Presented by
Underscore Studios x BFI
2025
🎬 Submissions Now Open | 🎟️ Tickets Available
Underscore Cinema returns for its second edition — a bold and proudly grassroots festival that champions working-class filmmakers across the UK.
Presented by Underscore Studios and supported by the BFI, this year we’re once again taking over the iconic Rio Cinema in Dalston for a one-day celebration of radical, heartfelt, and boundary-pushing cinema from working-class voices.
Underscore Cinema is one of the very few festivals in the UK that unapologetically and explicitly champions working-class voices.
We don’t just include them — we’re built for them.
September 13, 2025 1pm to 3pm | 📍Rio Cinema, Dalston
🎟️
Tickets Now Available
Be a part of something vital — your presence supports the celebration and amplification of working-class voices in UK cinema.
Seats are limited — secure your ticket early and support the voices that deserve the spotlight.
When & Where?
Rio Cinema Dalston
107 Kingsland High St,
London E8 2PB
September 13 2025 | 1pm to 3pm
CAPACITY
We have a limited number of concession tickets available on a first-come-first-serve basis. If you identify as working class, are currently on benefits, or consider yourself financially disadvantaged in a way that would stop you from purchasing a General Admission, then please consider our Concession tickets instead.
WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?
Underscore Studios is a volunteer-run not-for-profit. We believe in what we do and hope to do more of it for a long time. The money towards events such as these means that we can keep them as low as they are, pay our Freelancers & support the organisation to be sustainable.
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We are aware that even the cost of a concession ticket may be a key barrier for many people.
If you are struggling to meet the cost of this event then please email info@underscorestudios.co.uk for more details.
Why this festival matters
8% (2024)
The research revealed that only 8% of creatives in TV and film are from working class backgrounds,
16% (2020)
"Of people in creative jobs are from working-class backgrounds and those from privileged backgrounds more likely to shape what goes on stage, page and screen”
12.4% (2018)
The number of people who come from a working-class background working in Film, TV or Radio.
Programme (2023)
Our last edition showcased bold, diverse work from emerging and established working-class filmmakers. Here’s a look back at our 2023 lineup:
FEATHERWEIGHT
Kayleigh Gibbons
HANGING ON
Alfie Barker
STAN
Ben Brown
POP
Margo Roe
THE SKIN I MOVE IN
Christine Ubochi
NOWT
Ash Morris
THESE STREETS
Tyler Richards
