Isla Badenoch is a filmmaker and artist living in the rural borderlands of the UK and Ireland. She is interested in hidden communities and rites of passage connected to the natural environment. Her atmospheric films defy stereotypical understandings of those who have been excluded from society in the hopes of cultivating a culture of compassion.
Isla’s work has been selected for numerous OSCAR / BAFTA-qualifying festivals, long-listed for a BIFA, broadcast on BBC4, Short of the Week, Vimeo Staff Picks, WaterBear and Minute Shorts.
Her work has been funded by BFI, DocSociety, Film Wales, Arts Council, BBC Arts, LUX Scotland, Screen Scotland and Statens Kunstfond. She is an alumni of BFI New Writers Lab, BFI Midlands Directors Lab, BBC New Creatives, LUX Now & Next, Reclaim the Frame’s Filmonomics and Directors UK Inspire. She is a mentor at Boom Satsuma in Bristol and for the Emerging Voices Film Foundation, and is a continuing member of BAFTA Connect.
Isla is in development of her debut narrative feature NOT DROWNING supported by BFI and Ffilm Cymru. A second feature WHISPERER that began as a documentary supported by DocSociety has been selected for further development for Le Groupe Ouest’s, LIM: Less Is More (renowned European screenwriting programme), with Producers Lowri Roberts and actor Maisie Williams.
email: islabadenoch@gmail.com
MA | Visual Culture & Identity | The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Art | Copenhagen
BA | English Literature (1:1) | University of Sheffield
RECENT AWARDS / SCREENINGS
BFI Midlands Directors Lab 2024
WHISPERER - Le Groupe Ouest’s, LIM: Less Is More 2024 (participation supported by British Council, Directors Charitable Foundation and Elmley Foundation)
THE ELVERMEN - Stroud Film Festival 2024
THE ELVERMEN - Borderlines Film Festival, Open Screen Award Winner 2024
THE ELVERMEN - Gåsebäck Film Festival Sweden 2023
NOT DROWNING - BFI Feature Development Fund 2023
WHISPERER - BFI Doc Society Features Fund 2023
NOT DROWNING - Ffilm Cymru, Horizons Feature Film Development Fund 2022-23
THE ELVERMEN - BIFA Best British Short Film Long-list 2022
THE ELVERMEN - British Council x DocSociety ‘Songs of the Earth’ Tour 2022 -23
ONE NIGHT - Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2022
ONE NIGHT - New Renaissance Film Festival 2022
ONE NIGHT - Bolton International Film Festival 2022
ONE NIGHT - BronzeLens Film Festival 2022
THE ELVERMEN - Vision Du Reel, supported by British Council 2022
THE DEAD ARE JEWELS TO ME - Glasgow Short Film Festival, Scottish Competition 2022
ONE NIGHT - Constructed Sight Dance Festival 2022
THE DEAD ARE JEWELS TO ME - London Short Film Festival, UK Competition 2022
THE ELVERMEN - Short of the Week + Vimeo Staff Pick 2021
ELVER - Encounters Film Festival, Shortest Day of the Year 2021
THE ELVERMEN - Camerimage Film Festival, Short Doc Competition 2021
THE ELVERMEN - Raindance Film Festival 2021
THE ELVERMEN - Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2021
THE ELVERMEN - Camden International Film Festival 2021
THE ELVERMEN - Sheffield DocFest, UK Competition 2021
ELVER - ‘One More Edit’ @ Bristol Old Vic 2021
THE DEAD ARE JEWELS TO ME, LUX, Screen Scotland, BBC4 +iPlayer 2021
NOT DROWNING - ACE ‘Developing Your Creative Practice’ Grant 2020
NOT DROWNING - BFI New Writers Lab 2020
ELVER - BBC4 Broadcast ‘Dance on Film’ Season 2020
THE ELVERMEN - BFI DocSociety ‘Made of Truth’ Grant 2019
SKAGEN ASTROLOGY - Ondsdagskolen Group Exhibition Denmark 2017
THE BURNNESHA ARCHIVE, Festalen Exhibition Copenhagen 2016
SELECTED WORKS, Copenhagen Photography Exhibition 2016