The Brits are coming… to the Croisette! The British Film Institute (BFI) continued an annual tradition on Thursday, unveiling its 2026 crop of “Great 8” movies, eight features from the “most exciting first-time and early career filmmakers” that it will showcase to international distributors and festival programmers in the run-up to and during the Marché du Film market taking place during the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. This year, the program features only debut films.
Now in its ninth year, the Great 8 showcase will screen unseen footage from all of the titles, introduced by their filmmakers, online exclusively to buyers and festival programmers from midday Friday.
Among the movies being presented is the feature directing debut of Boiling Point actor Ray Panthaki, starring Clarence Maclin in his first leading role, as well as films starring the likes of Christina Hendricks, Joe Locke and Hiam Abbas.
“Our annual Great 8 showcase, which has previously championed both first and second time filmmakers, focuses entirely on debuts for its ninth edition,” said Briony Hanson, the British Council’s director of Film. “With formats and genres ranging from thrillers to experimental films on show, and films from Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England in the lineup, the selection represents the breadth of new voices and new work happening in the U.K. It also symbolizes the importance of collaboration to the U.K. industry, with a number of non U.K.-born directors and co-productions in the mix.”
Added Agnieszka Moody, the BFI’s head of international relations: “It’s incredibly encouraging to see another fantastic lineup of strong U.K. debuts for this year’s Great 8 – showcasing the range of unique and original filmmaking voices coming into our industry.”
Great 8 films and filmmakers who have gone on to find international acclaim and commercial success after last year’s selection include Imran Perretta’s Ish and Ashley Walters’ Animol, the organizers highlighted.
Previous Great 8 films also include Charlotte Wells’s Aftersun, Rungano Nyoni’s I Am Not A Witch, Georgia Oakley’s Blue Jean, and Charlotte Regan’s Scrapper.
Below is a closer look at the 2026 crop of Great8 titles.
Ancestors
Ireland, U.K.
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 (Hardwicke) as he searches 1980s London for his missing friend, Tiny (Wolfe). Dream, reality, memory and history entwine, forcing Beau to come face-to-face with truths beyond life and death.”
Black Church Bay
U.K.
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 (Cullen) dealing with the consequences of a high school student (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.”
Daughter of Eden
U.K./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.”
Florid
U.K.
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.”
In Starland
U.K.
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.”
Masc
U.K.
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?”
Our Share of Sand
U.K.
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.”
Salvation
U.K.
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.”
