Netflix Documentary Talent Fund films premiered at Raindance

The six winning films from this year’s Netflix Documentary Talent Fund premiered at the Raindance Film Festival. Three of these – The Angry Bird, The Herring Queen and The Good Farmer and the Failed Son – have also been nominated for the Oscar-qualifying “Best Documentary Short” Raindance jury award.

Now in its third year, the Fund champions the next generation of documentary storytellers. The winning filmmakers were selected from thousands of applicants and were given £30,000 to produce a bold, original short film inspired by the prompt: “You’re never gonna believe this…”.

Speaking at the premiere, Zainab Ali Khan, Documentary Series, Netflix said: “This year’s filmmakers brought creativity, passion, and vision to their projects. They are a hugely inspiring group of documentary filmmakers and have shown incredible resilience and tenacity. We truly believe that this is the next generation of UK and Irish creative talent.”

Filmmakers received year-long support from Netflix, including production workshops on legal, creative, HR, production, and finance, as well as guidance from Netflix and filmmakers to bring their 8-12 minute documentaries to life. A special thanks to Molinare and their exceptional teams for delivering world-class post-production on three of these remarkable films, and for hosting an insightful post-production masterclass for the 2025 cohort.

The films will also stream from 27 June on the Still Watching Netflix Youtube Channel.

Netflix Documentary Talent Fund 2025 films are:

● David Chabeaux & Owen Tooth – ‘BAND’ – A charismatic bandleader convinces four generations of Midlands factory workers to dedicate their lives and their children’s, to his obsession with leading the world’s best marching band, whatever the cost.

● Lisa Smith & Jack Lilleywhite – ‘THE ANGRY BIRD’ – After a devastating crash, Romany racer Georgie ‘The Angry Bird,’ questions her future in a male-dominated sport and must confront her identity to return as the only woman on track.

● Eilidh Munro & Isabella Bassett – ‘THE HERRING QUEEN’ – The world faces a sea change, generations of fishermen face their fate and yet, a tiny Scottish fishing town still continues to crown a teenage girl their Herring Queen.

● Imoje Aikhoje – ‘BEYOND THE DIVIDE’ – A Black British activist and a former neo-Nazi confront their pasts in a tense, revealing meeting that exposes the roots and perpetration of far-right extremism and challenges the possibility of forgiveness.

● Ailill Martin & Peter Kilmartin – ‘THE GOOD FARMER AND THE FAILED SON’ -A drag queen and his father consider the traditions around inheritance and what they may mean for the future of their family farm.

● Maya Avidov & Savannah James-Bayly – ‘TOO DISGUSTING TO BE CONFUSED’ When Andrew Logan founded the Alternative Miss World in a jigsaw factory in Hackney in 1972, he didn’t expect that his celebration of transformation would take him from the Croisette at Cannes to the highest court in the UK.