The British Urban Film Festival (BUFF) has unveiled seven films in this year’s lineup that will also participate in a new revenue-sharing model.
The feature filmmakers will receive 70% of net ticketing income. This will be calculated after agreed-upon exhibitor and operational deductions, alongside verified audience performance data from their screenings.
BUFF organisers claim many comparable festival models offer filmmakers a smaller share of ticketing revenue and detailed performance data is not always shared at this level.
“Exposure alone does not help filmmakers repay investors, finance their next project, or demonstrate real audience demand,” said Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe, founder and CEO of the British Urban Film Festival. “This model is about recognising filmmakers as economic participants in the value their work helps create.”
Films taking part include Ryen McPherson’s C.R.E.A.M., a modern-day adaptation of Romeo & Juliet told entirely through Wu-Tang Clan song lyrics; Fitch Jean’s Here Come The Waves, a drama about a family fleeing Rwanda for Canada; and Asher Rosen’s debut feature, Small Gods, about the landless Batwa people of Africaʼs Great Lakes region from Sovereign Films and Scala Productions.
This year BUFF runs from May 4-9, a shift from its previous October dates.
BUFF 2026 selection
The Bridge dir. Jimmy Hedger (UK)
The Engineer dir. Sam Alexander Reynard (UK)
It Comes in Waves dir. Fitch Jean (Can)
Small Gods dir. Asher Rosen (UK)
C.R.E.A.M dir. Ryen Mcpherson (US)
Rise Of The Legion dirs. Adrian S Woodard Sr, Adrian S Woodard II (US)
The Dying Trade dir. Jack Hancock-Fairs (UK)
No comments yet