Inaugural BlackLifted Film Festival to Be Held in Ealing
Sarah Asante and George Amponsah announced as judges
Left: George Amponsah. Right: Sarah Asante
September 3, 2026
The BlackLifted Film Festival will make its debut in Ealing next spring, launching a new three-day celebration of independent Black British screen talent with the emphasis on joy.
Running from 26–28 March 2027, the festival promises curated film slates, industry panels and networking designed to spotlight creativity on its own terms — and to build a long-overdue platform for emerging filmmakers whose work is often overlooked by mainstream gatekeepers.
Screenings will be hosted at venues across the area including the Tiki Bar, ActOne Cinema and Picturehouse Ealing, which will also host a gala Awards Ceremony.
As the festival gears up for its inaugural edition, organisers CACE Events CIC and Showpatrol TV have confirmed two major industry figures who will help shape its first competition programme. Sarah Asante, one of the UK’s most influential scripted comedy commissioners, will serve as Lead Judge for Scripted Comedy, while George Amponsah, the BAFTA-nominated director of The Hard Stop, will head the Documentary category.
Their appointments add significant weight to BlackLifted’s mission to “rewrite the mainstream narrative surrounding Black British cinema” — shifting attention away from trauma-centric storytelling and towards films rooted in joy, elegance, resilience and imaginative freedom. Asante’s track record across major broadcasters has seen her champion groundbreaking comedies that redefine Black British representation, including recent successes such as Dreaming Whilst Black and The Importance of Being Elegant. Amponsah brings extensive expertise in non-fiction filmmaking, known for documentary work that preserves community heritage and captures lived experience with nuance.
Michelle Brooks, Managing Director of Showpatrol TV and Director at CACE Events CIC, said the appointments bring “incredible weight, rigour, and industry validity” to the festival’s first cohort of filmmakers. “We created BlackLifted to build an enduring platform where Black creators own their narrative, protect their IP, and see their stories celebrated on the big screen,” she said.
Submissions are now open via FilmFreeway for short films of up to 20 minutes across Narrative Drama, Scripted Comedy, Documentary and Animation — with all entries required to centre Black Joy.
The arrival of the festival further cements Ealing’s position as a hub for filmmaking and the celebration of the art. The 2026 Ealing Film Festival will be showcasing the best in national and international short films from 15-18 October.
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