Stern & Wild filmmaker chosen for BIFA talent development programme

We are thrilled to announce that Stern & Wild client Chloe Fairweather is one of 30 upcoming UK filmmakers selected to take part in this year’s BIFA Springboard programme.

The annual programme is designed to support writers, directors and producers who have previously made at least one feature-length film (documentary or fiction) that has been screened or released in the UK. In particular, the scheme aims to support filmmakers making the often difficult transition from first to second feature, through a mixture of technical and professional training, mentoring, networking and access to resources.

Chloe is a highly talented director. Her debut feature documentary Dying to Divorce (2021) won numerous awards including a BAFTA Scotland Best Feature Film prize, a BAFTA Cymru Breakthrough Award and a Rockie Award for best Social Issues & Current Affairs Investigation. The film led to a BAFTA Breakthrough Artist award for Chloe in 2022, the same year as fellow Stern & Wild clients, Paul Sng and Alex Thomas.

Nominations for the film include best documentary at the 2021 British Independent Film Awards, the 2022 Grierson Awards and the 2022 Oscars, where the film was also the UK’s official entry for best international feature film. Chloe’s more recent credits include Scouting for Girls (Sky Documentaries), for which she won the BAFTA Cymru Best Director award in 2023 with Series Director Clare Richards, and The Kidnap of Angel Lynn (Channel 4), which won the Outstanding Documentary prize at the 2024 True Crime Awards.

The BIFA Springboard programme will help support the development of Chloe’s first narrative fiction project Rabbit, a feature-length animated film backed by the BFI, Screen Scotland and Ffilm Cymru Wales. This year’s scheme runs from June 2025 to February 2026. It is supported by Prime Video, the ScreenSkills Film Skills Fund and Film Finances International. For a list of all the selected participants or to read more about the programme, click here.

Chloe’s award-winning debut feature documentary