Celebrating National Lottery supported films at Sundance 2022

Through the BFI, we're proud to support feature films, documentaries and short films made by diverse creative voices. Discover an array of ground-breaking National Lottery supported films that will feature at Sundance 2022 from today.

Our Top Four Film Picks...

1) BRIAN AND CHARLES

Brian and Charles is an endearing story of friendship, love and letting go. And a 7-foot tall robot that eats cabbage…

Brian lives alone in a Welsh valley, inventing contraptions that seldom work. But, after finding a discarded mannequin head, he invents Charles- an artificially intelligent robot who learns English from a dictionary and proves a charming, cheeky companion.

The world premier of Brian and Charles will happen on Sunday 23 January. More information about the film here.

2) CHILD OF EMPIRE

Child of Empire is an animated virtual reality (VR) docu-drama experience which immerses viewers in one of the largest forced migrations in human history: the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan.

The film follows two men from the Partition generation — Ishar Das Arora, an Indian Hindu who migrated from Pakistan to India, and Iqbal-ud-din Ahmed, a Pakistani Muslim who made the opposite journey, as they share childhood memories of their experiences while playing a board game.

Child of Empire premiers on Thursday 20 January. More information about the film here.

3) ON THE MORNING YOU WAKE (TO THE END OF THE WORLD)

On The Morning You Wake Up (To The End of The World) is part one of a powerful three-part virtual reality project which explores the risks and consequences of a world held hostage by nuclear weapons.

This first chapter allows audiences to experience the alarming events of January 13, 2018, when the entire population of Hawai‘i received a startling text message from the state Emergency Management Agency. As cellular communication networks collapsed and panic took hold of the population, 1.4 million people — as well as their friends and relatives across the globe — came to understand the real, growing, and urgent nature of today’s nuclear threat.

On The Morning You Wake Up (To The End of the World) premiers on Thursday 20 January. More information about the film here.

4) PRECIOUS HAIR AND BEAUTY

Short film Precious Hair & Beauty is an ode to the mundanity and madness of the high street, told through the window of an African hair salon.

Created by award-winning, Nigerian-born, London-bred filmmaker John Ogunmuyiwa, who works in both documentary and fiction. His work draws upon a constant questioning of what it means to be normal. Using daily observations as a base, he tends to bring a tinge of surrealism into his work, all with the aim of telling untold stories from a different perspective.

Precious Hair & Beauty premiers on Thursday 20 January. More information about the film here.

And don't miss Nothing Compares, Prayers for Sweet Waters, and Egungun - the other fantastic National Lottery funded films on the programme this year.