BFI and Chanel name four filmmaker award winners, including ‘Ish’ director Imran Perretta

The BFI and Chanel named Rich Felgate, Olive Nwosu, Imran Perretta and Rachel Taparjan as their 2026 Filmmaker Award winners at an October 14 event at Claridge’s in London. Each of the four emerging UK filmmakers receives £20,000 in financial support.

Perretta’s award recognizes his work on Ish, his feature debut. Screen Daily reports that the film premiered at Venice Critics’ Week in 2025, won its audience award and later played at the London Film Festival. It draws on Perretta’s experiences of racial profiling while growing up, according to the publication.

Who are the other BFI and Chanel winners?

Felgate was selected for We, The Hated, which follows the UK climate protest movement Just Stop Oil. The film opened Sheffield Doc Fest earlier in 2026, Screen Daily reports. His award places a documentary about a contemporary protest movement alongside the fiction features recognized in this year’s group.

Nwosu won for Lady. Screen Daily reports that the film premiered in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, where it received a special jury award for an acting ensemble. It also screened in the Panorama section at the Berlin film festival. Taparjan, the fourth recipient, won for Something Familiar.

What does the award provide?

This is the fifth annual edition of the BFI and Chanel Filmmaker Awards. The £20,000 attached to each award is financial support for the recipient, rather than a single prize split among the four winners. BFI chief executive Ben Roberts said the support was intended to give them space and freedom to keep taking risks and pursue their next steps.

Jessie Buckley and Gwendoline Christie joined the jury and presented or announced the winners. The other named jurors were Edward Enninful, Marie-Louise Khondji and Roberts. The jury described the filmmakers’ creative audacity and ambition to explore a new dynamic in their practice as qualities the awards recognize.