Six NFTS and Star Imagine UK Short Films Selected For World Premiere at BFI London Film Festival 2023!

The National Film and Television School (NFTS) and Star are proud to announce that the six films created as part of the Star Imagine UK short film incubator programme will enjoy their world premiere at the 2023 BFI London Film Festival!

At the start of 2023, Star and the NFTS selected 12 UK based emerging writers, directors and producers from under-represented backgrounds to take part in a brand-new ten month short film initiative, Star Imagine UK. Each of the six filmmaking teams has since created an original short film, centred on the theme ‘Evolve’, working with talented National Film and Television School students to bring the films to life with a production budget of £25,000, provided by Star and the NFTS.

The final six films, titled Dragon Slayers United, Lionhead, Gently, Sleepyhead, Nights and Space Plug explore uniquely personal stories across identity, culture and disability, featuring everything from a Dungeons and Dragons club to a Friday night in A&E. The films will screen as part of the ‘LFF For Free’ programme on 7th October 2023.

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Explore the films made by these UK based writers, directors and producers who are poised to make a significant impact in the film industry:

Dragon Slayers United: Holding a painful secret, Nic joins a dungeons and dragons group for people with disabilities. Through it, she enters a fantasy world that will forever change her self-view.

Director Tom Levinge

Screenwriter Adam Pearson
Lionhead: When a teenager is invited to a party on Chinese New Year, he is forced to confront his shame towards lion dancing.

Director-Screenwriter Alvin Yu

Producer Charley Packham
Gently: Gentle outsider Keeva sets off on a mysterious rite of passage in a forest, discovering that his sense of self creates something wholly unexpected.

Director-Screenwriter Kevin Morosky

Screenwriter Tom Dunn
Sleepyhead: In this dark comedy, sixth-former Rae is chronically ill and stuck at home with her glorious imagination and seething rage for company.

Director Milly Garnier

Screenwriter Charlotte Paradise
Nights: It’s Friday night in A&E and wait times are only growing. When a surprise inspection delays an exhausted doctor’s break, things take a surprising turn.

Director-Screenwriter Laura Jayne Tunbridge

Producer Danielle Goff
Space Plug: In the middle of space, a baby human is raised in a blank white room with everything that they need but nothing they want.

Director-Screenwriter Marcus Anthony Thomas

Producer Jordi Morera