Jessie Buckley and Gundelin Christie Named Among Distinguished Filmmakers by BFI and Chanel

At a glittering event at London's Claridge's Hotel, the Irish Oscar winner and the star of "Game of Thrones"—two members of this year's jury—were warmly welcomed on stage by Ben Roberts, CEO of the BFI.

Oscar-winning actor Jesse Buckley and Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie presented the BFI and Chanel Filmmaker Awards at a lavish ceremony at London's Claridge's Hotel on Wednesday.

The actresses were on this year's jury alongside current members Edward Enninful, former editor of British Vogue and co-founder of EE72, as well as Marie-Louise Khondji, founder of Le Cinéma Club, and BFI CEO Ben Roberts.

Together, they selected four emerging British filmmakers as winners of the 2026 awards, including director, producer and cinematographer Rich Flegate (We, the Hateful), director and writer Olive Noso (The Lady), director and co-writer Imran Peretta, and Something directed by Famil Paritar.

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Each of the four laureates will receive £20,000 ($26,520) in funding, which will allow them to expand their work, explore new ideas and expand "the representation of voices in today's cultural society".

Irish star Buckley said the judges were aware of "such a celebration of highly original, inspiring and radical work". Dressed in Chanel (of course), she said: "The future of British independent filmmaking is really bright if we continue to support and support filmmakers like Rich, Olive, Imran and Rachel."

It was a warm and high-spirited event, and each member of the jury invited a winner on stage to ask them about their films and their creative process. The projects are varied: We the Haters, UK climate activist group Just Stop the Oil. Lady Nwosu is a narrative piece about an independent female taxi driver in Lagos, Nigeria. Perretta's Ish is a drama about two childhood best friends who are torn apart by racial profiling and a traumatic police stop and search. And Taparjan stars in his documentary, helping to find the mother of a woman who was adopted from the same Romanian orphanage.

Both Buckley and Christie spoke highly of the films, praising the "bold visual sensibility" and "community's irresponsible sense of community" displayed in the works.

The BFI and Chanel Filmmakers Awards support the BFI's mission to support the next generation of UK independent filmmaking talent. The relationship between Chanel and film first began when Gabrielle Chanel traveled to Hollywood in the 1930s to dress leading actresses of the era and turn them into style icons. From 2022, Chanel has partnered with the BFI to host the Filmmaker Awards.

Previous winners include Harry Layton, who won in 2025 for Pillion, a BDSM comedy starring Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling. The film won the British Independent Film Award in the same year.

Other stars spotted by The Hollywood Reporter at Wednesday's event included married Sebastian Croft, currently starring in the BBC's hit series Traitors, Douglas Booth and Belle Powley, First Light 007's Patrick Gibson and Steve's Jay Licurgo.