Jessie Buckley questions Oscar campaign focus and backs new film-makers

Jessie Buckley has asked whether the film industry puts too much effort into Oscar campaigns and too little into new talent. She spoke at the BFI and Chanel film-maker awards in London on Wednesday, 14 October, where four emerging directors were honoured The Guardian.

Buckley was answering a point from actor John Malkovich, who had said Oscar campaigns were now the only way to bring audiences into cinemas. She suggested there may be more potential in support at grassroots level than in the marketing weight behind an awards push. It is essential, she said, to back young film-makers and the next generation.

An Oscar campaign is the advertising and publicity drive behind a film hoping to win an Academy Award. Buckley questioned if that drive now takes attention from early careers. Her comments came as prizes went to film-makers at the start of theirs.

Four emerging UK film-makers were named as this year's recipients, each receiving £20,000 to develop their work The Guardian. The announcement was made at a ceremony at Claridge's in London. The BFI describes Buckley as an Academy Award and BAFTA-winning actor whose credits include Hamnet and Wicked Little Letters BFI.

The jury included Buckley, actor Gwendoline Christie, BFI chief executive Ben Roberts, editor Edward Enninful and producer Marie-Louise Khondji. Buckley and Christie presented the prizes to the winners. Enninful served as a returning juror Screen Daily.

Rich Felgate, a director, producer and cinematographer, was recognised for We, the Hated, a documentary about Just Stop Oil protesters and the personal cost of taking part The Hollywood Reporter. The jury called the film "urgent and brave". Olive Nwosu won for Lady, her first feature as a director, set in Lagos and centred on one of the city's few female taxi drivers who is drawn into the life of a childhood friend who became a sex worker. Imran Perretta was recognised for Ish, a black-and-white coming-of-age story set in Luton.

Together the four winning films touch on political protest, racial profiling, female solidarity and family trauma. Winners are chosen for creative audacity, which the BFI uses to mean a willingness to take creative risks.

What makes this stand out for cinema-goers is simple. The sums are small by studio standards. The aim is early help, before a career is shaped by one awards season.