We’re well into 2025, and our students, graduates, and alumni have been busy reaching new heights in their careers. Read on to discover their journeys to success. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with any exciting news you may have, we always want to hear about it! You can sign up to our alumni newsletter here to get the updates straight to your inbox.
We’re pleased to share another significant milestone for Leticia Tonos' AIRE, Just Breathe. In addition to its selection for the Big Screen Competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), the film was chosen to represent the Dominican Republic as a candidate for the 2025 Oscars in the Best International Feature Film category. AIRE, Just Breathe is also competing for the Best Ibero-American Film award at the 39th Goya Awards 2025. Congrats!
Brilliant work from filmmaking grad, Anu Menon, who directed two episodes of Sky's seasonal headliner The Day of the Jackal starring Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch. The show was nominated for Best Television Series – Drama at the Golden Globes and Eddie Redmayne was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series – Drama for the show also. Huge congratulations! What a brilliant achievement.
Congratulations screenwriting alumnus, Tom Mellors, whose short film Val has been selected to be screened in the BIFA qualifying Cardiff Mini Film Festival. Tom worked with LFS alumni and peers, Marcelo Veloz (Sound Editor), Siddharth Joshi (Sound Recordist) and Semyon Voinov (VFX). Great job to you all! Marcelo, Semyon and Siddharth are also LFS graduates, of the filmmaking program. It's always a pleasure to see successful partnerships across programmes.
We're delighted to see further success for screenwriting alumnus, James Doherty, who directed the episode, "The Final Countdown", of Channel 4’s anthology series, On The Edge. "The Final Countdown" has been nominated for Best Single Drama at the Broadcast Awards 2025. Congratulations and best of luck!
Congrats filmmaking alumnus, Keith Kopp, whose debut feature film, Translations, a romance drama that explores the impact of mental health on romance, is now available to stream on Fawesome. Translations had a limited cinema release in the UK in 2023 and then won three awards at the Riverside International Film Festival in southern California. Best Screenplay, Best Actress and Audience Choice Best Feature. Very well done!
Congratulations screenwriting alumnus, Pablo Saura for winning Best Director at Big Fridge Film Festival with his directorial debut, Love Lost! We delighted to see your hard work recognised and celebrated. Excited to see what’s on the cards for you next!
"I trained as a screenwriter at LFS and only decided to take a chance on directing after graduating. It feels very encouraging to have my directorial debut be recognised like this. Next I want to write and direct more shorts and develop a feature (maybe one based on Love Lost!)." – Pablo Saura
Screenwriting alumna, Martina Lisec’s short screenplay, The Last Dream, became a Quarter-Finalist at the Manchester Film Festival Screenplay Competition 2025. Congratulations!
“The first draft of The Last Dream, a short drama about the dreams and desires of two women who have to deal with quite a tyrant, was written during my first term at LFS. I have been working on the script over the last few years to develop the story further and give the characters more energy, especially Ava, whose dream is to become a ballet dancer and add more backstory to her. After a few drafts, the pages kept growing, but I’ll leave it as a short script because I am currently working on another screenplay I'm developing into a feature film. In recent years, The Last Dream has received various nominations and awards at international film festivals, most recently a nomination at the Manchester Film Festival Screenplay Competition, for which I am very grateful and delighted. It also shows me that I am on the right track and that the story captivates others.” – Martina Lisec
We would also like to congratulate four brilliant alumni who have been accepted into this year’s Berlinale Talents programme. Cem Demirer, director and cinematographer, Orkhan Aghazadeh, director and screenwriter, Yican Zheng, production designer and director, and Andrea Vigoni, production designer. Well done to you all!
"As a production designer, I believe spaces are not just backgrounds but active storytellers, shaping characters’ emotions and narratives. Berlinale Talents reinforced this perspective by immersing me in discussions on how visual language interacts with storytelling. Engaging with filmmakers from diverse backgrounds challenged me to rethink how design can transcend cultural and linguistic barriers, creating more profound cinematic experiences. This journey has deepened my commitment to crafting spaces that resonate with meaning and emotion." - Yican Zheng
Grad Film Highlights
Divine Intervention will be screened at the next edition of the Mardi Gras Queer Festival (Australia). The film will be also available to stream on the festival platform Australia-wide from 28 Feb-10 March. Co-Creator-Dir: Ravenna Tran, Writer: Rebecca Ozer, Prod: Aditya Jain, Megha Bhaduri, Nathan M. Legger, Prod. Manager: Juan Antonio Barroso Lopez, Editor: Ryan Ling.
Praeis will be screened at the next edition of Sanfici - Santander Festival Internacional De Cine Independiente (Spain). Writer-Dir: Dovydas Draksas, Producer: Jing Zhao, Production Designer: Anastasiya Mykhaylova, DoP: Tamás Apor Méder, Editor: Dovydas Draksas, Camera Assistant: Yinghui Jing.
Huge congratulations to Arcade for winning the Best Short award at the last edition of the Big Fridge International Film Festival (UK). Arcade will be also screened at the next edition of Indie-Lincs International Film Festival. Writer-Director: Ruari Chambers, Producer: Hollye Swinehart, Assistant Director: Victor Nauwynck, Cinematographer: Pui Man Leung.
Places We Knew was screened at the last edition of Kalakari film festival (India) and was available to watch online on HSF from 22-26 Jan. Writer-Director: Oliver Staton, Producer: Nathan Legger, Oliver Staton.
Treadmill will be screened at the next edition of the Barcelona Indie Awards (Spain). Writer-Director: Pierluigi Campa, Producer: Nabil Muzayyin, DOP: Aadit Kumar Sharma, Editor: Benjamin Sivo, Assistant Director: Kun Sun.
Huge congratulations to The Penitential Act for winning the Best Short award at the last edition of the Ffilmic Film Festival (UK). Writer-Director: Ben Packwood, DOP: Yanxiang Qiu, Production Designer: Elitsa Marielle, Editor: Alexander Emborg, Production Manager: Megha Bhaduri, Assistant Director: Joseph Dominic.
Congratulations also to Poet for having a Honorable Mention at Ffilmic Film Festival (UK). Poet will be also screened at the next edition of Premiers Plans - Angers (France) and the Minimalen Short Film Festival (Norway). Writer-Dir: Kun Sun, Co-Producer: Xianhe Wang, Producer: Haoyuxuan Liu.
16 was also screened at Ffilmic Film Festival (UK). Writer-Director: Ryan Kochberg, DoP: Ryan Kochberg, Assistant Dir: Thomas Derbyshire.
The Bull will be screening at the BAFTA qualifying London Short Film Festival. Writer-Director: Victor Nauwynck, Producer: Siddharth Bala Kumar, Editor: Tsz Wai Ling, Production Designer: Anastasiya Mykhaylova.
Praeis will be part of Trieste Film Festival (Italy). Writer-Dir: Dovydas Draksas, Producer: Jing Zhao, Production Designer: Anastasiya Mykhaylova, DoP: Tamás Apor Méder, Editor: Dovydas Draksas, Camera Assistant: Yinghui Jing.
Sharks in Colwyn Bay will be screened at the next edition of Cardiff Mini Film Festival (UK). Writer-Director: Jonathan Williams, Producer: Siddharth Menon, DoP: Maxwell Cutting, Production Designer: Ben Packwood, Editor: Tom Chambers.
Photo credits (top to bottom)
BTS of AIRE, Just Breathe, writer-director: Leticia Tonos
The Day of the Jackal, created for Television by Ronan Bennett
Val, writer-directors: Tom Mellors and Victor Mellors
Love Lost, wri-dir: Pablo Saura
The Shadowless Tower, wri-dir: Zhang Lu
Places We Knew, wri-dir: Oliver Staton