| BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer | |
| Awarded For: | Excellence in the debut from a British writer, director or producer |
| Presenter: | British Academy of Film and Television Arts |
| Location: | London |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Year: | 1998 |
| Holder: | Charlotte Wells for Aftersun (2022) |
| Website: | http://www.bafta.org/ |
The BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer is presented annually at the British Academy Film Awards in London. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organisation that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, children's film and television, and interactive media. The Outstanding Debut award recognises the work of writers, directors and producers whose first films have been released in cinemas during the award's qualification window. It is presented in honour of screenwriter and producer Carl Foreman.[1]
Unlike many of the other BAFTA Awards, which are decided by a membership vote, the Outstanding Debut Award's nominees and winner are decided by a jury of industry experts who view and consider eligible films over the course of the year. The jury can choose to nominate any combination of debut writer, director or producer involved in a film.[1]
The jury has been chaired by Prof. Anthony Mellows (1999–2009), Simon Relph (2009–2012), Stephen Woolley (2012–2016),[2] Tanya Seghatchian (2017-2019),[3] Briony Hanson (2020-2022),[4] and Clare Stewart (2023 onwards).[5]
Like the chairs, jurors normally take part for several years. Several previous winners have served as jurors including Asif Kapadia, Mark Jenkin, and Babak Anvari, as well as nominees including Joe Cornish, Dexter Fletcher, Nira Park, Alice Birch, Rose Glass, Elhum Shakerifar and Clio Barnard . Other notable jury members have included Naomi Ackie, David Arnold, Peter Bradshaw, Moira Buffini, Iain Canning, Justin Edgar, Jane Goldman, Elizabeth Karlsen, Ray Panthaki, Peter Straughan, Matthew Warchus, James Watkins, Ruth Wilson, and Penny Woolcock[6]
The first version of the award was established by the Foreman Williams Jones Foundation in 1991. Scholarships were awarded to promising British students to study filmmaking in the United States.
The present version of the award was initiated by the Foundation in 1997 and was conducted jointly by the Foundation and by BAFTA until 2009. It was established to encourage British filmmaking by recognising the most promising British newcomer in the selected disciplines of screenwriting, producing or directing (or in more than one of these disciplines). The first award of the present version was made in respect of 1998. In 2009, the name of the award was changed, and it is now solely administered by BAFTA. The award continues to be presented in honour of Carl Foreman.
| Year | Work | Recipient |
|---|---|---|
| Carl Foreman Award for Most Promising Newcomer in British Film | ||
| Love and Death on Long Island | Richard Kwietniowski | |
| The Governess | Sandra Goldbacher | |
| Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels | Matthew Vaughn | |
| Twenty Four Seven | Shane Meadows | |
| Ratcatcher | Lynne Ramsay | |
| East is East | Ayub Khan-Din | |
| Human Traffic | Justin Kerrigan | |
| Waking Ned | Kirk Jones | |
| Year | Work | Recipient |
|---|---|---|
| Four Lions | Chris Morris (writer/director) | |
| The Arbor | Clio Barnard (director); Tracy O'Riordan (producer) | |
| Exit Through the Gift Shop | Banksy (director); Jaimie D'Cruz (producer) | |
| Monsters | Gareth Edwards (writer/director) | |
| Skeletons | Nick Whitfield (writer/director) | |
| Tyrannosaur | Paddy Considine (director); Diarmid Scrimshaw (producer) | |
| Attack the Block | Joe Cornish (director) | |
| Black Pond | Tom Kingsley (director); Will Sharpe (director); Sarah Brocklehurst (producer) | |
| Coriolanus | Ralph Fiennes (director) | |
| Submarine | Richard Ayoade (director) | |
| The Imposter | Bart Layton (director); Dimitri Doganis (producer) | |
| I Am Nasrine | Tina Gharavi (writer/director) | |
| McCullin | David Morris (director); Jacqui Morris (director/producer) | |
| The Muppets | James Bobin (director) | |
| Wild Bill | Dexter Fletcher (writer/director); Danny King (writer) | |
| Kelly + Victor | Kieran Evans (director/writer) | |
| For Those in Peril | Paul Wright (director/writer); Polly Stokes (producer) | |
| Good Vibrations | Colin Carberry (writer); Glenn Patterson (writer) | |
| Saving Mr. Banks | Kelly Marcel (writer) | |
| Shell | Scott Graham (director/writer) | |
| Pride | Stephen Beresford (writer); David Livingstone (producer) | |
| '71 | Gregory Burke (writer); Yann Demange (director) | |
| Kajaki | Paul Katis (director/producer); Andrew de Lotbiniere (producer) | |
| Lilting | Hong Khaou (director/writer) | |
| Northern Soul | Elaine Constantine (director/writer) | |
| Theeb | Naji Abu Nowar (writer/director); Rupert Lloyd (producer) | |
| Ex Machina | Alex Garland (director) | |
| Second Coming | Debbie Tucker Green (writer/director) | |
| The Survivalist | Stephen Fingleton (writer/director) | |
| A Syrian Love Story | Sean McAllister (director/producer); Elhum Shakerifar (producer) | |
| Under the Shadow | Babak Anvari (writer/director); Emily Leo (producer); Oliver Roskill (producer); Lucan Toh (producer) | |
| The Girl with All the Gifts | Mike Carey (writer/director); Camille Gatin (producer) | |
| The Hard Stop | George Amponsah (director); Dionne Walker (producer) | |
| Notes on Blindness | Pete Middleton (director); James Spinney (director); Jo-Jo Ellison (producer) | |
| The Pass | John Donnelly (writer); Ben A Williams (director) | |
| I Am Not a Witch | Rungano Nyoni (writer/director); Emily Morgan (producer) | |
| The Ghoul | Gareth Tunley (writer/director/producer); Jack Healy Guttman (producer); Tom Meeten (producer) | |
| Jawbone | Johnny Harris (writer/producer); Thomas Napper (director) | |
| Kingdom of Us | Lucy Cohen (director) | |
| Lady Macbeth | Alice Birch (writer); William Oldroyd (director); Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly (producer) | |
| Beast | Michael Pearce (writer/director); Lauren Dark (producer) | |
| Apostasy | Daniel Kokotajilo (writer/director) | |
| A Cambodian Spring | Chris Kelly (writer/director/producer) | |
| Pili | Leanne Welham (writer/director); Sophie Harman (producer) | |
| Ray & Liz | Richard Billingham (writer/director); Jacqui Davies (producer) | |
| Bait | Mark Jenkin (writer/director); Kate Byers (producer); Lynn Waite (producer) | |
| For Sama | Waad Al-Khateab (director/producer); Edward Watts (director) | |
| Maiden | Alex Holmes (director) | |
| Only You | Harry Wootliff (writer/director) | |
| Retablo | Alvaro Delgado-Aparicio (writer/director) |
| Year | Work | Recipient |
|---|---|---|
| His House | Remi Weekes (writer/director) | |
| Limbo | Ben Sharrock (writer/director); Irune Gurtubai (producer) | |
| Moffie | Jack Sidney (writer/producer) | |
| Rocks | Theresa Ikoko (writer); Claire Wilson (writer) | |
| Saint Maud | Rose Glass (writer/director); Oliver Kassman (producer) | |
| The Harder They Fall | Jeymes Samuel (writer/director) [also written by '''[[Boaz Yakin]]] | |
| After Love | Aleem Khan (writer/director) | |
| Boiling Point | James Cummings (writer); Hester Ruoff (producer) [also written by [[Philip Barantini]] and produced by Bart Ruspoli] | |
| Keyboard Fantasies | Posy Dixon (writer/director); Liv Proctor (producer) | |
| Passing | Rebecca Hall (writer/director) | |
| Aftersun | Charlotte Wells (writer/director) | |
| Blue Jean | Georgia Oakley (writer/director); Hélène Sifre (producer) | |
| Electric Malady | Marie Lidén (director) | |
| Good Luck to You, Leo Grande | Katy Brand (writer) | |
| Rebellion | Elena Sánchez Bellot (director); Maia Kenworthy (director) | |
| Earth Mama | Savanah Leaf (writer/director/producer); Shirley O'Connor (producer); Medb Riordan (producer) | |
| Blue Bag Life | Lisa Selby (director); Rebecca Lloyd-Evans (director/producer); Alex Fry (producer) | |
| Christopher Sharp (director) [also directed Moses Bwayo] | ||
| How to Have Sex | Molly Manning Walker (writer/director) | |
| Is There Anybody Out There? | Ella Glendining (director) |
From 1952–1984, a separate Newcomer Award for performers was presented. For a full list of winners and nominees in this category, see BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles.
Since 2006, a separate Newcomer Award for performers presented annually as Rising Star Award. For a full list of winners and nominees in this category, see BAFTA Rising Star Award.