Submissions open 13th May Underscore Cinema returns for its second edition — a bold and proudly grassroots festival that champions working-class filmmakers across the UK.
Presented by Underscore Studios and supported by the BFI, this year we’re once again taking over the iconic Rio Cinema in Dalston for a one-day celebration of radical, heartfelt, and boundary-pushing cinema from working-class voices.
Underscore Cinema is one of the very few festivals in the UK that unapologetically and explicitly champions working-class voices.
We don’t just include them — we’re built for them.
How to Apply
🎟 Free to Enter – On Purpose
Thanks to support from the BFI, submissions are 100% free. No hidden fees for filmmakers, no barriers. That’s the point. Class shouldn’t gatekeep creativity. This is your space.
🎯 Who Is This Festival For?
We welcome UK-based working-class directors, writers, and producers of short films (max. 20 minutes). Whether it’s your debut or your tenth project, whether your film is funny, raw, slow, loud, abstract — if it’s yours and it’s honest, we want to see it.
🌱 What We’re Trying to Do
Platform stories from working-class people
Build a pipeline for working-class talent in the UK film industry
Encourage collaboration, not competition
Make the industry better by making it more representative
Offer film-makers a community
Head to https://underscorestudios.co.uk/underscorecinema to apply
While we have publicised this opportunity, please note that: (i) the application and selection process is managed by the advertising company/organisation; and (ii) we rely on them to: provide accurate, up-to-date details about themselves and the opportunity; ensure that opportunities are ethical and paid fairly. To report a listing, please email [email protected].