BFI Future Film Festival: 5 Northern filmmakers to be featured on TSOTA

The British Film Institute (BFI) is the leading organisation for celebrating the best in British and global filmmaking. Their role in supporting young British talent has not just propelled careers, but continuously progressed the film industry.

This weekend, the BFI Future Film Festival 2021 takes place, giving filmmakers aged 16-25 a chance to showcase, network and learn in the biggest event of the year for young filmmaking talent.

The State of the Arts will be interviewing a number of directors involved in the festival. Hailing from the North of England, their films are all nominated for awards and will be featured in the festival programme.

Like most arts organisations, the BFI has had to be resourceful in the face of the ongoing uncertainty facing the creative industries due to the pandemic. This year’s festival will take place online, with tickets being made available for free, and will feature a programme of 45 short films made by young filmmakers. Selected from over 1,000 entries, they form an extraordinary collection of films that tackle a broad range of subjects, from race, disability and sexuality to friendship and fandom, as well as some nods to the pandemic itself. All will be available to watch for free on the BFI Player from 18-21 February.

These special interviews will appear on The State of the Arts site next week. We are proud to be featuring…

• Kieran Stringfellow, from Manchester, nominated for Best Director and Best Film — Bulldog (Kieran Stringfellow, 2020, UK) is a beautifully executed film that follows a rough sleeper who has a score to settle after spending the night in a cell

Bulldog (dir. Kieran Stringfellow). Source: BFI

• Rory Wilson, from Liverpool, nominated for Best Film – Rory Wilson’s powerful and nuanced Loco (2020, UK) follows a train driver who is left traumatised after an incident on the tracks

Loco (dir. Rory Wilson). Source: BFI

• Elsa Hunter-Weston, from Liverpool, nominated for Best Experimental Film — Please Introduce Yourself (Elsa Hunter-Weston, 2020, UK) explores the difficulties facing a young person on the cusp of adulthood as they wrestle with their own identity

Please Introduce Yourself (Dir. Elsa Hunter-Weston). Source: BFI

• Sam Arbor, from Manchester, nominated for Best new talent and Best Experimental film — In yandass.mov (Sam Arbor, 2019, UK), Yandass just wants to dance; when something gets in the way, she is plunged into a scary world where her passion takes over (nominated for Best New Talent and Best Experimental Film)

yandass.mov (dir. Sam Arbor). Source: BFI

• Amos Menin, from Leeds, nominated for Best Documentary — Jude (Amos Menin, 2020, UK) is a powerful film in which the filmmaker’s Grandfather recounts how he lost everything as a child escaping the holocaust

Jude (dir. Amos Menin). Source: BFI

We’ll be posting features of these exciting filmmaking talents throughout next week. Check out our site and follow us on social media to read our BFI feature series!

To join the festival this weekend for free, head to the BFI Player page.