28-05-2025
BBC Film celebrates four Jury awards at Cannes Film Festival 2025
Four films backed by BBC Film premiered in Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival 2025, with all four receiving Jury recognition, including three debut features from UK-based filmmakers.
The awards were as follows:
The Grand Prix was awarded to SENTIMENTAL VALUE, Joachim Trier's poignant, poetic portrait of family dynamics starring Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, and Elle Fanning
Akinola Davies Jnr's heartfelt father-son tale and directorial debut MY FATHER'S SHADOW, starring Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, received the Caméra d'Or Special Mention
Harry Lighton's debut feature, the provocative romance PILLION starring Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling, received the Un Certain Regard Best Screenplay award
Frank Dillane received the Un Certain Regard Best Actor award for his magnetic performance in Harris Dickinson's feature directorial debut, URCHIN
In addition to the official juries' awards, URCHIN also received the FIPRESCI prize, voted for by international film critics.
Eva Yates, Director of BBC Film says of the Cannes awards:
'It has been a privilege to develop and collaborate on four exceptional films selected to screen in Cannes and we are ecstatic that all four have all been recognised by the Cannes juries this past weekend.
We're thrilled to see three wildly different and highly original independent debut features from UK-based writer-directors and UK producers - MY FATHER'S SHADOW, PILLION and URCHIN - receive this recognition.
And we wholeheartedly congratulate the Grand Prix winning Joachim Trier and the whole SENTIMENTAL VALUE team for this poignant, poetic portrait of family dynamics which will resonate with BBC audiences and cinemagoers worldwide and for many years to come.'
About the films:
Akinola Davies' MY FATHER'S SHADOW - Un Certain Regard
Akinola Davies Jr's feature directorial debut stars Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù (His House, Gangs of London) and is based on a script by Wale Davies and Akinola Davies Jr, whose previous collaboration on BBC Film-backed short Lizard won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2021 and was nominated for a BAFTA.
MY FATHER'S SHADOW tells the story of two kid brothers, Remi and Akin who get to spend a gift of a day with their estranged father Folarin. They go on a voyage into Lagos observing the colossal city for the first time and the hoops their father must deal with to provide. All this is happening in the backdrop of a huge 1993 presidential election result which calls into question his ability to get them home.
MY FATHER'S SHADOW is produced by Rachel Dargavel for Element Pictures and Funmbi Ogunbanwo for Fatherland Productions, who also serviced production on the ground. Executive Producers are Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe for Element Pictures, Eva Yates for BBC Film and Ama Amapadu for the BFI. Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, Wale Davies and Akinola Davies Jr also act as executive producers. MY FATHER'S SHADOW was developed by BBC Film and was co-financed by BBC Film and the BFI (awarding National Lottery funding). The Match Factory is handling worldwide sales. MUBI pre-bought all rights in North America, UK, Ireland, and Turkey.
Harry Lighton's PILLION - Un Certain Regard
PILLION is the debut feature of BAFTA-nominated writer/director Harry Lighton (Wren Boys) and stars Harry Melling (The Pale Blue Eye, The Queen's Gambit) and Emmy and Golden Globe winner Alexander Skarsgård (Big Little Lies, Succession, The Northman).
In PILLION a timid man is swept off his feet when an enigmatic, impossibly handsome biker takes him on as his submissive.
PILLION is an Element Pictures production financed by BBC Film, BFI (awarding National Lottery funding), Picturehouse Entertainment and September Film who will handle distribution in the UK and Benelux respectively. The screenplay was developed with BBC Film and is based on Adam Mars-Jones' 'Box Hill' which was the 2019 Fitzcarraldo Editions Nobel Prize winner.
Producers are Element Pictures' Emma Norton, Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe together with Lee Groombridge. BBC Film's Eva Yates, Louise Ortega for the BFI, Claire Binns for Picturehouse, September Film's Pim Hermeling, Cornerstone's Alison Thompson and Mark Gooder and Alexander Skarsgård are Executive Producers. A24 have USD rights.
Harris Dickinson's URCHIN - Un Certain Regard
The feature debut of writer, director and acclaimed actor, Harris Dickinson who also previously made his short film 2003 with BBC Film.
Written by Dickinson, the story follows Mike, a rough sleeper in London, trapped in a cycle of self-destruction as he attempts to turn his life around.
URCHIN stars Frank Dillane (Harvest, The Walking Dead) as 'Mike', alongside Megan Northam, Amr Waked, Karyna Khymchuk and Shonagh Marie.
The film is produced by Archie Pearch for Devisio Pictures and Scott O'Donnell for Somesuch. Developed by BBC Film, URCHIN is financed by BBC Film, BFI (awarding National Lottery funding) and Tricky Knot. Executive Producers are Eva Yates, Ama Ampadu, Alexandra Tynion and Olivia Tyson. Charades is handling international sales, Gersh and UTA Independent Film Group are co-repping the film in the US.
Joachim Trier's SENTIMENTAL VALUE - In Competition
Trier's sixth feature film stars Renate Reinsve who previously collaborated with Trier for The Worst Person in the World (Academy Award nominee for Best Screenplay and Best International Feature) alongside Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, and Elle Fanning.
SENTIMENTAL VALUE follows actress Nora (Reinsve) and her sister Agnes (Lilleaas) as their eccentric and charismatic father, Gustav, suddenly reappears in their lives after a long absence. Once a renowned film director, Gustav now offers Nora the lead role in his new film, but working with her father is the last thing she wants.
The film is produced by Maria Ekerhovd for Mer Film and Andrea Berentsen Ottmar for Eye Eye Pictures in Norway. A Norwegian, French, German, Danish, and Swedish co-production, the co-producers are MK Productions, Nathanael Karmitz and Lumen Production, Juliette Schrameck for France; Komplizen Film, Jonas Dornbach and Janine Jackowski for Germany; Zentropa, Sisse Graum and Lizette Jonjic for Denmark and Sweden; Film I Väst, Kristina Åkeson; and BBC Film, Eva Yates for the UK and Ireland. Additional support comes from Arte Grand Accord, Oslo Filmfond, and Storyline. Mk2 Films are handling international sales and NEON is handling US distribution.
SENTIMENTAL VALUE is financed with partners including the Norwegian Film Institute, the Swedish Film Institute, The Danish Film Institute, Arte, Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg, FFA, and Eurimages.
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