Welsh sci-fi ‘Out There’ with Michael Sheen among BFI London Film Festival works-in-progress titles

Welsh sci-fi Out There is one of eight feature film projects selected for the works-in-progress showcase at the 69^th BFI London Film Festival (LFF), alongside new projects from the producers of Hoard, Urchin and Cow.

The eight films are all in post-production and from first- or second-time feature directors, in the sixth run of the LFF showcase.

Scroll down for the full list of titles

Out There is the debut feature of UK writer-director Simon Ryninks, and follows a 16-year-old astronomy enthusiast who spots a UFO over her sleepy Welsh seaside town, so ropes in her sceptical best friend and an unhinged UFOlogist to uncover a truth she’s not yet ready to face.

Michael Sheen, Aneurin Barnard, Iwan Rheon and Alice Lowe are all in the cast, alongside Nerys Amber Stocks, Tom Moya, Remy Beasley and Matthew Aubrey. The film is produced by Tibo Travers for Sweetdoh Films and Katie Dolan for Bad Cat, with support from the BFI and Ffilm Cymru Wales in association with Calculus Media and Gorilla TV.

Several producers who have had recent successes on the festival circuit have new projects in the works-in-progress strand. Louise Stern’s feature debut A Hand Rises, in which a death ruptures a close-knit Deaf community, is produced by Hoard producer Helen Simmons of Erebus Pictures, with God’s Own Country producer Manon Ardisson and backed by BBC Film and the BFI.

Beatrice Gibson’s feature debut La Nuit follows a woman walking the streets of Paris at night after an abortion, where she encounters an array of characters. Gibson has twice won the best short film award at International Film Festival Rotterdam; La Nuit producers include Somesuch’s Scott O’Donnell, who had Harris Dickinson’s Urchin in Cannes earlier this year. BBC Film is among the backers.

The selection also includes Toby Bull’s documentary Re-Evaluation, in which the filmmaker reckons with his own traumatic childhood after digging up his parents’ diaries and home videos following their untimely deaths. Kat Mansoor – producer of Andrea Arnold’s Cow – produces for Snowstorm Productions, with backers on the film including BFI Doc Society and Film4.

Extracts from each project will screen to an audience of international buyers, UK sales agents and festival programmers, on Saturday, October 11, as part of LFF’s UK Talent Days, in partnership with the British Council. The showcase will be followed by a networking event with filmmakers and industry guests.

Previous titles to have come through the works-in-progress showcase include Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor’s Dreamers from last year, which went on to premiere at the 2025 Berlinale; and Jack King’s The Ceremony from 2023, which won the Sean Connery award at the next Edinburgh International Film Festival.

“Our 2025 Works-in-Progress Showcase offers an incredible range of films spanning narrative, hybrid and documentary forms,” said Kristy Matheson, LFF director. “To our industry guests we offer a very warm welcome and thanks for their continued commitment to seeking out new ideas, talents, and opportunities for creative connection.”

LFF 2025 runs from October 8-19.

BFI London Film Festival works-in-progress 2025

A Hand Rises
Dir-scr: Louise Stern
Prods: Helen Simmons, Manon Ardisson
Cast: Raffie Julien, Kallesta Orr, Duffy, Claire Wetherall, Amie Francis, Charmaine Wombwell, Matty Gurney
Contact: Erebus Pictures

La Nuit
Dir-scr: Beatrice Gibson
Prods: Scott O’Donnell, Denna Cartamkhoob, Valentina Novati
Cast: Diocouda Diaoune
Contact: Somesuch

Out There
Dir-scr: Simon Ryninks
Prods: Tibo Travers, Katie Dolan
Cast: Nerys Amber Stocks, Tom Moya, Michael Sheen, Aneurin Barnard, Iwan Rheon, Remy Beasley, Alice Lowe, Matthew Aubrey
Contact: Sweetdoh, Badcat

Public House
Dir-scr: Martin Clark
Prods: James Heath, Martin Clark
Cast: Kate Dickie, Martin Docherty, Gavin Mitchell, Gabriel Quigley, Elysia Welch, Jack Stewart, Ryan Hunter, Saskia Ashdown, Conor McLeod, Kim Chapman, Lorn Macdonald
Contact: Randan Film and Television Productions

Birds Of War – documentary
Dirs-scrs: Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak
Prods: Sonja Henrici, Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak
Contact: Sonja Henrici Creates 

Everything Is Fine – documentary
Dir: Rich Felgate
Prods: Rich Felgate, David Allen, Gaby Bastyra
Contact: Firebreak Films

Hello Stranger – documentary
Dir: Beryl Richards
Prods: John Archer, Alex Usborne
Contact: Hopscotch Films

Re-Evaluation – documentary
Dir: Toby Bull
Prod: Kat Mansoor
Contact: Snowstorm Productions

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