SohoMag Is Proud to Partner the New Soho Film Awards

We are proud to be partners of the Soho Film Awards, a festival that carries our neighbourhood's name and, more importantly, its spirit. Soho has been the working heart of British film for generations: the cutting rooms, post-production houses and preview theatres around Wardour Street have shaped much of what the country has put on screen. A new festival devoted to The Spirit of Independent Cinema belongs here, and SohoMag is delighted to be its Official Information Partner.

A Soho festival in Mayfair – for now

There was one small irony on opening night. The first ceremony took place not in Soho but a short walk west, at The Savile Club, 69 Brook Street. The Savile offered better terms than many of Soho's screening rooms and independent cinemas, along with canapés and refreshments for the guests. The organisers are frank about their ambition to bring future screenings back to Soho itself, and they would like to hear from local venues interested in a screening partnership. Soho's cinema owners, private members' clubs and post-production houses: consider this an open invitation.

For its debut, the festival made the most of a specially equipped room below stairs, more like a home cinema than a picture palace. It was full. Filmmakers, actors, jurors and film professionals from Soho and Mayfair arrived from six o'clock, and official photographer Anthony Kay was busy from the first handshake.

Who came

Winning filmmakers in the audience included Peter Valentino, director of Bye-Bye, Sing Sing; Tim Heath and Tom Swash, whose Theatre Royal Battersea Rise received its world premiere on the night and took Best British Drama; and Anita Albrecht, writer and co-star of Muddled Meals, with her husband Martyn Ward, who also appears in the film, and fellow actress Anja Cilia.

From the jury came Andrew Fish, the London actor and writer who played the most active role in the judging, along with Raymond Keene OBE, the chess grandmaster, and Annette Keene, the former ballet star and enthusiast of the film industry. Milliner David Shilling, a familiar name in both London and Monte Carlo, sent warm greetings and words of support.

The evening opened with an address by Ima von Wenden of Cinelion UK, Why We Need This Film Festival.

Messages from afar

Two of the night's honourees spoke to the room by recorded video. Rula Lenska, calling in from "sunny Spain", shared the Outstanding Performance award with Anita Albrecht and Anja Cilia for Muddled Meals – a team prize created because the jury could not separate the film's three leading actresses. "I know it's special and it touches everybody who sees it," she said, "and I'm so grateful and touched that it has gone to a special award created especially for us." The same film earned Christie Arnold the award for Best Director.

Andrew Cortez, one of the filmmakers behind Best Feature Film winner Last Supper, also sent a video message. Sonny Corona III's Southern noir, in which a contract killing turns into a long reckoning over dinner, was the festival's top prize-winner.

Short films, big response

The festival had not originally planned to accept short films. When it did, they made up around two thirds of all entries, and the jury introduced a set of genre categories so that more of them could be recognised. Best Short Film went to Something Pointless, Asa Bailey's philosophical drama starring BAFTA winner Owen Teale and Olivier Award winner Sophie Thompson. Other short-film winners included Edelle Kenny's The Race for screenplay, Kate Lloyd's Dead to Door for sci-fi and fantasy, and Michalis Langas's surrealist This Will Make You Sleep Instantly in the arthouse category. Adam Bouabda's dark comedy Tania, starring Stephen Tompkinson, was also shown.

2026 winners at a glance

• Best Feature Film: Last Supper (USA, 2026), Sonny Corona III
• Best Comedy Feature: Rest In Peace, If You Can (France, 2025), Charly Ongolo and Michel Nogara
• Best Indie / Alternative / Arthouse Feature: Beyond Mamushi (UK, 2025), Martin Daniels
• Best Director: Christie Arnold, Muddled Meals (UK, 2026)
• Best Leading Actor / Actress: Yekaterina Molostova, Bye-Bye, Sing Sing (USA, 2026)
• Best Short Film: Something Pointless (UK, 2026), Asa Bailey
• Best Short Drama: Empathy Rehearsals (Italy, 2026), Jacopo Cullin
• Best Short Thriller: Drop Number 8 (USA, 2025), Ryan and Chad Chamberlain
• Best Short Romance: We Are Where We Are (UK, 2026), Clara Planelles
• Best Short Sci-Fi / Fantasy: Dead to Door (UK, 2026), Kate Lloyd
• Best Short Indie / Alternative / Arthouse Film: This Will Make You Sleep Instantly (Greece, Romania, UK, 2025), Michalis Langas
• Best Short Film Screenplay: The Race (Ireland, 2026), Edelle Kenny
• Best Short Film Cinematography: A Girl Called Alice (UK, 2026), Tristan Loraine
• Best British Drama: Theatre Royal Battersea Rise (UK, 2026), Tim Heath and Tom Swash
• Outstanding Performance: Rula Lenska, Anita Albrecht and Anja Cilia, Muddled Meals (UK, 2026)

Coming up: part two in early November

A second evening of screenings and celebrations is expected in early November, with the date still being confirmed. On the bill: Last Supper; Roberde Madhere's psychological drama We Turn, a Best Feature Film finalist; Clara Planelles's We Are Where We Are; Peter Valentino's Bye-Bye, Sing Sing; Martin Daniels's Beyond Mamushi; and Tristan Loraine's A Girl Called Alice.

Seats will be limited, so keep an eye on SohoMag and on sohofilmawards.com, the festival's official source of information, for the date and booking details. We will be there – and we hope that before long, the Soho Film Awards will be screening on our own streets.