Filmmakers revealed for talent development programme
The BFI today announces the 15 trailblazing writers, directors and producers selected for this year’s edition of BFI NETWORK@LFF. The annual flagship professional development programme running as part of the BFI London Film Festival (LFF) in partnership with American Express, is designed to support and inspire new and distinctive filmmaking voices. BFI NETWORK@LFF 2025 is focused on ambitious filmmakers who are poised to make a significant impact in the industry, and for the second year, the lab features a growing documentary strand supported by the BFI Doc Society Fund.
Fifteen of the boldest and brightest early career filmmakers across fiction and documentary were selected based on the strength and quality of their body of work and because their career trajectories and debut features in development have the potential to make an impact. A group of storytellers with fresh perspectives and championing underrepresented voices and stories, the cohort is a great example of the exciting range of filmmaking styles and approaches within the emerging UK screen industry.
Full details of this year’s cohort below.
A talent development programme at the very heart of the LFF, BFI NETWORK@LFF’s cohort of UK-based writers, directors and producers participate in an intensive programme of masterclasses, screenings and events with industry professionals. Following the LFF, the cohort will regroup in Spring 2026 for further tailored sessions expanding the Lab following feedback from previous participants. BFI NETWORK@LFF aims to support the next step in their careers and offers an opportunity to foster new industry connections and utilise the knowledge and experience of more established filmmakers, to inspire the cohort and to further develop their feature projects.
The programme is delivered by BFI NETWORK with support from BFI Doc Society Fund and is made possible thanks to National Lottery funding.
Alice Cabañas, Head of BFI NETWORK, says, “Every year I am blown away by the applications we received for this Lab, the talent and ambition demonstrated make it a very tough selection process. Once again, this has resulted in an incredibly strong cohort for an exciting programme we have put together with our partners at the BFI Doc Society Fund and the BFI London Film Festival. I am also looking forward to expanding the scope of the Lab this year and bringing the cohort back together in 2026, to continue to support their professional and creative development”
BFI NETWORK@LFF has built a strong track record with alumni establishing successful careers, developing award-winning features and finding roles within television and beyond. These include writer/director Harry Lighton, whose debut Pillion won Best Screenplay when it premiered in Un Certain Regard in Cannes earlier this year, Akinola Davies Jr, writer/director of My Father’s Shadow, which also World Premiered in Cannes where he received the Caméra d’Or Special Mention, producer Helen Simmons whose latest film 100 Nights of Hero directed by Julia Jackson will close this year’s BFI London Festival after its World Premiere in Venice, writer/director Sandhya Suri, whose narrative debut was the BIFA award-winning Santosh, and Aleem Khan, writer/director of BAFTA®-winning After Love.
Filmmakers taking part in BFI NETWORK@LFF 2025
Anna Snowball | Director | South East
Anna Snowball is a documentary filmmaker based in the UK. She is a Screen International Star of Tomorrow 2025. Her latest short, Iranian Yellow Pages, won the Netflix Documentary Talent Fund, was nominated for a Grierson Award and Critics Circle award, and screened at festivals including the BFI London Film Festival, Big Sky, and AFI Fest. With 15 years of experience in short nonfiction films through her company Snow Films, her work has played on Netflix, BBC, Arte, Radio 4, and Channel 4. Anna is an alumna of the NFTS Documentary MA, BFI Doc/Next and EsoDoc Development Lab.
Cheri Darbon | Producer | London
Cheri Darbon is a producer with experience across commercials, TV, and independent film, working with BBC Film, BFI, Netflix, and all major UK broadcasters. Her company June & Stella Productions champions distinctive, underrepresented stories with a focus on subcultures and redefining identities. Cheri’s work includes BIFA-winning and BAFTA-nominated Festival Of Slaps (Abdou Cissé) and the BMW Filmmaking Challenge winner We Collide (Jason Bradbury), during the production of which, the team was mentored by Michaela Coel. She produced A24’s comedy playground Rise & Shine With Channel 9 (Ayoade Bamgboye) and associate produced BAFTA-nominated debut Hoard (Luna Carmoon). Cheri is currently developing Cisse’s debut feature, Voice Of Reason, with BBC Film.
Chloe Culpin | Writer-Director-Producer | Midlands
Chloe Culpin is a BIFA and BAFTA long-listed filmmaker from Nottingham, UK. She has produced, directed and written films commissioned by the BFI, Film4 and BBC that have gone on to premiere and screen at multiple Academy and Bafta qualifying festivals, including Sundance Film Festival, Edinburgh International Film festival and the BFI London Film Festival. Chloe was the Associate Producer on Erebus Pictures upcoming feature 100 Nights of Hero, directed by Julia Jackman and their Co-Producer on BFI and BBC Film backed debut, A Hand Rises by Louise Stern.
Courteney Tan | Writer-Director | South East
Courteney Tan is a writer/director whose workplace thriller pilot Zalyla was selected from 1,000 scripts for mentorship by Line of Duty’s Jed Mercurio, later optioned by Hat Trick Mercurio, and chosen for Sky’s 2023 Table Read. Her debut feature BLUE received BFI NETWORK Stage 1 and Stage 2 Early Development funding. Other projects in development include a book adaptation for Pukka Films and an original TV show with Three Tables Productions. As a director, her BFI NETWORK funded short Longing screened at Oscar and BAFTA-qualifying festivals and was Iris Prize-nominated. She directed second unit on Netflix’s Scoop and is currently working as a script editor on Lena Dunham’s Too Much.
Elham Ehsas | Writer-Director | London
Elham Ehsas is a BAFTA-nominated and Oscar-shortlisted writer, director, and actor working across film, TV, and theatre. His work focuses on emotionally grounded, politically resonant stories that center underrepresented voices. His short film Yellow was BAFTA-nominated and Oscar-shortlisted in 2024, while his debut Our Kind Of Love is being developed into a feature with the BFI. He recently served as Second Unit Director on The Crown (Netflix), and his latest short There Will Come Soft Rains premiered at Aspen ShortFest and won Best UK Short at Raindance Film Festival.
Hannah Currie | Director | Scotland
Hannah Currie (she/her) is an award-winning filmmaker from Glasgow with a reputation for thoughtful documentaries about sensitive human stories. Her film work includes Scottish BAFTA-winning and Grierson-nominated short That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore, which premiered internationally at DOC NYC whilst recent television credits include BAFTA Scotland winning series Not Your Average Family. Hannah is a passionate advocate of accessibility and equality in the industry and was recently commissioned by Screen Scotland to direct Working Differently, promoting better understanding of neurodivergence in the film and television industries.
Hannah Tookey | Producer | North
Hannah is a multi-disciplinary producer combining genre and issue-led stories with impact campaigns. Her shorts have screened at Sheffield Doc/Fest, Raindance, Galway, Bolton, Aesthetica, ShortShorts, and Interfilm, and premiered on Nowness, BBC4, and as a Vimeo Staff Pick. Her latest short CARE marks acclaimed theatre director Stef O’Driscoll’s film debut, was supported by The Uncertain Kingdom and First Flights, and has been selected for HollyShorts and Edmonton. She’s developing supernatural thriller Arkadia, which was co-created on Screen Yorkshire’s Flex and selected for the inaugural UK Next Wave Genre Lab. Her mid-length documentary Safe Unsound was selected for EFM DocToolbox 2025.
Hansel Rodrigues | Writer-Director | South West
Hansel is a writer-director working in documentary and fiction. With a background in editing, Hansel loves crafting accessible, cinematic stories that are hopeful, multi-tonal and focus on the nuanced, messy lives we all lead. He’s collaborated with Oscar-nominated executive producers and BAFTA-nominated actors, and his Straight 8 screened at Cannes. Alongside his partner Lizzie Atherton, he is a joint winner of the prestigious Dreammakers Award — featured in The Hollywood Reporter and Variety — and received the Emerging Voices Award. His documentary work has earned multiple accolades on the festival circuit and is supported by the Emmy Award-winning Ventureland Studios.
Jesse Lewis-Reece | Writer-Director | South East
Jesse Lewis-Reece is a BAFTA-nominated writer and director from Brighton. His short films include Bleach (winner of four Royal Television Awards), Eyelash (BAFTA-nominated), and Mother of Mine (BFI London Film Festival 2023). His commercial work spans the British Army, Battersea, RNIB, and AMEX, with his RNIB campaign winning Gold for Best Director at the British Arrows. Jesse is currently in post-production on Pour Me, a bruising short starring Shaun Thomas. He is developing his debut feature Heartburn with Blink Productions, alongside The Tallest Hotel in Tokyo, a time-splitting romantic drama. His work blends emotional intimacy with bold, formally inventive storytelling.
Jessica Bishopp | Writer-Director | London
Jessica is an award-winning filmmaker fascinated by subcultures, myth and our connection to place. Her work has screened internationally at film festivals including SXSW, BFI London Film Festival, Sheffield Doc/Fest, DOK Leipzig, IDFA and DOC NYC. Her short films are Oscar-Qualified, BIFA-Longlisted and Grierson-Shortlisted, and have featured on The Atlantic, Dazed, NOWNESS, The Guardian Documentaries and The New Yorker, receiving several Vimeo Staff Pick awards. She has been selected to take part in highly competitive labs including Berlinale Talents and UnionDocs. In 2024 she was a Nominated Artist for the prestigious Arts Foundation Futures Awards Fellowship. Jessica is currently working on her BFI Doc Society and Sandbox Films supported documentary feature debut.
Josephine Lohoar Self | Writer-Director | South East
Josephine Lohoar Self is a writer-director whose early work in animation paved the way for a career in live action. Her debut short, The Fabric of You, was longlisted for the 2021 Oscars and nominated for a Scottish BAFTA. Since then, her shorts have been nominated for the Royal Television Society and Irish Film and Television Awards. She has taken part in talent labs including Berlinale Talents, Edinburgh International Film Festival Talent Lab, and Scottish Film Talent Network. She completed her BFI NETWORK funded short Daddy’s Girl and is developing her debut feature The Wall Dogs, produced by Cardel with support from the BFI.
Matty Crawford | Writer-Director | London
Matty Crawford, recently named a Screen Star of Tomorrow, is a BAFTA nominated British Filipino writer-director based in London. His films cross genre and burrow under your skin, blending unflinching emotion with bold visual storytelling. He is a former Sundance Ignite Fellow and graduate of the National Film and Television School. His short films have screened at festivals such as Toronto International Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival and SXSW, whilst collecting a number of awards including the Midnight Shorts Jury Award at SXSW and Narrative Short Jury Award at Oscar Qualifying San Francisco International Film Festival. He is currently developing his debut feature with BBC Film.
Ray Wilson (They/Them) | Producer | Wales
Ray is a queer, disabled producer, BBC Comedy Collective member and founder of Panad Productions. They champion queer stories, using genre to explore complex social issues. Recent projects include shorts for Ffilm Cymru, BBC and BFI NETWORK (Producer), and We Might Regret This (Shadowing Producer). Ray has three features in development with Ffilm Cymru. Their award winning slate has screened worldwide alongside slots on BBC2, Channel 4. Recent short Fisitor won Best Welsh Film at BAFTA qualifying FOCUS festival and will air on the BBC in Autumn. Ray’s accolades include Chapter Queer Prize winner, Honourable Mention (twice) and Winner at Brighton Rocks and selection for BFI/NFTS Cymru’s ‘Beyond Shorts’.
Shannon Welby | Writer | Northern Ireland
From the North West of Ireland, Shannon’s work includes being in the writer’s room for award-winning BBC drama Blue Lights, writing an episode of Cartoon Network series Goat Girl, and being shadow writer on Kiwi-Irish thriller The Gone. She has a slate of projects in development including an original comedy TV project with Hat Trick Productions and BBC, and a feature drama in development with EZ Films. Her latest short premiered at Galway Film Fleadh. Shannon’s accolades include selection for BBC Comedy Collective 2025 and BBC Writers’ Voices 2024. Shannon’s mantra is ‘good collaboration, good manners, and good craic’.
Sophie Chater | Producer | Scotland
Sophie Chater is a creative producer based in Glasgow. As one half of Borador along with Jack Gemmell, she has produced multiple short films and documentaries. Blackwool (Eubha Akilade, 2024) was the first short Scottish narrative to premiere at Tribeca Film Festival, and went on to win the Best Short/Animation Scottish BAFTA. Big Moves (Sarah Grant, 2024) was nominated for a Grierson Award for Best Short Documentary. She is currently working on developing Borador’s first feature project.
