Raindance Film Festival has announced that this year’s Netflix Documentary Talent Fund films will premiere part of their Official Selection.
The documentary shorts will each be eligible to be considered for Raindance’s Oscar®-qualifying “Best Documentary Short” jury award. The films will premiere on the closing night of the 33rd Raindance Film Festival on 26th June.
In its third year, the Netflix Documentary Talent Fund supports emerging filmmakers to nurture and support a new generation of documentary storytellers, the six films were selected out of thousands of applications inspired by the prompt “you’re never gonna believe this…” Each received a budget of £30,000 to produce a short documentary between 8-12 minutes long, participated in Netflix hosted workshops covering all aspects of production including legal, creative, HR, production and finance along with year long guidance on their films from Netflix and filmmaking professionals.
Kate Townsend Director, Netflix Documentary Film said: “When we created the Netflix Documentary Talent Fund our goal was to support underrepresented filmmakers and to try to break down some of the barriers to entry into the industry. We are immensely proud of what our filmmakers have gone on to achieve and truly believe we are nurturing the next generation of UK and Irish creative talent. We’re thrilled that Raindance agrees and is showcasing these exciting new films as part of their Official Selection for this year’s festival.”
David Martinez, Executive Director at Raindance Film Festival said: “We are thrilled to welcome Netflix to the festival, together, we aim to amplify and provide a platform for emerging filmmakers to bring their unique visions to life. These films will not only enhance opportunities for new talent in the UK but also enrich the cultural tapestry that both Raindance and Netflix are passionate about fostering. We look forward to the creative collaborations and groundbreaking projects that will emerge from this exciting partnership.”
Since creation, the Netflix Documentary Talent Fund has produced 15 films with over 60 festival screenings, creating powerful and important stories as well as supporting incredible filmmakers during a vital stage of their careers. Love Languages, directed by Jason Osbourne during the first year of the fund, made the BAFTA Longlist for British Short Film, and last year, Iranian Yellow Pages, made by Anna Snowball & Abolfazl Talooni, was nominated for the Best Documentary Short at the Grierson Awards.
Filmmakers who have previously been supported by the fund have gone on to make their first features, been nominated for numerous other awards and become BAFTA Connect members including the winner and two of the nominees of the 2023 BAFTA TV Award for Short Form Programme.
Netflix Documentary Talent Fund 2025 films which will premiere 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 life-changing 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’ – A teenage girl is crowned The Herring Queen in a tiny Scottish fishing village’s beauty pageant, as a community holds onto the past and the world faces a sea change.
- 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, he didn’t expect that his celebration of transformation would take him from the Croisette at Cannes to the highest court in the UK.
