EXCLUSIVE: Doc Society, FACT and the BFI have selected 10 projects for the Future Proof Development Lab, a UK-Denmark programme for non-fiction works dealing with new technologies in an age of misinformation.
Running across three months, Future Proof will support the development of 10 cinema and immersive works by emerging to mid-career directors and lead creatives. 11 individuals will be leading across the 10 projects.
Scroll down for the full list of participants
The programme is delivered by FACT Liverpool, the venue which hosts cinemas, galleries and new media spaces.
It aims to encourage the filmmakers and creatives to prepare their projects for financing; and to ask how documentary makers can adapt in the age of AI, big data, and virtual and augmented environments, while also challenging notions of truth.
The programme will consist of technological workshops, editorial mentorship and curated meetings with leading non-fiction directors and artists.
It will take place in Liverpool and London in the UK; and Copenhagen in Denmark, culminating in the projects being introduced to the non-fiction film and immersive market at CPH:Forum, part of CPH:DOX film festival in March 2026.
The lab is supported by the BFI Creative Challenge Fund, launched in 2023 to support organisations responding to identified gaps and challenges in the industry.
“We’re in a cultural moment where the relationship between image technologies and truth are advancing beyond public understanding,” said Luke W Moody, head of BFI Doc Society Fund. “This lab brings together immersive artists and filmmakers to think about how we reconcile, question and play with emergent technologies to develop new stories, worlds, and trust in media.”
“In line with the BFI Creative Challenge Fund’s priority to support immersive film practitioners, the programme is ambitious in its provisions, offering the editorial and technological support needed to take risks, broaden perspectives, and pursue ideas that aren’t typically backed by commercial funding,” said Mia Bays, director of the BFI Filmmaking Fund.
Future Proof Development Lab 2026 participants
Alex Nevill - filmmaker, producer
Project title: Restless Sea
Anna Engelhardt - artist, producer
Project title: Towards Dissolution
Blu Smith - artist, producer
Project title: The Odyssey of Recollection
Comfort Arthur - director
Project title: Ursula
Eelyn Lee - artist, producer
Project title: Conjuring Acts
Gweni Llwyd - artist
Project title: localhost
Leo Nelki – director, producer
Project title: Untitled River AI Film
Livi Wilmore – artist, producer
Project title: Browser History
Oliver Bradley-Baker – artist, filmmaker
Project title: Biome
Ornella Mutoni - director, producer
Project title: The Silence We Carry
Patricia Echeverria Liras – director, producer
Project title: Untitled River AI Film
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