‘Great 8’ 2026: Ray Panthaki’s Debut Feature ‘In Starland’ Among Titles Set For Cannes Market With The BFI

The BFI has revealed the lineup of titles it will take to the upcoming Cannes Market as part of its Great 8 initiative for first and second-time filmmakers. 

The list of titles includes In Starland, the debut feature directed by veteran British actor Ray Panthaki, and Daughter of Eden from Iranian-British filmmaker Fateme Ahmadi. The BFI will present the features to international buyers in Cannes. See the full list of titles below. 

Now in its ninth year, the 2026 Great 8 showcase is funded and produced by the BFI and the British Council. As part of the scheme, unseen footage from all the titles will be introduced by the filmmakers and screened online for buyers and festival programmers from Friday, 8 May. 

Great 8-selected films and filmmakers who have gone on to find international critical acclaim and commercial success include Charlotte Wells’s Aftersun, which became MUBI’s highest-earning release in the UK. Rungano Nyoni’s I Am Not A Witch, Rose Glass’s Saint Maud, and Charlotte Regan’s Scrapper.

See the 2026 Great 8 line-up with full credits and plot lines below.

ANCESTORS 

Ireland, UK

Drama

Director/writer: David Turpin

Producers: Miranda Ballesteros, David Collins, Eamon Hughes

Cast: Éanna Hardwicke, Jessica Reynolds, Jack Wolfe, Rupert Everett, Christina Hendricks

Production: Screen Ireland, Yellow Moon, Northern Ireland Screen, Samson Films, Lunatica
Sales: Mister Smith

Synopsis: A love story, a noir mystery and a metaphysical fable, Ancestors follows Beau (Éanna Hardwicke) as he searches 1980s London for his missing friend, Tiny (Jack Wolfe). Dream, reality, memory and history entwine, forcing Beau to come face-to-face with truths beyond life and death. 

David Turpin is an Irish-born filmmaker who began his career as a musician and performance artist. His first work for cinema was the screenplay for the supernatural mystery The Lodgers, which premiered at Toronto International Film Festival in 2017, and was subsequently acquired by Nexflix in a worldwide five-year deal. His second feature as screenwriter, the contemporary drama The Winter Lake, premiered in 2021. David’s work has been supported by Screen Ireland and Creative Europe MEDIA fund, and he currently has material in development with Screen Ireland, BBC Northern Ireland, Film4, Tailored Films, Keeper Pictures and others. All David’s work is characterised by his interest in symbolism, lyricism, and how the interweaving of real and imagined planes of being can express the experiences of the othered.

Ancestors is David’s first feature as writer-director.

BLACK CHURCH BAY

UK

Mystery Drama

Director/writer: Rhys Marc Jones

Producers: Tristan Goligher, Alex Polunin

Cast: Tom Cullen, Joe Locke, Marli Siu, Rakie Ayola, Dylan Michael (Miles)

Production: BBC Film, Ffilm Cymru Wales, Ossian International, The Bureau

Sales: The Bureau

Synopsis: Black Church Bay is a mystery-drama about a conflicted young teacher (Tom Cullen) dealing with the consequences of a high school student (Joe Locke) disappearing. It follows the immediate aftermath of the event, exploring the lengths a person might go to hide their true self – to save their skin at the expense of their soul. 

Rhys Marc Jones is a Welsh-Irish filmmaker who studied at NYU Tisch as a three-time BAFTA Scholarship recipient. His screenplay for Black Church Bay won the Black Family Feature Prize, the highest accolade bestowed by the faculty at NYU – and his shorts, including Ripples, Father Of The Bride and Pale Saint have played festivals worldwide, receiving three BAFTA Cymru nominations. An alumni of Cannes Cinéfondation and Torino Film Lab, Rhys also received BFI Flare x BAFTA Mentorship from Wash Westmoreland and is a Berlinale Talent.

DAUGHTER OF EDEN

UK/Ireland

Psychological Thriller

Director/writer: Fateme Ahmadi

Producers: Jack Tarling, Pietro Greppi

Cast: Yasmin Al-Khudhairi, Hiam Abbass, Amir El-Masry, Lindsay Duncan

Production: BFI, BBC Film, Fís Éireann/ Screen Ireland, Civic Studios, Three Point Capital, Lunapark Pictures, Shudder Films, Newgrange Pictures

Sales: Lucky Number

Synopsis: London, 2006. In the months leading up to Saddam Hussein’s execution, Nessa, a British Iraqi nurse, encounters an older woman, Maryam, at the hospital and suspects that she is the government informant responsible for her parents’ execution in Iraq years earlier. Nessa infiltrates Maryam’s life as her nurse, aiming to find the truth. To her surprise, Maryam begins to develop a closer bond with her – but Nessa cannot let go of the obsession. Nessa’s search for truth turns into something darker when she finally feels certain that she has the right person; consumed by rage, she begins to punish Maryam, while neglecting her own health, family and career. As the lines between truth and projection blur, Nessa is forced to confront the consequences of what her pain has set in motion.

Fateme Ahmadi is an Iranian writer and director based in London. Her short films have screened internationally and won numerous awards including Bitter Sea, nominated for Best British Short at the British Independent Film Awards, and Leila’s Blues, which premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight as part of the Tunisia Factory initiative.

She is a fellow of the inaugural Pillars Artist Fellowship supported by Netflix and Amazon Studios, and an alumna of Berlinale Talents, Edinburgh Talent Lab, and Film London Lodestar. Her work also includes Chandra, developed at the 2015 Asian Film Academy Colour of Asia programme at Busan International Film Festival. She studied Persian Literature, Cinema, and Linguistics in Tehran before graduating from the London Film School in 2013. Her debut feature Daughter Of Eden is a psychological thriller in post-production backed by the BFI, BBC Film and Screen Ireland.

FLORID 

UK

Drama

Director/writer: Billy Lumby

Producers: Rupert Lloyd, Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor

Cast: Jonathan Jules, Saskia Chana, Unknown T

Production: BBC Film, Film i Väst, Academy Films, Head Gear, An Atar Studios, Joi Productions Filmgate (SE), Metrol Technology, Trigger Films, Red Union Films

Sales: Atar Studios

Synopsis: Set in the world of London’s supported accommodation and psychiatric wards, FLORID tells the story of Jamal, a young man who hears voices. Struggling to balance his medication with his musical and romantic desires, Jamal’s equilibrium is rocked when Kyla moves in next door. Told from an authentic first-person experience, FLORID has been made with the community it is based in. It is an emotive and immersive story that seeks to bring the audience into an unseen world. 

Billy Lumby is a BAFTA-nominated writer/director. Born and raised in London, his first short film God View was screened at top festivals around the world including Clermont-Ferrand, and was broadcast internationally by television networks such as Canal+. His second short Samuel-613 was commissioned by Dazed & Confused magazine and was nominated for a BAFTA. Billy has attended talent labs at Berlinale and the BFI London Film Festival. He is a Screen International “Star of Tomorrow”. 

IN STARLAND

UK

Drama

Director: Ray Panthaki

Writers: Ray Panthaki, Jason Kavan

Producers: Daniel Khalili, Ray Panthaki, Daisy Allsop, Victor Paul Wajnberg

Cast: Clarence Maclin, Bella Maclean, Miss Benny, Marcus Scribner, Ben Dickey
Production: Le Bateau Lavoir, Archface Films, Killer Films  

Sales: Le Bateau Lavoir

Synopsis: In small-town America, Ernie – a 50-year-old loner with a mysterious past – lives a quiet, solitary life. After a chance encounter with a group of influencers in their twenties who are passing through town, Ernie invites them into his home – a decision that unsettles the fragile world he’s spent years trying to exist within.

They move fast, live online, turning everything into something to be seen. Finally finding a place he can fit in, Ernie is drawn into a digital world of hedonism, self-exploration and belonging – but the connection he’s been searching for begins to come at a cost.

As the line between private life and performance starts to blur, and the town grows more watchful, a carefully held secret begins to surface…

A coming-of-middle-age story about what we inherit, the patterns we carry, and the choices they leave us with.

Starring Academy Award and BAFTA nominee Clarence Maclin (Sing Sing) in his first leading role

Ray Panthaki is a British actor, writer and filmmaker. A BAFTA Breakthrough Brit and BIFA-nominated actor, he has collaborated with directors including Danny Boyle, Bong Joon Ho and Ed Zwick.

As an actor, he appeared in Boiling Point, earning a BIFA nomination for Best Supporting Actor as part of an ensemble recognised with eleven BIFA and four BAFTA nominations.

His filmmaking is rooted in naturalism, exploring identity through behaviour and observation.

His short films Life Sentence and Ernie developed this approach. In Starland is his feature directorial debut.

MASC 

UK

Drama

Director: Bertil Nilsson
Writers: Bertil Nilsson, Joshua Griffin

Producers: Bertil Nilsson, EP Joanne Michael
Cast: Joshua Griffin, Tega Alexander, Ed White, Reece King

Production: Duktiga

Sales: Duktiga

Synopsis: Robin is a young man caught between multiple identities – autistic, biracial, queer – and different ideas of masculinity. This leads us on an intimate, and at times funny, journey of self discovery and missteps told in five chapters over the course of a critical year in Robin’s life. He tries on different roles, failing from job to job while transforming his appearance and mannerisms to fit in. But will revealing what he’s most desperate to hide finally open the door to belonging?

Bertil Nilsson is a British/Swedish filmmaker and artist based in London. Masc is his debut feature. His first fiction short, Repair, premiered in competition at Clermont-Ferrand in 2023, was selected at BFI Flare and Outfest LA, and acquired by Disney+ and Canal+. It previously won Best Script in the UK parliament’s film competition. He has collaborated extensively with dancers and acrobats, including his series of portrait films Figures, which featured on Vimeo Staff Picks and NOWNESS, and two photography books. 

OUR SHARE OF SAND

UK

Drama

Director/writer: Shalini Adnani

Producers: Sara Bonakdar, Alan McAlex, Balthazar de Ganay, Giorgos Karnavas, Michael Graf

Cast: Ellora Torchia, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Maya Mehta, Jyoti Dogra, Krish More, Ravi Ranjan

Production: BFI, Film4, Fifth Mirror Pictures, Heretic, Suitable Pictures
Sales: Global Constellation

Synopsis: After years apart, 12-year-old Maya returns to India with her mother to reunite with her father – a sandmining business man. Immersed in a world where labour, legacy and extraction collide, she forms a fragile bond with Kiran, a young worker. When a tragic accident leaves him permanently injured, a police investigation turns Maya into a key witness, with her father relying on her account to absolve him. Torn between loyalty and a growing unease she cannot name, Maya begins searching for the truth herself. As her mother quietly unravels within a stifling marriage, Maya uncovers a pattern of silence, exploitation and repeated harm-forcing her to confront her father’s deception and the family’s inherited complicity she must choose to break. 

Shalini Adnani is a Chilean-born, Indian-origin writer and director based in London. Her short film White Ant premiered at Sundance, was long listed for a BIFA, won Best UK short at Raindance 2023 and was acquired by Canal+. Her BFI and Film4 funded India-set feature debut Our Share of Sand is currently in post-production. She is a London Film School and Berlinale talents alumni and was named a Screen International Star of Tomorrow 2025.

SALVATION

UK

Psychological Thriller

Director/writer: Tom Nicoll

Producers: Dom Riley, Tom Nicoll, Scott Trotter

Cast: Liam Harkins, Stephen McMillan, Kathleen McDermott, Conor McCarron

Production: Creative Scotland, Lane Films

Sales: Lane Films

Synopsis: A tenacious aspiring guru must go to extreme measures to pay off the debts he’s accrued from trying, and failing, to set up an online life-coaching business in a post-industrial Scottish town. 

Exploring the world of male influencer culture and how it might be affecting the young men who come into its orbit, Salvation blends mounting tension, dark comedy and a forensic focus on its protagonist to explore the very modern story of a delusional life coach spiralling out of control.   

Tom Nicoll is an award-winning Scottish director, whose work has screened at festivals worldwide, received Vimeo Staff Picks, and been shown on online film channels including Short of the Week. He has had a short film funded through Creative Scotland’s SFTN Emerging Talent Scheme which screened on the BBC and received funded development for a feature film with Screen Scotland. Tom is a member of the European Film Academy, BAFTA Connect and Directors UK.