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After the resounding success of last year’s launch, Directors Notes is thrilled to present our 2025 edition of the WeAreDN Awards. Over the past few weeks we have painstakingly whittled down our 2024 official submissions to a choice list of 28 nominated films, across 9 categories – Drama, Comedy, Buckle Up, New Talent, Animation, Documentary, Music Video, Dance & British – for our expert industry jury – including last year’s only double award winner – to vote on.

Join us on the 1st of May at 7pm, along with our nominated filmmakers, cast, crew and industry professionals for a screening of the winning films, celebratory drinks, networking and, most importantly, dancing.

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Please email contact@directorsnotes.com to be added to our ticket standby list.

Our Jury

Dave Taylor-Matthews is an experienced film festival organiser and curator based in Bristol, with over a decade of expertise in film exhibition. Currently serving as the Executive Director of Encounters Film Festival,...

The many challenges disabled delegates can face at festivals and events prompted the British Film Institute (BFI) to four UK-based disabled filmmakers to the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s (IFFR) industry offering IFFR Pro last week.

Ella Glendining, Anna Keeley, Sarah Leigh and Cristián Saavedra attended as part of a joint initative between theBFI Inclusion team and IFFR, supported by the BFI International Fund.

IFFR was chosen for what is one of the first delegations of its kind because Rotterdam was regarded as “quite accessible” as a city and could be reached from London by the high-speed Eurostar rail link.

The many challenges disabled delegates can face at festivals and events prompted the British Film Institute (BFI) to four UK-based disabled filmmakers to the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s (IFFR) industry offering IFFR Pro last week.

Ella Glendining, Anna Keeley, Sarah Leigh and Cristián Saavedra attended as part of a joint initative between theBFI Inclusion team and IFFR, supported by the BFI International Fund.

“Festivals are inherently inaccessible,” said BFI director of inclusion Melanie Hoyes, who devised the initiative. “It’s [about] trying to figure out the website, how to book a ticket, where they are, what the weather is like,...

The many challenges disabled delegates can face at festivals and events prompted the British Film Institute (BFI) to take a delegation of four UK-based disabled filmmakers to the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s (IFFR) industry offering IFFR Pro last week.

“Festivals are inherently inaccessible,” said BFI director of inclusion Melanie Hoyes, who came up with the initiative. “It’s [about] trying to figure out the website, how to book a ticket, where they are, what the weather is like, if they’re busy, there are always networking drinks [which aren’t great] if you don’t drink, stay out late or aren’t good at talking to lots of people.

The British Film Institute (BFI) is supporting a delegation of four UK-based filmmakers to attend International Film Festival Rotterdam’s (IFFR)industry offering,IFFR Pro.

Ella Glendining, Anna Keeley, Sarah Leigh and Cristián Saavedra will besupported by the BFI International Fund, awarding National Lottery funding through its group attendance programme, and led by the BFI inclusion team in collaboration with IFFR.

This is the first time the programme has focused specifically on disabled talent for a festival or market delegation.

Screen Star of Tomorrow 2020 Glendining received a Bafta nomination for her feature documentaryIs There Anybody Out There?in 2024, following its premiere at Sundance.

The British Independent Film Awards (Bifas)winners are being unveiled from a ceremony at London’s Roundhouse.

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Screen isupdating this page live from the ceremony as the winners are announced - refresh this page for the latest winners. Scroll down for the full nominations and craft winners.

Sophie Okonedo is receiving theRichard Harris award. The actor is best known for her Oscar-nominated performance in 2004’sHotel Rwanda while her other film credits includeThe Secret Lie Of Bees,Christopher Robin,Wild Rose,Death On The Nile andCatherine Called Birdy.

Bifa winners 2024

Winners in bold, latest award top

Best...

Screen Star of Tomorrow 2024 Elizabeth Rufai and The Ceremony producer Hollie Bryan are among the 15 writers, directors and producers taking part in the 11th BFI Network@Lff professional development programme.

Rufai won a Bafta for her National Film and Television School graduate short film, Jellyfish And Lobster, which is currently being developed into a feature, with backing from BBC Film. She runs Carbon Pictures alongside her sister, Abiola Rufai-Awojide, with a slate that takes influence from their UK-Nigerian heritage.

Bryan’s debut feature as producer The Ceremony won the inaugural £50,000 Sean Connery prize for filmmaking excellence at this summer’s Edinburgh International Film Festival.

A filmmaker who has already impressed us here at Dn with his deceptively simple but overwhelmingly tense short Punch-Drunk, writer-director Liam White returns to Dn to elevate your heart rate and raise your blood pressure with his latest short Housewarming. His psychological thriller continues in the same less is more approach to storytelling, with satisfyingly chilling results. White elevates the tension with meticulously planned out shot sequences, coupled with nuanced and unencumbered performances which are given their own space to breathe and turn an initially innocuous encounter into something much more unsettling. Housewarming has just hit the festival circuit and will be screening at Raindance on Saturday 22nd June, ahead of which we managed to grab some time with White to discuss aligning audiences with his protagonist’s circumstances, how he was able to authentically tap into the feelings of vulnerability felt by so many and his conflicted feelings towards the festival landscape.