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Screen International has unveiled the 2024 line-up for Stars of Tomorrow, which spotlights the most talented up-and-coming actors and filmmakers in the UK and Ireland.

Now in its 21st edition, the annual talent showcase has an unparalleled track record for identifying emerging UK and Irish talent, both in front of and behind the camera, since its launch in 2004.

This year’s cohort includes Bridgerton star Florence Hunt, Tosin Cole, who appeared in Doctor Who and Rapman’s upcoming Supacell, Hoard lead Saura Lightfoot‑Leon, Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd and Alison Oliver, who played a key role in Saltburn.

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Clockwise from top left: It Lives Inside (Neon), Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (Sony Pictures Releasing), The Matrix Resurrections (Warner Bros. Pictures)Image: The A.V. Club

For the holiday season, Hulu is adding some genre favorites and promising new movies to its library. The streaming platform in December welcomes...

Make yourself at home for the holidays with Hulu! The streamer is heading into the final month of the year with a wide variety of new and classic movies, series from around the globe, anime subs and dubs, documentaries, and much more to binge your way through your vacation days.

Plus, Hulu is making your travel plans easier, be it domestic with the premiere of the Original documentary “We Live Here: The Midwest” or internationally with final season of Canada’s “Letterkenny” and the United States premiere of the A24 Brit-com “Such Brave Girls.”

Check out The Streamable’s top picks for the month and find out everything coming to Hulu this December!

30-Day Free Trial $7.99+ / month hulu.com

Through Cyber Monday, Get Hulu For Just $0.99/mo. For Next 12 Months.

What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Coming to Hulu in December 2023? “We Live Here: The Midwest” | Wednesday, Dec. 6

The...

Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio in Critics' Week winner Aftersun by Charlotte Well Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Critics' Week Charlotte Wells and Frankie Corrio at the Scottish BAFTAs at the Double Tree Hotel in Glasgow Photo: BAFTA via Getty Images It was a hot night at the Scottish BAFTAs for Charlotte Wells' Aftersun, which took home three awards.

Wells was named Best Director, while Paul Mescal also took home a gong for this portrayal of a troubled single dad who takes his young daughter on a package holiday in her emotionally intense drama. Wells also took home the prize for Director Fiction and Writer Film/Television.

The prize for Feature Film went to Iran-set drama Winners, while Lucy Halliday received the award for Actress Film for her supporting role as a lesbian teenager who forges a bond with her teacher in Blue Jean, her first on-screen performance.

Jono McLeod won...

‘Blue Jean’, ‘My Old School also among awarded films.

Aftersun was the big winner at the 2023 Bafta Scotland Awards, taking three prizes for best actor for Paul Mescal, best director (fiction) for Charlotte Wells and best writer (film and television) for Wells.

Aberdeen-based Hassan Nazer’s Iran-set family drama Winners, produced by Nadira Murray and Paul Welsh, received the feature film award; while Lucy Halliday took the actress film prize for her role as a gay girl in 1980s northeast England in Georgia Oakley’s Blue Jean.

The director factual award went to Jono McLeod for My Old School, a...

Frankie Corio becomes youngest-ever Bafta Scotland nominee.

Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun leads the nominations for the Bafta Scotland Awards 2023, recognised in five categories: actor film, actress film, director fiction, feature film and writer film/television.

The UK-us co-production has acting nominations for Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio, with Corio becoming the youngest-ever nominee at Bafta Scotland.

Scroll down for the full list of nominations

Wells receives the other three nominations, with producers Mark Ceryak, Amy Jackson, Barry Jenkins and Adele Romanski nominated alongside her for feature film.

Aftersun previously received four nominations at the Bafta Film Awards earlier this year, winning...

A young woman with a short crop carefully touches up her blonde dye job in the arresting opening moments of Blue Jean, painting the goop on her hair with practiced efficiency to the shimmering notes of Chris Roe’s score. Stepping from the bathroom into the living room of her drab flat, she settles on the couch to watch Blind Date, described by raucous host Cilla Black as “The show that tries to find a boy and a girl that go together like birds of a feather.” That might sound exclusionist or even like a microaggression to some more politically inclined queer viewers. To Jean, it’s just pleasurable fluff.

The scene subtly foreshadows an internal conflict played out with sensitive insightfulness and dramatic tension in writer-director Georgia Oakley’s highly assured debut feature and in a transfixing performance awash in mostly suppressed feeling from Rosy McEwen in her first leading role.

“Not everything is political.” The person saying this, with a sightly exasperated air, is named Jean (Rosy McEwen). She’s a high school Pe teacher, recently(ish) divorced, and still mostly closeted about her sexuality. This declaration of independence is being addressed to her off-on, and very much out, girlfriend Viv (Kerrie Hayes). “Of course it is,” Jean’s partner tells her, and the hint of affection in her voice could almost be mistaken for pity. This is England, 1988 — Margaret Thatcher still rules with an iron-lady fist, and she’s...

Editors note: This review was originally published September 3, 2022 after the film’s world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The movie opens Friday in New York via Magnolia Pictures.

A lesbian gym teacher navigates Margaret Thatcher’s Britain under the “Section 28” law in Blue Jean, Georgia Oakley’s debut feature premiering in the Venice Days section of the Venice Film Festival.

While it was featured in the recent documentary Rebel Dykes, the impact of Section 28 has rarely been shown on screen, especially from a female perspective, helping to make Blue Jean a refreshing and educational watch.

Section 28 was a 1988-2003 law introduced by Prime Minster Thatcher’s Conservative government, banning local authorities from “promoting homosexuality” in the UK. Protests were rife, but many gay women and men felt compelled to keep their sexuality a secret.

Jean (Rosy McEwen) is one such person. She teaches at an all-girls school, and is...

As difficult as it can be to look back at less accepting times in queer history, it’s even more painful how relevant it remains. Though “Blue Jean” — an acutely felt lesbian drama set during Margaret Thatcher’s regime — takes place over 30 years ago, 1980’s England could easily stand in for any conservative state today. Set against a backdrop of rising anti-gay sentiment and pending legislation, “Blue Jean” tells a political story through one woman’s strained attempts to straddle two worlds. Featuring a stirring breakout performance from the luminous Rosy McEwan, “Blue Jean” grounds the political with the personal — without losing sight of queer joy.

The film opens with a classic image of identity assertion, as puckish Jean (McEwan) bleaches her cropped hair blonde in a mirror. True to its title, she drives a vintage blue compact to school, where her popularity with students stokes jocular envy from her fellow teachers.

Two events from 1988 give profound shape to Blue Jean. First, the conservative British government under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher enacted Section 28, a law prohibiting the “promotion of homosexuality” by local authorities, especially schools. Second, writer-director Georgia Oakley was born. She never knew the world before the regulation, yet she’s also not entirely sure that there’s a world after it either.

Oakley’s frustration with the narrow victories achieved at the cost of great psychological harm to the gay community flows into her feature directorial debut. Blue Jean homes in on how the solemn Jean (Rosy McEwen) has set up a handy compartmentalization between her work life as a gym teacher and her personal life, during which she frequents lesbian bars with her girlfriend, Viv (Kerrie Hayes). But that division collapses when one of her pupils, Lois (Lucy Halliday), begins to explore those same spots. Oakley’s perceptive...

With longer days and—at some more progressive places of employment—Summer Fridays in full effect, daily agendas are now suddenly awash with temporal real estate. Should you use these extra hours to reconnect with family, go to museums or explore the natural world in all its holy wonders? No! You should be watching movies, and lots of ’em! Luckily, June is a rock-solid month with plenty of great Don’t-Miss Indies titles to enjoy.

Padre Pio

When You Can Watch: Now

Where You Can Watch: Theaters (Limited)

Director: Abel Ferrara

Cast: Shia Labeouf, Cristina Chiriac, Marco Leonardi

Why We’re Excited: A two-time Film Independent Spirit Award nominee for Bad Lieutenant (1992) and The Funeral (1996), indie veteran Abel Ferrara’s new biographical drama is based on the Irl story of Italian Franciscan Capuchin friar and priest Francesco Forgione, who was venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church in 1999. It...

Georgia Oakley’s Blue Jean is a film about life made unlivable due to the venomous prudishness of British culture. Set in Newcastle, in the north of England, in the late 1980s, the film follows twentysomething Jean (Rosy McEwen) as she juggles a double life: self-effacing physical education teacher by day and femme club-going lesbian by night.

Jean seems to be doing a good job of keeping these personas separate, even if it means that her silence feeds everyone’s presumptions of her heterosexuality. That is, until one of her students, Lois (Lucy Halliday), also a lesbian, starts showing up at the pub where Jean hangs out with her queer friends and butch, tatted-up punk-rock girlfriend, Viv (Kerrie Hayes), who, unlike Jean, is completely uninterested in passing for straight in order to accommodate homophobes.

As in Badrul Hisham Ismail’s recent Maryam, Blue Jean’s protagonist moves through the city in a tiny car.

This is turning into a banner year for movies shot on Kodak film, led by such Oscar hopefuls as Christopher Nolan’s IMAX’d “Oppenheimer” biopic, Martin Scorsese’s first Western, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein film, “Maestro,” Wes Anderson’s latest, “Asteroid City,” and Yorgos Lanthimos’ subversive “Frankenstein” re-imagining “Poor Things.”

And those are just the prestige films.

Likewise, Cannes Film Festival boasted 29 features and shorts shot on Kodak film, including such Oscar hopefuls as Martin Scorsese’s first Western “Killers of the Flower Moon,” (shot by Rodrigo Prieto), Wes Anderson’s ’50s sci-fi comedy-drama, “Asteroid City” (shot by Robert Yeoman) Ken Loach’s “The Old Oak,” about a pub in tension-filled Northeast England, (shot by Robbie Ryan), and Steve McQueen’s “Occupied City,” a documentary about Amsterdam under Nazi occupation during World War II (shot by Lennert Hillege).

Four on-film entries compete for the Palme d’Or.

Blue Jean isn’t your typical British fare. Georgia Oakley’s striking debut places a lesbian relationship front and centre – without lacing up its leads in corsets. It’s an Eighties-set drama that’s adorned with familiar references – but isn’t mired in outlandish grime and misery. Most crucially, it’s a story about past injustice that doesn’t gorge itself on self-satisfaction. Nor the comforting myth that Britain is on a steady path of betterment.

Jean (Rosy McEwen) is a teacher in Newcastle. It’s 1988, in the weeks and months after Section 28 has come into effect, instructing British state schools not to “promote the teaching of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship”. Jean has always kept her sexuality hidden from her coworkers. But that veil of self-protection comes under threat when she spots one of her new students, Lois (Lucy Halliday), at the local lesbian bar...

Editor’s note: Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series debuts and celebrates the scripts of films factoring in this year’s movie awards races.

For her debut feature, filmmaker Georgia Oakley returns to 1980s Britain as Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government has introduced Section 28, a clause of the Local Government Act that seeks to prohibit “the promotion of homosexuality” by local authorities across the United Kingdom.

At the time, protests were rife, but many gay women and men felt compelled to keep their sexuality a secret.

Blue Jean, written and directed by Oakley, follows Jean, a school gym teacher who keeps her sexuality a secret from her colleagues. The threat is immediate and real: if exposed, her love life could cost her her job. However, Jean finds little sympathy from her girlfriend, Viv. Out and proud, Viv is part of a cooperative of similarly assertive lesbian women. Viv regards...

"How is that girl ever gonna learn that she has a place in this world?" "What makes you think she has a place in this world?" Altitude Films in the UK has revealed an official trailer for Blue Jean, an outstanding film marking the feature directorial debut of Georgia Oakley. This first premiered at the 2022 Venice Film Festival last year in the Venice Days sidebar, where I first saw it. It's as good as it looks! Set in the 1980s in England, the film follows a young woman named Jean, played by the very talented actress Rosy McEwen (she was also in Vesper last year). She must carefully navigate the tumult of a rise in LGBTQ hate during the Margaret Thatcher era. As pressure mounts from all sides, the arrival of a new girl at her school catalyses a crisis that will challenge Jean to her core. Also starring Kerrie Hayes,...

The Blue Jean of David Bowie’s 1984 hit was a girl with “a camouflage face,” not unlike the singer and the two personas he splintered into for the song’s video: a djinn-like rockstar dancing onstage and his ordinary, besuited doppelganger watching from below. So it is for the young woman at the center of Georgia Oakley’s own Blue Jean. A Pe teacher stranded in Tyneside, England, Jean (Rosy McEwen) is a divorcée in a same-sex relationship that no-one—least of all her pupils and co-workers—must ever know about. For the year is 1988 and Britain’s grappling with the revolting aftermath of Section 28. The bill passed by Thatcher’s government banned “the promotion of homosexuality” by local authorities, forcing people like Jean into hiding. Camouflaging—its costs and consequences—is at the cornerstone of Oakley’s frank, often quite gripping feature debut. If Blue Jean does not debunk...

It was a great night for Charlotte Wells' father-daughter drama Aftersun at the British Independent Film Awards on Sunday evening, as the film—– already a favourite going into the evening after 16 nominations, won seven, including Best British Independent Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay.

Other films scoring several awards included Blue Jean, and The Origin, about a nomadic tribe that faces a terrifying ancient threat that comes when night falls.

The BIFAs continued non-gender-specific main performances categories and added one, the Joint Lead Performance, awarded to Tamara Lawrance and Letitia Wright for their roles as extraordinary real-life siblings who communicated only with each other in The Silent Twins.

Here is the full list of winners…

Best British Independent Film

Aftersun – Charlotte Wells, Barry Jenkins, Mark Ceryak, Adele Romanski, Amy Jackson – Winner

Blue Jean – Georgia Oakley, Hélène Sifre

Good Luck To You, Leo Grande – Sophie Hyde, Katy Brand, Debbie Gray, Adrian Politowski

Living – Oliver Hermanus,...

It has been a stellar year for British talent, as is evidenced by the amazing line up of films celebrated and championed by BIFA this evening. The British Independent Film Awards were handed out this evening in London and we were there to talk to the presenters and nominees on the red carpet.

A full list of winners follows the interviews. Colin Hart and Ethan Hart were on the red carpet, here are their interviews.

The 2022 BIFAs Red Carpet Interviews

The full list of winners is below.

Best British Independent Film

Aftersun Charlotte Wells, Barry Jenkins, Mark Ceryak, Adele Romanski, Amy Jackson (Winner)

Blue Jean Georgia Oakley, Hélène Sifre

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande Sophie Hyde, Katy Brand, Debbie Gray, Adrian Politowski

Living Oliver Hermanus, Kazuo Ishiguro, Stephen Woolley, Elizabeth Karlsen

The Wonder Sebastián Lelio, Emma Donoghue, Alice Birch, Juliette Howell, Andrew Lowe, Tessa Ross, Ed Guiney

Best Director,...

It was an historic night for female filmmakers at the British Independent Film Awards, with 10 of the night’s biggest awards going to women or films directed by them. The biggest winner of the night was “Aftersun,” which won Best British Independent Film, as well as Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Debut Director for Charlotte Wells. The film also took home prizes for cinematography, editing, and music supervision.

Georgia Oakley’s “Blue Jean” also had a strong showing, with Rosy McEwen winning Best Lead Performance and Kerrie Hayes winning Best Supporting Performance and Oakley winning Best Debut Screenwriter. Shaheen Baig also won Best Casting for the film.

Despite facing stiff competition from the likes of “Decision to Leave” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World” won Best International Independent Film.

Keep reading for the complete list of nominees from the 2022 British Independent Film Awards,...

Charlotte Wells’ directorial feature debut, “Aftersun,” took home the most awards of any nominated film at the 25th annual British Independent Film Awards (BIFA), nabbing seven victories out of 16 nominations.

The film spans a 20-year period, beginning with 11-year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio) on a father-daughter vacation to Turkey and culminating with her reflection on that experience in adulthood. Upon its premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, “Aftersun” was winner of the French Touch Jury Prize. Most recently, Wells received a breakthrough director prize at the Gotham Awards.

At the Sunday evening ceremony, “Normal People” actor Daisy Edgar-Jones presented the award for best British independent film to Wells. Also added to the feature’s list of accolades were awards for best director, best debut director, best screenplay, best cinematography, best editing and best music supervision.

Director Georgia Oakley’s “Blue Jean” saw a surge of recognition as well, with wins in...

Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells’s acclaimed debut feature Aftersun swept the board, snagging seven wins at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) in London this evening.

The film won Best British Independent Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and The Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director. This evening’s four wins were added to the film’s previously announced haul in the craft categories with three wins including Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Music Supervision.

Georgia Oakley’s 1980s Section 28 era set Blue Jean, which trailed only Aftersun for the most nominations, picked up three awards on the night: Best Lead Performance for Rosy McEwen, Best Supporting Performance for Kerrie Hayes, and Oakley took home the Best Debut Screenwriter award sponsored by Film4.

Elsewhere, Safia Oakley-Green won the Breakthrough Performance award for her role in Andrew Cumming’s debut feature The Origin and Tamara Lawrance and Letitia Wright picked...

Charlotte Wells’ debut scooped seven prizes, including best British independent film and best director.

Charlotte Wells’ directorial debut feature Aftersun was the big winner of the 2022 British Independent Film Awards (Bifas), taking seven prizes at Sunday night’s (December 4) ceremony in London.

Wells’ drama won the award for best British independent film, best director, the Douglas Hickox Award for best debut director, and best screenplay, adding to the three craft awards already announced – best cinematography, best editing and best music supervision.

The Cannes premiere follows a daughter as she reflects on her relationship with her complicated father, through memories of a summer holiday in Turkey,...

The awards ceremony takes place today (December 4), starting at 8pm UK time.

The 2022 British Independent Film Awards (Bifas) ceremony is taking place today (December 4) at London’s Old Billingsgate.

The show starts at 8pm UK time, finishing at approximately 10pm.

Screen will be posting all the winners on this page as they are announced during the live ceremony (refresh the page for latest updates).

Leading the pack for nominations is Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun, with 16 mentions – the second-most ever for a film at the Bifas, behind only Saint Maud’s record 17 from 2020. The feature has already won three of those awards,...

Charlotte Wells’ indie breakout “Aftersun” continues to build momentum in the indie awards race.

After receiving four Gotham Award nods, “Aftersun” leads the 2022 British Independent Film Awards nominations in 16 categories, followed by 12 for “Blue Jean” and “The Wonder,” respectively. “Living” earned nine nominations and “Flux Gourmet,” “God’s Creatures,” “Men,” and “The Origin” each landed five nods.

The 25th annual BIFAs introduces new performance, first-time documentary feature, and music categories, with female filmmakers dominating the performance, writing, and directing categories for this year’s batch of nominees, recognizing 36 British features. The 2022 BIFA ceremony takes place December 4.

Hosts Sam Claflin and BIFA winner Kosar Ali announced the 2022 BIFA nominations, including former BIFA recipients Emma Thompson, Jessie Buckley, Florence Pugh, and Alice Birch among them. Two Paul Mescal films, “Aftersun” and “God’s Creatures,” are among the top-nominated films, with Mescal in the running for both Best Joint Lead Performance and Best Supporting Performance for the respective films.

Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells’s debut feature Aftersun leads the nominations for this year’s British Independent Film Awards with a sweeping 16 nods, including Best Director and Best film.

The film’s impressive nominations haul includes Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Debut Director (the Douglas Hickox Award) and Best Debut Screenwriter nods for Wells and a Best Joint Lead Performance nomination for stars Paul Mescal and newcomer Frankie Corio, who received a Breakthrough Performance nomination. The Barry Jenkins-produced pic is also up for Best British Independent Film and racked up a further nine craft nominations, including Best Casting and Cinematography.

Inspired by, but not based on, Wells’s experiences as the child of young parents, the poignant ’90s-set film explores a father and daughter’s complex relationship against the backdrop of a simmering holiday the pair have taken to a resort in Turkey.

Georgia Oakley’s debut film Blue Jean trails behind with 13 nominations.

Charlotte Wells’ “Aftersun” and Georgia Oakley’s “Blue Jean” led the nominations at the 2022 British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) with 16 and 13 nods respectively.

Sebastián Lelio’s “The Wonder” followed with 12 nominations, Oliver Hermanus’ “Living” nine and Peter Strickland’s “Flux Gourmet” seven.

From this year, the awards are permanently going gender neutral for acting categories with the traditional best and supporting actress and actor awards being replaced by best lead performance, best supporting performance, best joint lead performance — for performances that are the joint focus of the film — and best ensemble.

The nominations were revealed at London’s Everyman Broadgate cinema by hosts, actors Sam Clafin (“Peaky Blinders”) and Kosar Ali (double BIFA winner for “Rocks”).

BIFA Nominations 2022

The Richard Harris Award For Outstanding Contribution By An Actor To British Film

To Be Announced

Best British Independent Film

“Aftersun” – Charlotte Wells, Barry Jenkins, Mark Ceryak, Adele Romanski, Amy Jackson

“Blue Jean” – Georgia Oakley,...

Aftersun and Blue Jean are leading the nominations for the 2022 British Independent Film Awards, unveiled on Friday.

Florence Pugh (The Wonder), Emma Mackey (Emily), Paul Mescal (who got nods in two categories: best joint lead performance for Aftersun and best supporting performance for God’s Creatures), Letitia Wright (The Silent Twins), Bill Nighy (Living), Emily Watson (God’s Creatures) and Emma Thompson (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande) are among the nominees in the now gender-neutral acting, or performance, categories.

Organizers highlighted that it was “a strong year for women filmmakers and performers,” adding: “Women dominate performance, writing and directing categories.”

Aftersun, Charlotte Wells’ debut feature about a father and daughter’s complex relationship, landed 16 nominations for this year’s BIFAs, including for best British independent film, best director, best debut director, best screenplay and best debut screenwriter, along with a best joint lead performance...

Women dominate the performance, writing and directing categories.

Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun, Georgia Oakley’s Blue Jean and Sebastian Lelio’s The Wonder lead the nominations for the 2022 British Independent Film Awards (Bifas), with several major categories dominated by women including the new merged performance categories.

At the Bifas 25th edition, Wells’ Aftersun has 16 nominations – the second-most ever for a film at the Bifas, behind only Saint Maud’s record 17 from 2020. Wells is nominated for best British independent film, director, screenplay, debut director and debut screenwriter; while Frankie Corio and Paul Mescal are nominated in the new best joint lead performance category.

Women dominate the performance, writing and directing categories.

Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun and Georgia Oakley’s Blue Jean lead the nominations for the 2022 British Independent Film Awards (Bifas), with several major categories dominated by women including the new merged performance categories.

At the Bifas 25th edition, Wells’ Aftersun has 16 nominations – the second-most ever for a film at the Bifas, behind only Saint Maud’s record 17 from 2020. Wells is nominated for best British independent film, director, screenplay, debut director and debut screenwriter; while Frankie Corio and Paul Mescal are nominated in the new best joint lead performance category.

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“Bridgerton” star Phoebe Dynevor and “Aftersun” writer-director Charlotte Wells are among the emerging talents recognized at the British Independent Film Awards’ (BIFA) New Talent categories.

Dynevor has been longlisted in the Breakthrough Performance category for Sky film “The Colour Room” and Wells twice, in the Debut Director and Debut Screenwriter categories.

In all, 28 fiction and 14 documentary features have been longlisted, including in a new category for BIFA’s 25th year, Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary. Eleven first-time fiction feature directors, 16 first-time documentary feature directors, 14 first-time writers, 20 breakthrough producers and 15 new performers have been recognized by BIFA voters for their achievements.

BIFA’s Springboard scheme will provide a tailored program of continuing professional development, with seven of this year’s longlisted filmmakers joining the cohort of 30 filmmakers on the Film4 supported initiative.

The final five nominations in each category will be announced on Nov. 4 and winners will be revealed at the...

The final five nominations in each category will be announced November 4.

Georgia Oakley’s Blue Jean, Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun and Jono McLeod’s My Old School and are among the titles that have made the new talent longlists for the 2022 British Independent Film Awards (Bifas), with 28 fiction and 14 documentary features longlisted.

Blue Jean has taken the most nominated spots with five – the Douglas Hickox Award for best debut director, as well as best debut screenwriter for Oakley, best breakthrough performance for Lucy Halliday and Screen Star of Tomorrow 2022 Rosy McEwen and best breakthrough producer for Hélène Sifre.

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At the 1987 Conservative Party Conference in Britain, then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher issued one of the most grimly memorable quotes of her career: “Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay.” For many of us, it’s a line that now sounds so archaically out of step with contemporary life as to be comical — that “inalienable right” wording ironically appropriated by many a queer-rights cause — though you need only look at Florida’s recent Don’t Say Gay bill to know that Thatcher’s sentiments live among us still. A frank, piercing debut from British writer-director Georgia Oakley, “Blue Jean” is a Thatcher-era period piece that crisply evokes that climate of politically propagated homophobia without preserving it in amber: It effectively puts the past in tacit dialogue with the present.

The year is 1988, and Thatcher...

Titles include ’Aftersun’, ’Enys Men’, ‘Birchanger Green’ and ‘A Gaza Weekend’.

Cannes premieres Aftersun, sold by Charades, and Enys Men, sold by Protagonist Pictures, are among the titles selected for year’s Great 8, the annual Cannes buyers’ showcase of UK films from emerging directors.

The other six titles are all in post-production.

Now in its fifth edition, the 2022 Great 8 showcase is funded and run by the BFI and the British Council, in partnership with BBC Film and Film4.

Unseen footage from all of the titles will be introduced by their filmmakers and screened on May 12 exclusively to buyers and festival programmers during the online-only showcase,...