Netflix Selects Recipients for U.K. Doc Talent Fund

Netflix has revealed the ten aspiring filmmaking teams from across the U.K. that it will fund as part of its inaugural Documentary Talent Fund.

The ten filmmakers will receive up to £40,000 in financing to create their own documentary short film between 8- to 12-minutes long, answering the brief: “Britain’s Not Boring And Here’s a Story.” A shortlist of 21 filmmaking teams were invited to pitch to Netflix, and a judging panel selected the ten winners.

The recipients are: Beya Kabelu, The Detective & The Thief, which follows the hunt for the missing pets; Daisy Ifama, Twinkleberry, a lighthearted documentary about a school year that had 30-plus queer students in one year group; Dhivya Kate Chetty, Bee Whisperer, a tale of conservation, community and solidarity through one man and his bees; Jakob Lancaster and Sorcha Bacon, Seal in the City, about a seal who has shown up at London’s oldest fish market for breakfast every day for 15 years; Jason Osborne and Precious Mahaga, Love Languages, in which five Black men debunk myths and stereotypes of Black masculinity; Ngaio Anyia and Aodh Breathnach, Tegan, centered on a young Black woman with cerebral palsy who is an equestrian dedicated to reaching the 2024 Paralympics; Sean Mullan and Michael Barwise, HYFIN, about a young Derry-Londonderry man in-between places who is told that a Northern Irish accent can’t rap; Shiva Raichandani and Shane ShayShay Konno, Peach Paradise, in which a non-binary Japanese-Irish drag artist storms U.K.’s cabaret scene; Tavie Tiffany Agama, Women of the Market, introducing the markets of London and the entrepreneurial women that operate within them; and Tobi Kyeremateng and Tania Nwachukwu, ÓWÀMBÈ, centering on the life and soul of Nigerian party culture.