3 BFI-backed films announced for Cannes 2025

Three films supported by the BFI National Lottery Filmmaking Fund have been selected for this year’s Cannes Film Festival. My Father’s Shadow (Akinola Davies Jr), Pillion (Harry Lighton) and Urchin (Harris Dickinson) will all screen in Un Certain Regard.

Urchin, which is Harris Dickinson’s debut as writer-director, follows Mike, a rough sleeper in London trapped in a cycle of self-destruction as he attempts to turn his life around. Produced by Archie Pearch and Scott O’Donnell, the film stars Frank Dillane, Megan Northam and Amr Waked.

My Father’s Shadow is the first feature by Akinola Davies Jr, which he co-wrote with Wale Davies. The film sees two kid brothers, Remi and Akin, having the gift of a day with their estranged father Folarin, and going on a voyage into Lagos to observe the colossal city for the first time. It stars Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù and is produced by Rachel Dargavel. 

Pillion is the debut feature of Harry Lighton, whose BAFTA-nominated short Wren Boys was supported by Film London and BFI NETWORK. The plot sees a timid man swept off his feet when an enigmatic, impossibly handsome biker takes him on as his submissive. Starring Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling, Pillion is written by Lighton and Adam Mars-Jones, based on the latter’s novel Box Hill. The producers are Emma Norton, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe and Lee Groombridge.

“We are incredibly proud to have supported three striking debuts which have been selected for Un Certain Regard,” says Mia Bays, Director of the BFI Filmmaking Fund. “Akinola, Harris and Harry are distinctive and exciting storytellers, and together with their talented producers and filmmaking teams they have created films that will resonate with international audiences, and we can’t wait for them to share their films in Cannes.”

The Cannes Film Festival runs from 13 to 24 May, with the main competition including new films by directors including Richard Linklater, Kelly Reichardt, Carla Simon, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Ari Aster, Wes Anderson, the Dardenne brothers, Tarik Saleh, Sergei Loznitsa, Joachim Trier, Julia Ducournau and more.

Leave One Day (dir. Amélie Bonnin)

Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning (dir. Christopher McQuarrie)
Colours of Sky (dir. Cedric Klapisch)
Vie privée (dir. Rebecca Zlotowski)
The Richest Woman in the World (dir. Thierry Klifa)

Sentimental Value (dir. Joachim Trier)
Sound of Falling (dir. Mascha Schilinski)
Romeria (dir. Carla Simón)
The Mastermind (dir. Kelly Reichardt)
The Eagles of the Republic (dir. Tarik Saleh)
Dossier 137 (dir. Dominik Moll)
The Secret Agent (dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho)
Fuori (dir. Mario Martone)
Nouvelle Vague (dir. Richard Linklater)
Two Prosecutors (dir. Sergei Loznitsa)
La Petite Dernière (dir. Hafsia Herzi)
A Simple Accident (dir. Jafar Panahi)
The History of Sound (dir. Oliver Hermanus)
Renoir (dir. Chie Hayakawa)
Alpha (dir. Julia Ducournau)
Sirat (dir. Oliver Laxe)
Young Mothers (dir. Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne)
Eddington (dir. Ari Aster)
The Phoenician Scheme (dir. Wes Anderson)

The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo (dir. Diego Céspedes)
My Father’s Shadow (dir. Akinola Davies Jr)
Urchin (dir. Harris Dickinson)
Meteors (dir. Hubert Charuel)
A Pale View of Hills (dir. Kei Ishikawa)
Eleanor the Great (dir. Scarlett Johansson)
Pillion (dir. Harry Lighton)
L’Inconnue de la Grande Arche (dir. Stephane Demoustier)
Aisha Can’t Fly Away (dir. Morad Mostafa)
Once upon a Time in Gaza (dir. Arab Nasser, Tarzan Nasser)
The Plague (dir. Charlie Polinger)
Heads or Tails? (dir. Alessio Rigo de Righi, Matteo Zoppis)
Homebound (dir. Neeraj Ghaywan)
The Last One for the Road (dir. Francesco Sossai)
Karavan (dir. Zuzana Kirchnerová)
Promised Sky (dir. Erige Sehiri)

Stories of Surrender (dir. Bono)
Tell Her That I Love Her (dir. Romane Bohringer)
A Magnificent Life (dir. Sylvain Chomet)

Amrum (dir. Fatih Akin)
Splitsville (dir. Michael Angelo Covino)
Connemara (dir. Alex Lutz)
The Disappearance of Josef Mengele (dir. Kirill Serebrennikov)
Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5 (dir. Raoul Peck)
The Wave (dir. Sebastián Lelio)

Songs of the Neon Night (dir. Juno Mak)
Exit 8 (dir. Genki Kawamura)
Dalloway (dir. Yann Gozlan)