Last month, on the 9th of December, we held our annual Graduation Ceremony to celebrate the incredible achievements of our 2025 Central Film School graduates. It was a spectacular event, held in the NFT1 screening theatre at the prestigious BFI Southbank. The atmosphere was buzzing with excitement as students and their loved ones came together to mark the culmination of years of hard work, creativity, and dedication.
With a day full of film screenings, showreels, awards, and moments with friends and family, it was hard not to smile at a true celebration of talent, community, and the vibrant spirit that defines CFS.
Here’s a look at some of the highlights from this year’s graduation.
Some of the Best Films Yet
The quality of this year’s graduate projects was incredible, with each film exploring its own unique themes - ranging from grief and challenging love to the hardships of personal growth. Every film had its own distinctive style and unique storytelling. From Mermaids to cowboys, the creativity displayed on screen was inspiring to watch and highlighted the breadth of skills our students developed during their time at CFS.
This year marks the first graduating cohort of our Acting for Screen course, and what a welcome addition it was. To highlight the work of our actors, each of their showreels were played amongst the graduation films. It was also great to see the collaboration between our Filmmaking and Acting students, as many of the actors appeared in the graduation films. Collaboration is at the heart of what we do here at CFS, and it was wonderful to see that come to life on screen.
Awards, Awards, and More Awards!
Alongside the film screenings, our graduates were recognised with several awards celebrating outstanding students from each course. This year, we were thrilled to be supported by our three amazing sponsors: Targert3D, CVP, and The London Screenwriting Festival.
Target3D provided one of our Acting for Screen students with a 2-day motion capture course, CVP awarded a Practical Filmmaking student a voucher for filmmaking equipment, and the London Screenwriting Festival gave a ticket to a Screenwriting student for their 2026 festival. Congratulations to Robin Marriot, Fergus Johnston, and Willow Murray for receiving these prizes, and a huge thank you to our sponsors for supporting our emerging filmmakers and helping bring their creative projects to life.
In addition to the sponsored awards, we presented an Audience Choice Award for all the films screened. Once the votes were counted, one film emerged as the clear crowd favourite: the BA film Off the Hook! This short film follows the journey of a desperate fisherman willing to risk everything on one final catch. The team should be incredibly proud of bringing such an exciting film to the screen, and we can’t wait to see what they do next.
The Carlie Tufnell Spark Fund
At Central Film School, we are incredibly grateful to have once again partnered with the Carlie Tufnell Spark Fund, providing £15,000 to students for their next project. This year's winners were BA Practical Filmmaking graduates, Eva Goodwin and Lea Krüger, who pitched their upcoming film ‘Aged like Fine Crime’ to the panel of impressed judges. Set to be released in 2027, we are very excited to see this project develop over the next year.
“We’re very excited to bring these characters we’ve formed to screen and do them justice”, Eva Goodwin.
We were also delighted to welcome back last year’s Carlie Tufnell Spark Fund winner, Charlotte Ainsworth, who shared the trailer for her new film Maybrick, which is now entering the festival circuit. It was incredibly inspiring for everyone to see how the fund can help graduates bring their creative visions to life and get a film into film festivals across the world. We would like to once again thank the Carlie Tufnell Spark Fund for their ongoing generosity and for giving this great opportunity to our students.
As our graduates crossed the stage to collect their degrees, they marked the end of one journey and the beginning of another. This final celebration was made even more memorable by a heart-warming and funny valedictorian speech by Joe Biddle, which had the whole room laughing and thinking back on their time at CFS. Their achievements reflect not only hard work, but also the shared community that carried them through long shoots and difficult productions.
We look forward to supporting this cohort as they embark on their careers as the newest alumni of Central Film School. The sheer talent of the 2025 cohort is undeniable, and we have no doubt they will go on to shape the screen industry in remarkable ways. Congratulations to each and every one of you - and remember, you will always be a part of the Central Film School community.
Watch the full highlights from the day below:
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