Annual Showcase 2025: Celebrating the next generation of filmmakers

13 November 2025

The Annual Showcase is always a special occasion for LFA students; how often do you get to see your work shown on-screen at BFI Southbank?

This year was no exception. Students from LFA’s BA (Hons) Filmmaking, MA Filmmaking, and MA Screenwriting courses convened at the BFI for a day filled with pride, celebration, and reflections.

Students and staff sitting in BFI cinema screen

BA (Hons) Filmmaking Screenings: Bold Stories and Big Emotions

Annual Showcase 2025 kicked off in the morning with screenings of the BA films. The variety of storytelling on display this year was especially impressive; films ranged from a disarming, hilarious family funeral service comedy with A Welcome End to an expansive and visually mesmerising wild west tale in The Crow That Flew West.

BA (Hons) student Bella Harrison, addressing the screening room of students, guests, family members and staff onstage in NFT1, said:

The best thing about this experience for me, and most of us sat here now, is the people that we have met. It’s not always the people above you who bring you up. I think this particularly applies to filmmaking. Ironically, it’s the people on your level, that you started this journey with, who will lift you up, who you’ll look up to, and who will challenge you to be a better filmmaker.

Bella Harrison

Female student giving speech onstage

MA Filmmaking and MA Screenwriting: Imagination Without Limits

Next up were the MA Filmmaking and MA Screenwriting screenings, featuring short films and script read-throughs woven throughout the extended session. The stylistic and thematic differences between films like health disorder drama Sesame Seed and the daydreaming game show parody Jessica’s Next Top Underwear emphasise the breadth of talent and imagination that our outgoing MA Filmmaking students possess in spades.

MA Filmmaking’s Emmanuel Ektipah shared with Showcase attendees the importance of learning lessons from failure:

To my fellow graduates: don’t be afraid to fail. Step boldly into the future, stumble if you must, and learn from every fall. And as you do, let’s remember to lean on one another. Because together, we can fail, learn, and grow, one step closer to the dream that brought us here in the first place.

Emmanuel Ektipah

Smiling male student giving speech onstage

MA Screenwriting script readthroughs saw performances of extracts from students’ screenplays brought to life on the big screen, with FreeBirds and Bigfoot from the Fourth Dimension proving to be huge crowd-pleasers in the room.

Nidhip Sharma, MA Screenwriting graduate, spoke to his peers on their shared journey over the past year:

Over the past year, we’ve evolved together. We’ve discovered new ways to express our love for film, brought our stories to the page, and even pitched our ideas to producers. We’ve met incredible people, shared countless creative highs - and the occasional rewrite panic - and built something that feels like home.

Nidhip Sharma

Male student giving speech onstage

Industry Insights: Q&A with Oscar-Nominated Editor Eddie Hamilton

During the ceremony, which featured a Q&A with Oscar-nominated editor Eddie Hamilton (Top Gun: Maverick, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning) and was moderated by Financial Times’ chief film critic Danny Leigh, awards were handed out to some of LFA’s standout students across each cohort. Jose James was named by his cohort as Emerging BA (Hons) Filmmaking Student of the Year, while Udbhavi Upadhyay was recognised by her peers as Emerging MA Filmmaking Student of the Year. Corey Mandelzys won Emerging Student of the Year for MA Screenwriting, and Grace Hookway won Student of the Year.

All four winners received free kit hire thanks to our sponsor and Showcase partner, Focus Canning.

Five people onstage, smiling at camera

Reflections from LFA’s Joint Principals

Our Joint Principals, Daisy Gili and Anna MacDonald also shared their thoughts on what it means to them to see yet another wave of filmmakers and creatives going out into the industry.

Daisy spoke on how the standard of filmmaking from LFA students has continued to impress her:

One of the things that makes us incredibly proud of what you have achieved, is that the films this year are exceptional. In the 24 years that we’ve been doing this; this is the best set of films I have ever seen. These students have to write and then give up and not necessarily edit their own films. It’s a real collaborative effort - this is what we want the industry to be about. You don’t do it on your own, you do it together. You are greater than the sum of your parts.

Daisy Gili

Anna added:

One thing that remains stable is the power of storytelling in sparking the change. The films that you’ve seen today, London Film Academy Showcase is like a mini festival in itself. You’ve seen 26 works that included the short films, documentaries, a commercial, and the screenwriters’ table readings. 26 films in a day is incredible. You’ve seen incredible diversity, innovation in terms of storytelling and logistics. You should be really, really proud, and the spotlight should be on you.

Anna MacDonald

Two women onstage, giving a speech

Wrapping Up the Day: Networking, Celebration, and Community

After the ceremony wrapped up, LFA students and staff alike gathered for a group photo before moving on to an evening session of networking and celebration.

Cinema full of students, friends, family, and staff, smiling

Everyone at the London Film Academy would like to thank all of our outgoing BA (Hons) Filmmaking, MA Filmmaking, and MA Screenwriting students for inspiring us with their passion and energy during their time with us. While their journey now takes them away from LFA’s halls, they leave knowing that they’re part of the LFA community and can continue to receive support from us on their future endeavours. We can’t wait to see what’s next for them.