HollyShorts London, the U.K. edition of the HollyShorts Film Festival, will honor BAFTA-winning actress and filmmaker Letitia Wright and Academy Award-winning director Aneil Karia with its Trailblazer Award during the festival’s second annual edition for “their outstanding contributions to cinema.”
“Letitia Wright, globally known for her role as Shuri in Marvel’s Black Panther franchise, has emerged as a powerful creative force behind the camera,” organizers said. “Her directorial debut, Highway to the Moon, premiered at HollyShorts Los Angeles to critical acclaim and will screen again at HollyShorts London. The film marks a significant new chapter in Wright’s career, showcasing her emotional and culturally nuanced storytelling.”
The short unravels the mysterious aftermath of young boys whose lives have been abruptly taken. “Inspired by the real-life tragedy of a close friend’s family member who was killed in a knife attack, Wright transforms personal grief into a layered exploration of violence, memory, and spiritual resilience,” HollyShorts said.
Beyond Marvel Cinematic Universe, Wright has been shining with performances in Black Mirror, Small Axe: Mangrove, and Aisha. In 2019, she won the BAFTA Rising Star Award.
“Thank you, HollyShorts, for this beautiful award,” the star said. “This film was birthed from a place of love and a strong desire to see unity amongst our young boys. This film is my love letter to them. This journey has been a challenge but incredibly rewarding. Thank you for the opportunity to share this story with you!”
Karia is the other Trailblazer honoree at HollyShorts London 2025. “Celebrated for his bold, emotionally resonant storytelling across film and television, in 2022, Karia’s Oscar-winning short The Long Goodbye, co-created with Riz Ahmed, gained international acclaim after winning the Grand Prix at HollyShorts Los Angeles,” organizers highlighted. “The film also received a BIFA and the London Critics’ Circle Award for best short film. Karia has recently completed his second feature, a modern adaptation of Hamlet, starring Riz Ahmed, Morfydd Clark, Joe Alwyn, and Tim Spall, which premiered at Telluride before screening at Toronto and London Film Festivals. His debut feature Surge, starring Ben Whishaw, premiered at Sundance, where Whishaw won the special jury prize for acting.”
Karia’s TV work includes directing duties on Netflix’s Top Boy and the BBC/Paramount+ series The Gold. In 2026, he will begin production on The Ministry of Time, a new series written by Alice Birch and produced by A24. He has also made a name for himself with his work on commercials and music videos.
“I owe a huge debt of gratitude to HollyShorts,” said Karia. “Their recognition of The Long Goodbye in 2021 played a key part in its journey and ultimately its Oscar win, but more importantly, they’ve built a festival that consistently spotlights bold, original voices and gives new filmmakers genuine visibility. It’s an honor to be acknowledged by a team that keeps pushing short film culture forward.”
Wright and Karia join such past honorees as David Oyelowo, Jared Hess, Alden Ehrenreich, Catherine Hardwicke, and Tom Skerritt.
The HollyShorts London festival runs Nov. 13-16, with screenings taking place at Vue Cinemas in Leicester Square.
Check out the HollyShorts London 2025 lineup below.
A Death in the Family — Yasmin Hafesji
A Friend of Dorothy — Lee Knight
A Good Death — Kaz PS
Ado — Sam Henderson
All Beauty Queens Have Broken Bones — Max C Tullio
Back of the Net — Klara Kaliger
Beauty Sleep — Jasmine De Silva
Bile Bile — Rango Mugo
Blue Violet — Josie Charles
Bluff — Naomi Wright
Borscht — Vika Evdokimenko
Boyfighter — Julia Weisberg Cortés
Bullet Time — Eddie Alcazar
Bury Your Gays — Charlotte Serena Cooper
Busy — Jane Moriarty
Care — Stef O’Driscoll
Chasers — Erin Brown Thomas
Chivalry — Charlotte Yang
Dating in Your 20s — Lily Rutterford, Lucy Minderides
Egg Timer — Rosie May Bird Smith
Everyone Does It — Craig Ainsley
Fenced — Richey Beckett
Fighting Demons — Simon Stock
First Timer — Hannah Kathryn Kelso
G.S.W. — Jonny Durgan
Goodnight Ladies — Alex Matraxia
Hat Trick — Tess Lafia, Noah Deats
Highway To The Moon — Letitia Wright
Hotel Fantasma — Martin Aleman
Hugel – The Entourage — Ludovic Genco, Hugo Lucas Pompier
Humantis — Paris Baillie
Imperfect Cadence — Ewan S. Henry
In Foreign — Didi Beck
Largo — Salvatore Scarpa, Max Burgoyne-Moore
Love & Loss — Mike Upson
Magid / Zafar — Luís Hindman
Naked Lights — Jeda de Brí
Night Terrors — Ben Hector
Nothing but the End — Tanguy Pichon
OK/NOTOK — Pardeep Sahota
Overcomer — Olawale Adetula
Paranoia — Alina Bichieva
Pearls — Alastair Train
Plastic Surgery — Guy Trevellyan
Rise — Jessica J. Rowlands
Rock Paper Scissors — Franz Böhm
Rocket Fuel — Jordon Scott Kennedy
Running against time — Alex Lockett
Satomi — Rayner Wang
Secret Level New World – The once & Future King — Maxime Luère
Set Pace — Daisy Ifama
Snipped — Alexander Saul
Spoken In Plain Sight — Ilya Wray, Ariel de la Garza Davidoff
Stomach Bug — Matty Crawford
The Beneath — Lisette Vlassak
The Bunker — Ian Killick
The Dartmoor Cowboy — Wij Travers
The Errand — Hayley Marie Norman
The Last Dance — Hayden Mclean
The Last Dumpling — Jadey Duffield
The Lone Piper — Matthew Kravchuk
The Mediator — Dean Leon Anderson
The Morning After — Zak Harney
The Painting & The Statue — Freddie Fox
The Pearl Comb — Ali Cook
The Professional Parent — Erik Jasaň
The Second Time Around — Jack Howard
The Secret Assistants — Katey Lee Carson
The Singers — Sam Davis
The Woman in the Wardrobe — Ruby Phelan
There’s a Robbery in Progress — Morgan Miller
Two Black Boys in Paradise — Baz Sells
Two People Exchanging Saliva — Alexandre Singh, Natalie Musteata
Umbra — Seb Gillmore
Victory — Meji Alabi
Wavelength — Kate Auster
