The Story so far

Founded in 2009, by Luke Walton, we challenged emerging filmmakers to adapt a story, verse or book from the Bible into a short film. We set out to back bold, original voices from any background, and to help every entrant along the way - not just the winners.

Entrants began with a two-minute video pitch. The strongest ideas were shortlisted, first by our team, film professionals and theologians, then by a panel of peers that included former winners, before ten finalists pitched in person to a jury of industry figures.

At every stage there was something to gain: feedback sessions, masterclasses and, for the finalists, residential training.

Until 2020 we made one production award a year, each film made by our production company, Reel Issues Films.

From 2022 we backed two films a year, one comedy and one drama, from a production pot that grew to £70,000.

Simeon Lumgair’s Derelict, the first winner, drew on the book of Philemon to imagine a Europe ravaged by water wars. Rob McLellan’s Rahab, based on Joshua 2, told of a slave, a spy and a city under siege. Andy Toovey’s Only Child, which drew on David and Bathsheba’s story in 2 Samuel 12 to tell of a gypsy couple’s grief, was nominated for Best Short by BAFTA Cymru. Luke Bradford’s White Gold, inspired by Job 30, was longlisted for the Oscars. Most recently, Lizzie Hart’s comedy Kitty, adapted from the parable of the pearl of great price in Matthew 13, and Grace Okyere-Fosu’s drama The Acres, inspired by Psalm 126, have joined the list. Finalists have flourished too: Francis Annan went on to direct the feature Escape From Pretoria.

The finished films have ranged as widely as the stories behind them. There has been science fiction, in Pulsar’s stricken spaceship; historical drama, in The Widow’s Last, set during the Irish famine of 1847; and comedy, in The Innkeeper, which retold the Nativity through the eyes of a seven-year-old.

Some filmmakers adapted a single story closely, while others started from a theme. Paul Holbrook’s Hollow is a study of revenge, set on a council estate, inspired by a verse in Romans. Luke Bradford’s White Gold takes the suffering of Job and turns it on the injustice faced by people with albinism. And Grace Okyere-Fosu’s The Acres draws on the lament of Psalm 126 for a story of grief and motherhood.

In 2018 we lost Lucy Scher, an expert story and script developer, co-founder of The Script Factory, and a judge and friend of ours. The Lucy Scher Award, for an outstanding female finalist, honours her commitment to emerging filmmakers.

Over the years, our judges have included Nick Park, the Oscar-winning creator of Wallace & Gromit; David Oyelowo (Selma, Silo); Toby Jones (Mr Bates vs The Post Office, Detectorists); David Suchet (Poirot); Indira Varma (Game of Thrones, Obi-Wan Kenobi); and Gbemisola Ikumelo, BAFTA-winning creator and star of Black Ops and herself a former Pitch finalist.

Other judges:

• Francis Annan: director of Escape From Pretoria, and a former Pitch finalist.
• Alice Cabañas: head of BFI NETWORK, the British Film Institute's UK-wide talent development programme.
• Rebecca Callard: actor and writer (Ordinary Lies, The Borrowers), and one of the writers of Breeders.
• Anna Cox: Creative Director at Minerva Media and a former BBC documentary director and producer; she is also a Pitch coach.
• Destiny Ekaragha: director (The End of the F***ing World).
• Martin Gentles: producer (His House).
• Paula Gooder: New Testament scholar and Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral, and Theologian in Residence for the Bible Society from 2013 to 2017.
• David Gyasi: actor (Interstellar, The Diplomat), who also starred in the Pitch film Pulsar.
• Justine Hart: screenwriter and story consultant, who mentors winners of the Lucy Scher Award.
• Stuart Hazeldine: director (The Shack, Exam).
• Laurie Hutzler: script editor and creative consultant.
• Martin Kiszko: composer and poet, who has scored over 200 films and TV programmes for the BBC Natural History Unit and many of Sir David Attenborough's films.
• Charlotte Bogard Macleod: screenwriter and co-founder of The Script Factory.
• Linda Marric: film critic.
• Rob McLellan: winner in 2010 with Rahab, who later worked with Hammerhead VR.
• Jolyon Mitchell: Principal of St John's College, Durham University, and a professor specialising in religion, violence and peacebuilding; he has served on film juries at Cannes, Berlin and Venice.
• Jasmin Morrison: producer (Boarders).
• Col Needham: CEO of IMDb.
• Amy O'Hara: Development Executive at Film4.
• Elizabeth Oldfield: author of Fully Alive and host of The Sacred podcast.
• Ray Panthaki: actor, writer, director and producer (Boiling Point, Marcella).
• Debs Paterson: director (Africa United, Strike Back, The Skywalker Legacy).
• Nev Pierce: filmmaker and journalist, contributing editor at Empire and consultant to The Pitch.
• Hester Ruoff: producer (Boiling Point).
• Alison Sterling: producer (Eric, Ernie & Me).
• Jon Wardle: Director of the NFTS, who returned in 2022 for a third year.
• Toyah Willcox: singer and actor (Quadrophenia, Jubilee).

Past winners

• 2009: Simeon Lumgair, Derelict
• 2010: Rob McLellan, Rahab
• 2011: Tim Bassford, The Black Scholes Conspiracy
• 2012: Simon Cookson, The Light
• 2013: Aurora Fearnley, Pulsar
• 2014: Andy Toovey, Only Child
• 2015: Vanessa Perdriau, The Widow's Last
• 2016: Harry Lighton, Leash
• 2017: Ben Cohen, Bingo
• 2018: Luke Bradford, White Gold
• 2019: Paul Holbrook, Hollow
• 2020: Oneikeh Campbell, Five Thousand Stars
• 2022: comedy, Denise Deegan, The Innkeeper; drama, Silva Kuusniemi, Stump; Lucy Scher Award, Eva Edo, Maternal
• 2023: comedy, Carolyn Goodyear, Till Death Do Us Part; drama, Jake Falconer, Alice; Lucy Scher Award, Jessi Gutch, Last Train Home
• 2024: drama, Anatole Sloan, Our Child; comedy, Maddie Dai, Jael Drives the Nail; Lucy Scher Award, Olga Thompson, Stavros & Demetra
• 2025: comedy, Lizzie Hart, Kitty; drama, Grace Okyere-Fosu, The Acres; Lucy Scher Award, Alice Johannessen, Flesh & Blood

Interested to see more? Browse Our Films.