The British Urban Film Festival has unveiled the nominations for its 2025 Awards ceremony, marking the festival’s 20th anniversary.
The ceremony will be hosted by Linda E (This Is My House), with guest presenters Lisa Maffia (So Solid Crew) and producer Teddy Nygh (Rocket Fuel, Pru), plus a special guest appearance by actor Aml Ameen (Rustin, A Man in Full).
The event will take place on Friday 24 October at the Genesis Cinema, Stepney Green, London.
Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe, BUFF founder and festival director, added: “As BUFF turns 20, these nominations reflect the bold storytelling and diverse voices that define our festival.
“From rising stars to established icons, the BUFF Awards shine a light on talent shaping the future of cinema.”
The full list of nominations is available below.
Best UK Short Film
The Launch (Steven Olugbenga Eniraiyetan)
Sunshine (Manu Kurewa)
Softy (Joshua Reeves)
Best International Short Film
Rise (Jessica J. Rowlands)
The Untying (Meagan Noel Fulps)
Lola (Grace Hanna)
Best Actress in a Short
Titana Muthui (Sunshine)
Ronkẹ Adékọluẹ́jọ́ (The Launch)
Diém Camille (No Place for a Kid)
Best Actress in a Feature (The Blessing Anyiam-Osigwe Award)
Sitsofe Tsikor (Letters to Goddo)
Endurance Dedzo (The Fisherman)
Stella Damasus (Water Girl)
Best Actor in a Short
Joseph Obasohan (Softy)
Oliver Samuels (Sugar Dumplin)
Karl Collins (The Last Dance)
Best Actor in a Feature (The Anthony Adjekum Award)
Solomon Fixon Owoo (Letters to Goddo)
Nicholas Pinnock (Heavyweight)
Elijah Baker (Tapped)
Best International Feature
Letters to Goddo (Harry Bentil)
Water Girl (Nnamdi Kanaga)
The Fisherman (Zoey Martinson)
Best UK Feature (The Victor Adebodun Award)
Heavyweight (Christopher M. Anthony)
Tapped (Teoman Sayin)
An Enemy Within (John Kennedy)
Best Documentary
Inmates with Talent (Johnny Collins, Joel Jerome Dant)
Shoot the People (Andy Mundy-Castle)
Skategoat (Van Alpert)
Best Soundtrack
Sunshine (Giles Lamb)
Lola (Johan Macaraeg)
Fight or Flight (Tessa White)
Best Animation
Bubble Boy (Cameron Carr)
The 12 Inch Pianist (Lucas Ansel)
Two Black Boys in Paradise (Baz Sells)
Best Script Supervision (Winning recipient)
Tapped (Teoman Sayin)
Best Live Scripts (Winning recipients)
Mailman (Robin Scovill)
Blood Enough (Saeid Ghasemi)
The Town (Al Mertens)
Honorary Recipient
Femi Oyeniran
This year’s festival will feature the UK premiere of The Professional Parent, which has also qualified for consideration in the 98th Academy Awards’ Best Live Action Short Film category.
Last year, Rock, Paper, Scissors, which premiered at BUFF, went on to win Best Short Film at the BAFTA Film Awards.
In a press release, BUFF said: “BUFF continues its mission to spotlight underrepresented voices in film, with nominees spanning UK and international short films, features, documentaries, animation and performance.”
