aubrey, 2023) shows how Lucy and Jaswant’s plans to move out of their university housing become emotionally charged.

Best Film (supported by the Uggla Family Foundation, judged by the BFI FFF Main Jury) 

Prize: £1,500 + mentoring package + BFI Player subscriptions

• DOG FACTORY (Brody Salmon, 2023) finds two brothers playing in the apocalyptic ruins of a Lancashire mill town, before they encounter a dangerous loner living out of an ice cream van.
• THE LAST SEPTEMBER (Sophia Shi, 2022) follows an Asian-American high schooler, under the stress of college applications, whose world view is irrevocably changed by the box-checking process.
• THE THIRD EAR (Nathan Ginter, 2023) follows a life drawing model whose sense of self-image spirals after he sees a botched depiction of himself and sprouts an ear on the back of his head.
• TIPSY SUGAR FLIPPING (Amber Clarke-McGrath, 2023) depicts three best friends on a drug-fuelled night out in their small seaside university town, but one friend doesn’t want the party to end.

Best Animation (supported by BlinkInk, judged by Bart Yates – BlinkInk)

Prize: £1,500 + mentoring package + BFI Player subscriptions

• APPETITE (Peiying Wang, 2023) explores the link between food and sex, and the conflict between instinct and social discipline, while a man and woman eat together at a restaurant.
• BIRD DRONE (Radheya Jegatheva, 2023) follows a lonely seagull looking for love, who struggles to accept that his newfound object of affection is a human-operated drone with limited battery life.
• MAKING IT UP (Alice Guymer, 2023) weaves together themes of consumerism, standards of beauty and social media as we follow the grim lengths one girl will go to in order to be pretty.
• PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! (Kate Saltel, 2023) follows shy intern Lobster Lobster, who struggles to keep up during their first day at a pharmaceutical company in this frenetic and fun animation.
• TO THE BRINK (Hugo Docking, 2023) is a violent stop motion cabaret for the cynical and depraved which shows how guilt, alcoholic apathy and the apocalypse threaten to push a man to the brink.

Best Documentary (supported by Netflix, judged by Reva Sharma – Netflix)

Prize: £1,500 + mentoring package + BFI Player subscriptions

• AWAY FROM THE FIELDS (Safeen James, 2022) follows three Nigerian boys on a colourful journey of discovery as they mix and mingle with familiar faces in their London neighbourhood.
• GUARDIANS (Minerva Navasca, 2021) is a documentary that walks us through the psychological reality of a girl’s journey home on foot through concerned phone calls with friends and family
• LONDON’S ROCKETSHIP LAUNCHERS (Julia Mervis, 2022) follows the filmmaker’s quest to uncover the purpose of the large, circular metal frameworks dotted around London’s landscape.
• PLEASE BE HAPPY (Elif Gönen, 2023) is an experimental documentary that explores the varying relationship dynamics within three families on the intersection of parenthood and queerness.
• THE SKATEBOOK (Sofia Negri, 2022) is an animated documentary bringing together voices from the London skateboard scene to share their fears, hopes, and thoughts about what it means to them.

Best Experimental (supported by Black Dog Films, judged by Martin Roker – Black Dog Films)

Prize: £1,500 + mentoring package + BFI Player subscriptions

• AND HOW MISERABLE IS THE HOME OF EVIL (Saleh Kashefi, 2023) sees a dictator spend the last moments of his life sat in silent contemplation as a large group of people break into his house.
• DREAM FACTORY (Alex Matraxia, 2023) is an experimental short that explores the historical role that cinemas played as queer cruising grounds, and their relationship with desire and fantasy.
• LUCIDITY (Kit Warner, 2023) is the ominous and ethereal experience of a photographer who reimagines and explores the dreamlike memory of a beach.
• PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! (Kate Saltel, 2023) follows shy intern Lobster Lobster, who struggles to keep up during their first day at a pharmaceutical company in this frenetic and fun animation.
• SÆKÝR (Edith Morris, 2023) captures Stöðvarfjörður, a remote fishing village in Iceland where trolls, spirits and hidden folk roam, using a roll of super 8 and a cassette recorder.

Best International (supported by The London School of English, judged by Timothy Blake – The London School of English)

Main Prize: £1,500

Special Mention: £1,000

• AND HOW MISERABLE IS THE HOME OF EVIL (Saleh Kashefi, 2023) sees a dictator spend the last moments of his life sat in silent contemplation as a large group of people break into his house.
• DREAMS OF HOME (Justin Kaminuma, 2023) is a visual poem crafted from footage of the filmmaker’s life, following a boy through abstract landscapes in search of a place seen in his dreams.
• FIRST NIGHT (Haneol Lee, 2023) explores the isolation of the immigrant experience as a Korean father attempts to order food for his family at a deli – without much help from a dictionary.
• FLOWERBOY (Nicolas Schönberger, Thomas Hütte 2023) can read the customers who come to his flower shop like an open book, but when a shopper gifts him a flower of his own his ordered world is shaken up.
• LAST SEEN (Wiktoria Weintritt, 2023) shows Wiktoria ruminating on her last memory of seeing her father, which forces her to question the credibility of memory and how they fade with time.
• LILLO (Andrea Figueroa Chávez, 2023) follows a boy grieving the loss of his father. He uses his imagination to find the strength needed to harvest his dad’s corn before the wind takes it first.
• PALLBEARER (Martin Crasborn, 2023) follows the budding relationship between two young pallbearers as they are confronted by their fear of being vulnerable.
• ROCK SPRINGS (David Huang, 2023) sees a Chinese miner forced to make a difficult decision in the days leading up to the Chinese Massacre of 1885 in Rock Springs, Wyoming.
• THE LAST SEPTEMBER (Sophia Shi, 2022) follows an Asian-American high schooler, under the stress of college applications, whose world view is irrevocably changed by the box-checking process.
• THE NEST (Valèria Cuní, 2023) sees Genís tag along with his older brother, Martí, and their friends to spend an afternoon making mischief in a nearby farmhouse – exposing their differing attitudes.

Best Micro Short (supported by Chapman Charitable Trust, judged by BFI Film Academy Young Programmers)

Prize: £1,500 + BFI Player subscriptions

• 36,000 WORDS FOR LOVE (Zeb Goriely, 2023) is an experimental film documenting a weekend spent at the filmmaker’s home, using nothing but a microphone and a vintage film camera.
• ANNA MCGEE’S WILD RIDE (Ava Bounds, 2023) offers a snapshot of the absurdity of life when a teenager on the cusp of adulthood flies through her entire future while stuck in a traffic jam.
• LOVESHOTS (Pauliina Leskinen, 2023) questions whether digital love is less demanding than in real life, as a girl who wants to escape the dating scene finds herself in a relationship with an AI.
• PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! (Kate Saltel, 2023) follows shy intern Lobster Lobster, who struggles to keep up during their first day at a pharmaceutical company in this frenetic and fun animation.
• THE OATH (Jeffrey Lo, 2022) finds Catherine musing on her national identity as she prepares for her USA naturalisation ceremony and realises the weight held by the words of the Oath of Allegiance.

Best Writer (supported by Action Xtreme, judged by Chee Keong Cheung – Action Xtreme)

Prize: £1,500 + mentoring package + BFI Player subscriptions

• ARE YOU OKAY? (Jack McLoughlin, 2023) sees Carl and his sister Leanne forced to confront some dark truths after their car breaks down on the journey to find mental health support for Carl.
• DOUBLE VODKA AND BLACKCURRANT (Dean Conway, 2023) sees a hungover university student procrastinate with her best friends all morning, despite waking up an hour late for work.
• FIRST NIGHT (Haneol Lee, 2023) explores the isolation of the immigrant experience as a Korean father attempts to order food for his family at a deli – without much help from a dictionary.
• GHOST INSURANCE (Django Pinter, 2023) follows a charismatic door-to-door Ghost Insurance salesman, who happens upon a curious father and his much more sceptical daughter.