BAFTA Breakthrough UK Announces 2026 Participants
Ish filmmaker Imran Perretta and The Other Bennet Sister star Ella Bruccoleri are among the 21 participants in the 2026 BAFTA Breakthrough UK programme, which is now in its 13th year.
They’re joined by The Incomer writer-director Louis Paxton, A Want in Her filmmaker Myrid Carten, and Emmerdale writer Yassmin Abdel-Magied, along with several other must-watch creatives working across the film, games, and television industries.
BAFTA’s flagship new talent programme showcases and supports individuals who are what the awards body describes as “on the cusp or in the midst of a breakthrough moment.” It includes one-to-one meetings and career guidance for participants, full BAFTA membership, and access to screenings and networking events. The programme is supported by Netflix.
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Last year’s cohort featured an incredible range of talent, such as Akinola Davies Jr., who went on to win several film awards during the 2025-26 season, including Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director, or Producer for My Father’s Shadow at the BAFTAs and Best Director at the British Independent Film Awards.
Some of the over 330 alumni from the programme include Florence Pugh (We Live in Time, Midsommar), Josh O’Connor (Challengers, Disclosure Day), Michaela Coel (I May Destroy You, Chewing Gum), Jessie Buckley (Hamnet, The Lost Daughter) and Bella Ramsey (The Last of Us, Game of Thrones).
BAFTA North America will announce the Breakthrough US talent later this month.
The full list of this year’s UK participants can be found below.
BAFTA Breakthrough UK 2026 Cohort
Film
- Hollie Bryan, Producer – The Ceremony
- Louis Paxton, Writer/Director – The Incomer
- Lucy Allen*, Casting Director – Sunny Dancer
- Tom Payne*, Casting Director – Sunny Dancer
- Imran Perretta, Co-writer/Director – Ish
- Regina Meessen, Hair and Make-Up Designer – Dreamers
- Ted Evans, Writer/Director – Retreat
Documentary/Unscripted
- Chris Lynch, Presenter & Producer – In the Driving Seat
- Myrid Carten, Writer/Director – A Want in Her
- Runako Celina, Producer & Reporter – Death in Dubai
Games
- Eloise Singer, Writer/Director – The Pirate Queen: No Safe Waters
- Husban Siddiqi, Game Director & Developer – Rogue Eclipse
- Kate Killick, Creative Director – Pieced Together
- Niru Fekri-Arnold, Creator/Designer – Cursed Words
- Tom McKay, Performer – Mysteria Ecclesiae: Kingdom Come Deliverance DLC
Television
- Ella Bruccoleri, Performer – The Other Bennet Sister
- Izuka Hoyle, Performer – Prisoner
- Philippa Mumford, Production Designer – Juice (Series 2)
- Sophie Stone, Performer – Falling
- Tom Cousins, Creator & Executive Producer – Rafi the Wishing Wizard
- Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Writer – Emmerdale
*Applied as a team
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