Into Film Awards 2026: On the red carpet with the winners and presenters in London

The Into Film Awards celebrate the exceptional talent of young filmmakers aged five to 19 and offer a platform for creativity and storytelling across numerous categories, such as Best Documentary and Best Animation. This year’s film nominations explored topics such as the impact of social media on young people, the importance of looking after one’s mental health and social change within communities. The young filmmakers made use of multimedia tools, including digital art, localised 3D nature pieces and stop-motion to bring their scripts to screen.

The Upcoming had the pleasure of meeting and speaking to the winners from each category, as well as the award presenters who are well-known actors and storytellers themselves. The ceremony was hosted by Konnie Huq, who spoke passionately about her background in children’s television and development, as well as being a huge advocate for young creative development and opportunity.

We spoke to Hayley Atwell, who presented the award for the film Seven Minutes, a hopeful piece that explores the darker topic of suicide and the way the brain works. She talked about the importance of awards like this and the way she was supported by her family when she herself entered the industry.

Chloe Lea presented the award for Paper Planes, a film in the Best Film, five to 11, category and spoke about how proud they felt for these younger filmmakers and also the importance of platforms like this within the creative industry.

We chatted to presenter Sian Welby about presenting the award for The Letter, Best Animation, five to 11, what she liked about the unique story and the brilliant opportunities this award offers to young people.

Christopher Chung and Saffron Hocking presented an award for Innovation in Filmmaking and discussed the impressive film submissions this year. They acknowledged the important subject matter that appeared across the categories and bridged the gap between all artists across the creative sector.

We spoke to Jason Isaacs, who has previously attended and supported these film awards for many years, about the immense talent of these young filmmakers and the importance of celebrating emerging talent.

Into Film Ambassador, Amani Simpson, spoke about the importance of these awards and his own voice in the community as a youth coach and filmmaker and how these awards offer young people the opportunity to present their own stories.

Peter Capaldi and Mitchell Robertson presented the award for Best Film, 16-19, and spoke about their passion for this creative outlet and what it offers to young filmmakers.

We spoke to Blake Harrison about presenting the award for Filmmaking Champion. He spoke animatedly about how inspiring these creatives are and how important it is for young people to channel the stories into their own films.

Akinola Davies and Corinna Brown discussed inspiring the younger generation with their own creative paths and some of the weighty topics that were developed into films as they presented the ward for Filmmaking Champion.

Animation award winners Noah Berridge and Yuli Freed talked about their film, Mr X is Not a Man, where the concept originated, the process of formulating it and how amazing it was to be recognised at these awards.

Izzy Meikle and Abubakar Salim were there to present the Filmmaking Champion award to Ben Gregory and collectively talked about the importance of children being able to tell their own stories, use their imagination and filmmaking being part of the school curriculum.