A talent development programme is creating opportunities for Black filmmakers in an industry with little representation.

Award winning film exhibition company, We Are Parable, has announced the 2026 cohort for Momentum - its national development programme for UK-based Black filmmakers.

The Channel 4 and Sony Pictures Television-backed programme, aims to help make the creative industry more inclusive and support emerging filmmakers through mentorship, industry access and mental health & wellbeing support.

Milton Keynes-based filmmakers Aminah Alhamdu and Martin Blackburn have been selected for this year’s cohort, chosen from more than 700 applications.

Two Milton Keynes filmmakers have been chosen for a Channel 4-backed development programme supporting Black talent in the film industry.

placeholder image — Two Milton Keynes filmmakers have been chosen for a Channel 4-backed development programme supporting Black talent in the film industry.

Aminah is a writer, curator and filmmaker of Ghanaian origin and British-American nationality. She has created short films backed by Rural Media and BFI Network, and written four pilots and a feature script.

Martin is a documentary, commercial and branded filmmaker currently co-producing his debut feature documentary about Raphael, a music curator who built a global audience through his mixes.

This cohort spans writers, directors, producers, documentary filmmakers, animators and multidisciplinary creatives working across film, television and digital storytelling.

Since launching in 2021, the programme has supported 140 Black filmmakers, with alumni going on to secure festival selections, funding support, broadcast opportunities and wider industry recognition.

Alongside the 2026 programme, We Are Parable will launch a new series of alumni-focused activity, including masterclasses, networking events and further professional development opportunities, extending Momentum’s support beyond the programme period.

Anthony Andrews, co-founder and creative director of We Are Parable, said: “What has always made Momentum important to us is that it responds to the full reality of building a career in this industry. Talent is not the issue.

“The question is whether filmmakers have the access, support, confidence and relationships needed to keep moving forward, particularly at a time when emerging filmmakers are navigating rising production costs, shrinking commissioning opportunities and increasingly competitive access to development funding.

The new cohort will take part in sessions with established screen industry professionals, with mentors drawn from across Channel 4, Sony Pictures Television and We Are Parable’s wider network.

Mentors include Greenacre Films’ Nadine Marsh-Edwards (producer Riches, Been So Long), BAFTA-nominated producer Danielle Goff (Lunar Pictures), HETV and independent film producer Stella Nwimo (Top Boy, Gangs of London), BAFTA-nominated producer Victoria Thomas, producer/writer Tolu Stedford (Story Compound), BIFA-nominated writer-director Warda Mohamed, and filmmaker Rashida Seriki, recently featured in Elle’s Women in Film and Television Power List 2025, among others.

The programme combines practical and creative development, offering participants direct access to working practitioners, decision-makers and industry insight across film and television.