Thank you to all our 2025 submissions! And congratulations to the 16 finalists of 2025. We are pleased to announce we will be screening the following 16 films:

• Don’t be late, Myra dir. Afia Nathaniel (Pakistan)

• The Truck dir. Elizabeth Rao (U.S.)

• Leaving Yellowstone dir. Kayla Arend (U.S.)

• FUCK THEM ALL dir. Polina Biliaieva (Poland, Ukraine)

• Hope is Lost dir. Eno Enefiok (North Macedonia, UK)

• MANGO dir. Joan Iyiola (France, UK)

• Contractions dir. Lynne Sachs (U.S.)

• Mother’s Skin dir. Leah Johnston (Canada)

• The Awakening dir. Sumi Mathai (India)

• She’s Asking For It dir. Natalia Zajączkowska (UK)

• Tiny Movements dir. Laura Sweeney (U.S., UK)

• Measurements dir. Marta Capossela (Italy)

• Where We Stop dir. Rachel Coburn (UK)

• A Move dir. Elahe Esmaili (Iran)

• CHICKEN BROTH SOUP dir. Deniz Büyükkırlı (Turkey)

• Bird Woman dir. Tokio Oohara (Japan)

Click here to see our wonderful 2025 Jury.

Download our 2025 finalists and jury here.

16 Days 16 Films, in partnership with UN Women, UK Says No More, Equimundo, Screening Sexual Violence, Organic, Spotlight Initiative, Time’s Up UK, Olivela, and the Geena Davis Institute, are holding an open call to female-identifying filmmakers for submissions of short films inspired by 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence, which runs from 25th November to 10th December, between International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and International Human Rights Day.

16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence is an annual campaign, which has run since 1991, and has 164 countries and 3,700 organisations involved. It uses the 16 days between International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (25th November) and International Human Rights Day (10th December) to reinforce that eliminating all forms of violence against women is a human rights issue, and that the act of perpetrating violence against women is a human rights violation.

Our aim is two-fold, working towards a more equitable world:

• To support 16 Days of Activism’s goal to eliminate violence against women and push for change and accountability.

• To help combat gender inequality by creating opportunities for female filmmakers to have their stories seen.

Please note submissions for 2025 are now closed.

CONGRATULATIONS TO 16 DAYS 16 FILMS 2024 WINNERS

• Winner - WE DID NOT CONSENT (UK), dir. Dorothy Allen-Pickard

• Runner Up - NINE DAYS IN AUGUST (GER), dir. Ella Knorz

• 2nd Runner Up - BATHSHEBA (UK), dir. Myah Asha Jeffers

• Audience Award Winner - SAFE (UK), dir. Debbie Howard

Congratulations to these brilliant filmmakers and all this year’s finalists, plus a huge thank you to our 2024 Jury:

Actor/writer Zawe Ashton, Tabitha Morton (Executive Director at UN Women UK), EVP, Head of Creative at Maven Screen Med Jenny Halper, Juliet Kirby (Producer for Aluna Entertainment), actor/writer and activist Sarah Solemani, Liza Marshall (Producer for Hera Pictures), Yarit Dor (Intimacy Coordinator and Movement Coach), Director Soudade Kadaan, Koye Adeboye (UN Spotlight Initiative), and writer, broadcaster and host of Sex Talks, Emma-Louise Boynton.

• Read more about our films and jury here.

Now in its eight year, 16 DAYS 16 FILMS returned in 2024 with the continued aim to empower female filmmakers and address all forms of violence against women on a global scale.

For the first time, the festival was hosted in association with global communications agency The DDA Group, as well as annual advocacy partners UN Women, UK Says No More, Equimundo, Voice of Change, the Geena Davis Institute, and Times Up UK.

The Jury included actor/writer Zawe Ashton, Tabitha Morton (Executive Director at UN Women UK), EVP, Head of Creative at Maven Screen Med Jenny Halper, Juliet Kirby (Producer for Aluna Entertainment), actor/writer and activist Sarah Solemani, Liza Marshall (Producer for Hera Pictures), Yarit Dor (Intimacy Coordinator and Movement Coach), Director Soudade Kadaan, Koye Adeboye (UN Spotlight Initiative), and writer, broadcaster and host of Sex Talks, Emma-Louise Boynton. 

Find out more about our jury here, or read our press release here.

The following films made up the 2024 festival programme:

261, dir. Juliette Henry (France)

NINE DAYS IN AUGUST, dir. Ella Knorz (Germany)

BATHSHEBA, dir. Myah Asha Jeffers (UK)

GROWN, dir. Jaja Meloche (USA)

HOMESICK, dir. Maja Bresink (Germany)

LIMINAL ROOTS, dir. Aliyah Harfoot (UK)

NA SAVI, dir. Sofia Ayerdi (Mexico)

PERIPETEIA, dir. Tracy Kiryango (UK)

SAFE, dir. Debbie Howard (UK)

SER SEMILLA, dir. Julia Granillo Tostado (Mexico)

SHE CAME TO ME, dir. Saffron Burrows (USA)

SWIM AND FLOAT, dir. Janina Lutter (Germany)

THREE WISHES. ONE TRUTH, dir. Cecilia Petrujno (Argentina)

TO HOLD MY LOVE, dir. Elettra Giunta, Adam Othman (UK)

WE DID NOT CONSENT, dir. Dorothy Allen-Pickard (UK)

WINDS OF SILENCE, dir. Radha Mehta (USA)

WATCH: HER MAN MONDAY WITH SPECIAL GUEST HOST EMMA LOUISE BOYNTON

On the 2nd of December 2024, Emma Louise Boynton hosted a powerful conversation with Dr. Gary Barker of Equimundo, along with Dan Guinness and Ben Hurst from Beyond Equality. Together, they explored the critical issues young men face today and how we can engage them in meaningful conversations about gender inequality and gender-based violence.

The discussion was both illuminating and practical, offering valuable insights and actionable advice on how to inspire young men and boys to become active allies in building a more gender-equal world.

If you missed it, don’t worry – you can catch the full interview now on 16 Days 16 Films' Instagram!

WATCH: 16 DAYS 16 FILMS INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

16 DAYS 16 FILMS celebrated International Women's Day 2024 in partnership with BFI, UN Women, DDA and Times Up UK by hosting a screening event for the winners of the 2023 16 Days 16 Films festival.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF OUR PAST FINALISTS

Dir. Molly Manning Walker, 2020 Finalist

🎬HOW TO HAVE SEX (UK release 3 November 2023)

‘How To Have Sex’ premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and won the Un Certain Regard Prize. 

It received 13 nominations at the 2023 British Independent Film Awards (BIFA), including Best British Independent Film and Best Director. Molly was also nominated for Best Cinematography for ’Scrapper’.

The film ultimately went on to win three BIFAs, including Best Lead Performance (Mia McKenna-Bruce), Best Supporting Performance (Shaun Thomas), and Best Casting (Isabella Odoffin).

It was nominated for 3 BAFTAs including Best British Film, Best Debut - British Writer, Producer or Director (Molly Manning Walker) and Best Casting (Isabella Odoffin).

Dir. Adura Onashile, 2020 Finalist

🎬GIRL (US release 22 January 2023)

Adura’s debut feature film ‘Girl’ premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was the winner of the Best Feature Narrative Jury Award at the 2023 BlackStar Film Festival. 

‘Girl’ received 2 nominations at this year’s BIFA, including Breakthrough Performance and Best Original Music.

Dir. Miranda Stern - 2018 Finalist

🎬CLEAN (UK release 16 August 2022)

Miranda’s documentary short ‘Clean’ won the Scottish Short Film Award at the 16th edition of @glasgowshort (GSFF) and was the official selection of Palm Spring Short Fest 2023.

It was also nominated for a BAFTA Scotland in the short film and animation category!

HER GIRL WEDNESDAY

16 Days 16 Films, alongside Raindance Film Festival, are proud to host a series of regular interviews with women and non-binary folk from the film industry.

In March we spoke with Mania Akbari, an internationally acclaimed intersectional feminist artist and filmmaker who gained early recognition in the Iranian underground art scene, seeking freedom beyond censorship.

Concerned with the socio-political traumatisation of female-identifying bodies, Akbari transforms lived experience into an act of resistance by uncovering hidden historical and cultural memory and examines the transgenerational transmission of trauma. Weaving through the relationship between the camera and the body, Akbari identifies the body as a metaphor, as a political message with a revolutionary capacity against the patriarchal status quo.

Led by a therapeutic approach, Akbari’s practice is often collaborative and participatory, working with other women to question the ways their bodies are positioned and valued in society, and exploring the relational confluence of embodied memory and gendered violence. Drawing on accounts of sexual assault, abortion, pregnancy, illness, body image, gender, and sexuality through archival material and biopolitical fiction, her films generate dialogues between past and present, between trauma and reflexive healing.

A recording of the interview will be made available here soon!