Two short films produced by a professor from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU), with DMU students among the crew, are in the running for awards at the highly respected Ealing Film Festival.
Supernatural horror Pawen, and Up & Down, a drama exploring bipolar disorder, are competing with other short films for public votes in the festival’s People's Choice category.
Voting closes at midnight on Wednesday 18 November, so there is still time to support the films.
All 40 competing films can be see free here, and here you can cast your vote in the People's Choice Award.
Viewer advisory: Pawen is a horror film and Up & Down depicts scenes relating to mental illness that some viewers may find upsetting.
Both films are part of a project led by DMU's Professor Jason Lee, designed to tackle discrimination against disabled people and those experiencing mental health conditions in the film industry, by creating opportunities for paid employment and training.
The nominations come ahead of UK Disability History Month, which runs from 19 November to 19 December and highlights the achievements of disabled people and the continuing struggle for equality and inclusion.
A still from the short horror film Pawen
Professor Lee, Head of Leicester Media School Partnerships at DMU, produced both films through Evolution Film, an organisation he established with industry partners following a £120,000 British Academy Innovation Fellowship.
The project was inspired by research highlighting the barriers disabled people face in finding employment in film and television, despite an industry-wide shortage of skilled production workers.
Professor Lee said: "What we saw was that there was shortage of people with the necessary skills, but there were also people being discriminated against.
A scene from Up and Down
"We wanted to solve one problem through solving the other problem. So we could address the skills gap by providing employment for these people and training them up."
Through Evolution Film, Professor Lee and his production partners have brought together experienced filmmakers, disabled people, those experiencing mental health conditions and students to work on professional film productions.
Professor Lee said the ambition was not simply to make films about disability and mental health, but to help change opportunities within the industry itself.
Pawen, directed by Richard Elson, is an adaptation of the classic horror story The Monkey's Paw, exploring family relationships, alienation and abuse. It has previously been selected for the Rome International Film Festival in the United States.
Up & Down, also directed by Richard Elson, uses comedy and drama to explore the experiences of people living with bipolar disorder.
The Ealing Film Festival, established in 2020, celebrates emerging and established filmmaking talent in the west London district made famous by Ealing Studios, the legendary home of classic British films including The Ladykillers and Kind Hearts and Coronets.
Posted on Wednesday 11 November 2026