Lucile Hadžihalilović is a French filmmaker known for her visually poetic and unsettling explorations of childhood, transformation, and the boundaries between innocence and menace. Born in Lyon and raised in Morocco, she studied at La Fémis in Paris, where she met long-time collaborator Gaspar Noé. Her feature debut, Innocence (2004), adapted from Frank Wedekind’s Mine-Haha, won the Best New Director award at San Sebastián and established her as a singular voice in European cinema. Subsequent films Evolution (2015) and Earwig (2021) continued her fascination with dreamlike imagery and mysterious rituals, blending surrealism, body horror, and emotional depth. Hadžihalilović’s work is acclaimed for its meticulous visual composition and its capacity to evoke the uncanny beauty of transformation.

Asher Rosen is a British filmmaker and screenwriter based between London and Kisoro, Uganda. He began his career developing projects with The Forge Entertainment, Range Media Partners, and Gaumont UK. His debut short film MEAT (2021), won multiple awards featuring in the César Académie’s ‘Golden Nights’ programme. His second short, The Rabbi’s Son (2022) continued his exploration of identity and belonging. Rosen’s latest film, Small Gods (2025), produced by Sovereign Films, expands his practice into docufiction — blending the real and the imagined to tell stories rooted in lived experience and community.

Mia Bays is the Director of the BFI Film Fund, a position she took up to reshape the future of UK cinema by supporting new talent, diverse voices, and innovative storytelling. With over 30 years of experience, Mia has been an Oscar-winning producer, distributor, and passionate advocate for inclusivity and artistic vision in filmmaking. Known for her commitment to championing underrepresented voices, Mia aims to make the BFI Film Fund a more dynamic, responsive space for filmmakers to flourish​

Greg Cruttwell is a British writer, director, and actor known for his incisive, character-driven storytelling and darkly comic view of contemporary life. He first came to prominence as an actor in Mike Leigh’s Naked (1993) and Secrets & Lies (1996), before moving behind the camera to write and direct his own films.

His latest feature, Going to the Dogs, follows his acclaimed In the Middle and turns his observational eye to the world of greyhound racing — exploring class, culture, community, and our relationship with animals. Through candid interviews and access to both critics and supporters, Cruttwell’s documentary asks whether greyhound racing still has a place in the modern world — offering a nuanced, human portrait of a sport and subculture in transition.

Orban Wallace is a British documentary filmmaker known for his visually striking, socially conscious storytelling that often explores human resilience in the face of global and personal upheaval. His debut feature Another News Story (2017), which premiered at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, reframed the European refugee crisis by turning the camera on the journalists covering it — a bold, meta-documentary approach that earned widespread acclaim. Wallace’s subsequent work continues to blend poetic imagery with incisive observation, revealing the complexities of contemporary life through a deeply human lens. His latest projects further his reputation as one of the UK’s most distinctive voices in non-fiction filmmaking, combining craft, empathy, and a commitment to stories that challenge and illuminate.

Surfing is killing it. This $10 billion global industry – built on the dream of carefree spirits, crystal clear waters and an even clearer connection to the natural world – has never been more popular. Surfing has set out its stall as the champion of environmental issues. But surfing has a dirty secret… and people are dying. From award winning filmmaker Lewis Arnold and critically acclaimed writer Chris Nelson comes this groundbreaking and compelling documentary.