The Whickers

09/10/2026

A Special night for Whicker finalist 'Concrete Land' ✨️

Last night, 'Concrete Land' premiered in the UK at the BFI London Film Festival, moving audiences and making us incredibly proud.

Directed by Asmahan Bkerat | أسمهان بكيرات 🇵🇸 and executive produced by our very own Jane Mote Jane Mote, this beautiful film is an observational portrait of the Najar family, one of the last Afro-Palestinian Bedouin families near Amnan, facing eviction as luxury villas encroach on their land.

Filmed over 8 years, we watch the children, especially oldest daughter Eman, grow up, navigating the everyday anxieties of childhood against a backdrop of uncertainty about their family's future.

Over the years, we come to feel intimately connected to this family, making last night's screening all the more special. We were delighted that protagonists Awad and Eman were able to join us at the BFI to share this moment.

A huge congratulations to the whole team behind this powerful and moving film. ❤️

28/09/2026

Lovely, slightly bonkers audio weekend at Transmitter down in beautiful St Leonards On Sea on the English south coast.

The weekend kicked off with an audio industry day bringing together a brilliant group of industry people to discuss some of the big questions facing the industry today. We didn't need to solve all the problems, but it felt good to share our worries and concerns, meet new people and make new connections.

That evening, the weekend continued with a fabulous audio cabaret. Great performances all round but of course we are biased towards our very own Whicker alum , who gave such a wonderful, personal and poignant performance. ❤️

We flitted around St Leonards for the rest of the weekend, dropping into sound baths, listening to talks and beautiful audio performances, but also simply listening to the beautiful sounds of St Leonards itself, which shone brightly in the glorious sunshine 🌞 ☀️

A lovely, inspiring and slightly bonkers weekend all round 🎧✨️

Ps - found a lovely new pair of glasses. 👓

Denise Barren

27/09/2026

What do s*x robots and Brad Pitt have in common???? Jane Ray was in close proximity to both of them at this year's SSIFF | Festival de San Sebastián 😁 OK, so she didn't interview Brad Pitt but she's sure he waved at her 👋 🤣

Another great industry forum - good projects and catching up with filmmakers and funders.

Anna Petrus Ford Foundation

23/09/2026

A huge thank you to the wonderful CNEX and CCDF team for an unforgettable 17th edition!

We watched some fab pitches, had some great meetings and made lots of connections. We're looking forward to following the journeys of these exciting projects and, hopefully, crossing paths with some of them again along the way.

It was also such a pleasure to catch up with friends amd colleagues from across the industry.

A special thank you to the CCDF team for looking after all of us industry guests with such care. Your kindness, hospitality and incredible attention to detail never go unnoticed.

Congratulations on a brilliant 17th edition and thanks for having us! 🙏❤️

17/09/2026

Dmz Docs is wrapped for 2026! Lots of meetings with fantastic projects from the region, coffee, and daily affirmations!

We met some wonderful first time directors, so keeping fingers crossed we meet again as part of the Whickers funding process. 🤞

Also, it was great to catch up with Whicker alumni / Dokedge Kolkata bursary winners of 'Until I Fly'. Here pitching their second project which is going to be amazing 👏 Keep q look out for 'Silver Linings'!! 👀

Now we're heading off across the water to Taiwan. See you soon. X

27/08/2026

🏆 Kings of Babel wins The Whickers MENA Bursary 2026!

We’re delighted to announce that Iraqi-UK documentary project Kings of Babel has won The Whickers MENA Bursary 2026, receiving £3,000 in seed funding to support the film’s development.

Directed by Alex King, Qudoos Al-Maksoosi and Mouse Green, the project was unanimously selected from six shortlisted films by first-time filmmakers from across the Middle East and North Africa.

🎬 The 2026 shortlist:

10 Things I Hate About My Cousin, Niniko Lekish
14.5 Km Away From Our Dreams, Lilit Mkhitaryan
Dance with Me, Leila Basma
House No. 7, Rama Abdi
Street Poets, Shadi Tabibzadeh
The Lost Oasis, Syrine Thamine & Armstrong-Holding

Kings of Babel takes us inside Iraq’s youth motorbike gangs and the underground world of Tafliq, a vibrant subculture built around motorbike stunts, particularly wheelies on inexpensive Iranian bikes.

Behind the death-defying stunts, huge crowds and online celebrity lies a more complex story of frustrated ambition, collective grief and intergenerational trauma.

The filmmakers said:

“Documenting Iraq's most controversial subculture, while keeping our characters safe, has been particularly challenging… support from the Whickers MENA Bursary has been pivotal in allowing us to complete our final shoot and bring our characters' narratives to completion.”

🌟 Special Mention: The Lost Oasis

We’re also delighted to give a Special Mention to The Lost Oasis by Syrine Thamine and Alexander Armstrong-Holding.

The film tells the untold story of a human disaster unfolding in Gabès, Tunisia, following a Tunisian expat who returns home to stand alongside communities forced to live, resist and survive on poisoned land.

Whickers founder and trustee Valerie Kleeman said:

“The Lost Oasis and The Kings Of Babel are both excellent projects … I lean towards the Iraqi stunt bikers as here is a freshness and energy that we seldom see.”

👏 Congratulations to all our shortlisted filmmakers!

🔗 Find out more about The Whickers MENA Bursary.

Alex King .pro Syrine Thamine

20/08/2026

Our annual Whickers Team Away Day happened yesterday! 💛❤️😍

The team headed down to beautiful East Suss*x to spend the day with our lovely colleague Jane Mote WilmingtonNC/Beech MountainNC in her beautiful neck of the woods. 🌿🌊

It may look like we were just having fun ... hanging out in listed, thatched cottages, taking in beautiful views, trying on hats, searching for shells on the beach and laughing … but in between all the laughs, the magic happened! Yes, we actually managed to get through a fair bit of work too! 😉

So, keep your eyes peeled for our Film & TV, and Podcast Pitch, call dates for The Whickers Funding Awards 2027!!!
(clue ... remain vigilant in the second half of November!) 👀

Also, if you haven't already completed this year's Cost of Docs survey, head to our bio for the link. You’ll be in with a chance of winning Industry passes to Sheffield DocFest 2027! 🎟️

What a fun, creative, exciting day we had and we're all so looking forward to what the next Whickers year brings.

Jane Ray Jane Ray Curtis Gallant Denise Barren Jane Mote

*x

29/07/2026

We are absolutely thrilled that 'Concrete Land', a Whicker Finalist in 2021, will make its World Premiere at the Locarno Film Festival, selected for the Semaine de la Critique competition! 🎉

What began with the story of a remarkable Palestinian woman and her wonderfully sassy sheep has grown, through years of dedication, love, tears and joy, into this extraordinary film.

Concrete Land follows the inspiring Najar family in Amman, Jordan, and we couldn't be happier to see this beautiful documentary receive the international recognition it deserves.

Huge congratulations to the entire filmmaking team, we can't wait for audiences in Locarno to experience it. ❤️

Concrete Land
A film by Asmahan Bkerat Asmahan Bkerat | أسمهان بكيرات 🇵🇸
Ban Maraqa بان مرقة
Jane Mote
Soko Sam
Niels Pagh Andersen sh
Hamza Hamida
Mohammad El Amaireh

26/06/2026

15/06/2026

Our 2026 Podcast Pitch & Film & TV Award in 1 minute! 🕺🏻

Thank you so much for all of our incredible finalists who made this weekend such a joy and another huge congratulations to our winners 🎉