In a challenging and complicated political landscape, these films are questioning and challenging what Britain feels and looks like now.

From animated letters to England to avant-garde exploration of what period fiction looks like, through emotionally charged character portraits, these films are a challenging and poignant watch that are bound to create conversation.

Films:

DEAR ENGLAND
Dear England, I want to break up. A film about my present struggles to reclaim my cultural identity as an Immigrant in the UK.
Nominated for:
Animator Award – Marta Lemos

CLASH
CLASH, through the perspectives of underrepresented queer people of colour, critiques the myths we still tell ourselves on screen. Through candid interviews and staged period-drama sequences with our subjects – involving a hobby horse race in East London – our film explores the issues surrounding nostalgic heritage cinema, and how it erases the diverse landscape of Britain today.
Nominated for:
Editing Award – Fiona Brands
Production Design Award – Elena Isolini

ONLY THE LONELY
When Elspeth Morris, 70, loses her beloved husband George, life becomes intolerable. Increasingly surrounded by people she has nothing in common with, she feels utterly alienated, abandoned and alone until circumstances lead to an unlikely friendship with her neighbour, Gurmeet.
Nominated for:
XX Award

TAKING THE WATERS
When Walpole Bay Tidal Pool was built in 1937, Margate was one of the grandest resort towns in England. By the late 1970s, package tourism had caused an economic slump, the pool was falling into disrepair, and the town was characterised by rising unemployment and socio-economic issues.
Nominated for:
Cinematography Award – Sara Deane

CALLING HOME
In the midst of a business park in Bedfordshire, you’ll find Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre. Slotted in amongst the stocky offices of cement and the tall street lights that curve ominously towards the sky, you’d be forgiven for not noticing the 400 women that live between them; you weren’t meant to… Through phone calls, we document the reality of being a female asylum seeker inside Yarls Wood detention centre.
Nominated for:
U25 Directing Award – Jade Jackman

LEARNING TO SWIM
Ingrid and her son Ross welcome Syrian refugee Ahmed into their home in the quiet English countryside and find a way to resist the uncertainty and fear we all face.
Nominated for:
Directing Award – Ruth Grimberg

FULL ENGLISH
Join Gwen for some Full English. Hers is the best on the coast. And given that she eats it every morning, she should know. All the other guests may have left. But they’ll be back.
Nominated for:
Editing Award – Julie Buckland

CRY ROSA
A music obsessed mixed-race girl questions her identity when she becomes the victim of bullying in 1980s Belfast.
Nominated for:
Producing Award – Emma-Rosa Dias
Production Design Award – Gillian Devenney
U25 Acting – Grace Fleming