For the fourth edition of this year’s BIFA (British Independent Film Awards) qualifying Sunrise Film Festival, the programme featured an impressive 187 short films across 25 strands and saw just under 2,000 admissions to screenings and events across the 4 festival days.
Our Regular submissions window for our 5th Anniversary edition in 2026 are open until 30 October 2025, and late entries will close on 15 January 2026 – Visit our page on Filmfreeway for more information.
You can also watch our full 2025 Awards Ceremony below.
Without further ado, please see below our 2025 Festival Award Winners across our competition’s main categories & craft awards:
Find out more about our 2025 Judges Below
Louisa Connolly-Burnham
British Short Film
Louisa is an award-winning director and screenwriter from Birmingham, who founded Thimble Films in 2019. Louisa’s short film Sister Wives, starring BAFTA winner Mia McKenna-Bruce, screened at Sunrise Film Festival 2024. The short has been long-listed for Oscar, BIFA and BAFTA awards and is being developed into a feature.
Favourite film: Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Mike Liggins
Documentary Short Film
Mike has been making films for 40 years, starting by using a big old VHS camera with his mates in the Midlands. He has made 6,000 short films for the BBC and ITV and a number of 30-minute documentaries for the 'Beeb'. He is now a freelance filmmaker.
Favourite films: Untouchable and Searching for Sugar Man
James Naughton
Animated Short Film
James Naughton is an IFTA-nominated and award-winning Irish Animation Filmmaker. He graduated from The National Film School at IADT in 2022 with his graduate film 'Every Other Weekend' . The film has screened internationally at festivals including Fantoche, VAF and CINANIMA and has won several awards including Best Student and Best 2D at Animation Dingle 2024.
Favourite Film: The Florida Project
Bill Jackson
Experimental Short Film
Bill is a photographer, filmmaker and sound designer. He combines all three to create immersive environments for both screen and installation. He sometimes works with musicians to create visuals and recently completed 23 films for Chrysalis Records for the newly released album The Endless Coloured Ways: The Songs Of Nick Drake.
Favourite film: There are no favourites, only those that mean something to you at the time.
Ella Greenwood
UK Student Short Film
Ella is a filmmaker and founder of Broken Flames, a Forbes 30 Under 30 production company that focuses on mental health. Her films include Twofold, which took part in the Amazon MGM Studios LGBTQ+ Short Film Competition, Smudged Smile, starring BAFTA winner Mia Mckenna-Bruce, and Why Wouldn't I be?, in partnership with mental health charity HUMEN.
Favourite film: Inside Out
Chris Filip
East Coast Short Film
Chris works as a Fund Manager for the BFI’s UK Global Screen Fund. Before this, Chris worked with Creative England, managing the New Ideas Fund, and their games business support programmes. Chris also co-founded Game Anglia, a not-for-profit community interest company growing the games industry in the East of England.
Favourite film: Les Triplettes de Belleville
Carrie Hajny
Break The Stigma
Carrie is a London-based director working with brands and artists such as Puma, Vinted, Dua Lipa and M&S. Her first short film Last Dance premiered at the 2019 Underwire Film Festival, where it was nominated for Best Under-25 Production. She has curated film screenings at Sarah Kravitz Gallery and Southampton Film Week.
Favourite Film: The Lives of Others
Callum Howard
East Anglian Student Short Film
Callum is the CEO of Limitless Film and Media, one of East Anglia’s fastest-growing commercial studios, based here in Lowestoft. Callum and his team use their background in feature film production to tell the stories of brands across the UK, elevating their presence online, on TV, and on social media.
Favourite film: School of Rock
Beth & Natasha Perkin
Micro Short Film
Beth and Natasha are sisters and filmmakers who produce under their company, Deathtrash Pictures. Their first short film, Seeing Read, was featured at Sunrise Film Festival 2024, and other UK festivals, with Mark Kermode praising it as "very, very funny." Their second short, So Far, So Good, is currently being submitted to festivals.
Favourite film (Natasha): Rosemary’s Baby
Favourite film (Beth): Heat
Elijah Bertram
International Short Film
Elijah is a passionate pop culture creator dedicated to supporting unsung heroes in the film industry. With his civil engineering background, he combines creativity and technical skills to engage audiences through social media and his platform The Geeks of the Week. He’s worked with companies like Disney and Marvel, covering film premieres and events.
Favourite Film: The Lion King
