LAURA CARREIRA
Laura Carreira is a Portuguese filmmaker based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her first short film RED HILL won the New Visions Award at the 73rd Edinburgh International Film Festival and was nominated for the Best Short Film award at the 2019 BAFTA Scotland Awards. Her short film THE SHIFT premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in 2020 and was nominated for the European Film Awards and the London Critics' Circle Film Awards. In 2021 it won the New Talent Award at IndieLisboa. In 2022, Laura was named one of the Rising Stars, Scotland by Screen International magazine. Her first feature film ON FALLING is produced by Sixteen Films and BRO Cinema and counts with the support of the BFI, BBC Films, Screen Scotland, ICA and Goodfellas. It featured in the BFI’s Great 8 Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival last year, and had its world premiere at TIFF. It featured in the Main Competition at the San Sebastián Film Festival in 2024, where Laura won the Silver Shell award for Best Director. The film had its UK premiere at the BFI London Film Festival in 2024, where it won the Sutherland Award for Best Debut (the first British film to win the award since 2010). Conic have the distribution rights across the UK and Ireland and the film was released in cinemas in early March 2025. It was recently long listed for Outstanding Debut at the 2025 BAFTA Awards, and has been shortlisted in four categories at the 2025 BIFAS (Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Debut Director and Best Debut Screenwriter). In January 2026, Laura won the Discovery Award at the European Film Awards, and ON FALLING is also currently nominated in the 2026 Goya Awards for Best European Film. Her second feature film is under development with Sixteen Films and Film4, and she also has feature projects (including a classical book adaptation) in development with BBC Films, and Screen Scotland respectively.
