EXCLUSIVE: Robin Elliott-Knowles and Georgia Kumari Bradburn, theco-directors of CPH:DOX and BFI London Film Festival title The Stimming Pool are among the 13 recipients of the third Independent Cinema Office (ICO) Miles Ketley Memorial Fund bursary for emerging UK filmmakers.
Alice Russell, director of Bifa-winning documentary If The Streets Were On Fire (2023), and Marley Morrison, director of Glasgow audience award winner Sweetheart (2021), have also received awards.
The ICO board has approved an extension of the fund, which had been scheduled to finish this year. The fund will now continue on for three more years (2026 to 2028). The new funding includes a 40% increase in value, meaning the annual budget will now be £7,000 each year. The fund previously had £15,000 to give out across its initial three years.
Further 2025 recipients are writer-directors Abraham Adeyemi, Alix Eve, Arwa Aburawa, Edem Kelman, Gianni Esporas, May Ziade, Raheela Suleman, Theo Panagopoulos and producer Tolu Stedford.
The fund was established in 2022 in memory of former ICO trustee and prominent producer and media lawyer Miles Ketley. Filmmakers are eligible through previous participation in ICO Screening Days.
While several funds focus on supporting production costs, the Miles Ketley bursary can be used to support the filmmaker’s professional development, for example providing filmmaking equipment, development courses, project development costs or international festival travel.
Previous recipients include Is There Anybody Out There? director Ella Glendining, After Love director Aleem Khan and Rebel Dykes filmmaker Sian A. Williams.
“We continue to be impressed by the ambition and originality of the work we see from early-career filmmakers, and we know many of them face challenges to sustain that momentum,” said Catharine Des Forges, director of the ICO. “The Miles Ketley Fund is about making those next steps possible, especially for voices that have historically been overlooked by mainstream funding routes.”
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