London Rolling Film Festival Celebrates Its Winners As Gabriela Bolton Receives The Kimberley Marren Recognition Award

The London Rolling Film Festival celebrated independent filmmaking, emerging talent and stories with purpose at its 2026 Awards Ceremony, with Gabriela Bolton receiving the Kimberley Marren Recognition Award alongside awards recognising films from across this year's programme.

The London Rolling Film Festival brought its 2026 cinema programme to a celebratory close on Sunday evening, recognising filmmakers from across its international selection following several days of screenings, filmmaker Q&As, industry panels and networking in London.

Awards celebrated achievements across performance, cinematography, production design, costume, animation, screenplay, documentary and feature and short filmmaking, alongside special recognition designed to support work — and people — whose impact extends beyond the screen.

At the heart of this year's ceremony was the presentation of the Kimberley Marren Recognition Award to Gabriela Bolton.

GABRIELA BOLTON RECEIVES THE KIMBERLEY MARREN RECOGNITION AWARD

Created by London Rolling Film Festival Fstival Director Alida Pantone and The Fan Carpet's Managing Dirctor Marc Jason Ali, the Kimberley Marren Recognition Award was established with a simple philosophy: to recognise remarkable people while they are here to receive that recognition.

Introducing the award, Pantone reflected on how people can be celebrated too much once they are gone, and not enough while they are still here.

For 2026, the award was presented to Gabriela Bolton, recognising the resilience and determination she has demonstrated after circumstances forced her to change careers, and the work she has subsequently undertaken supporting communities and children through STEM teaching and CICs.

Bolton also works in schools and equine therapy.

Accepting the award, she admitted the recognition had taken her completely by surprise. “I am really shocked actually being here tonight. Was not expecting it at all.”

Bolton spoke about having to change careers because of an invisible, dynamic disability and referenced remarks made earlier during the evening about representation which had particularly resonated with her. “We need more people speaking out.”

Her current work includes championing an equine project [Healing Hearts and Minds with Horses CIC] in Ockham, Surrey, supporting teenagers in significant need.

Bolton also spoke about advocacy connected to a recently published book about a young woman who died by suicide approximately a year ago — work which ultimately contributed to her meeting Marc.

She concluded by thanking her fiancé for his support through what she described as her “unbearable amount of workload” over the previous month.

Unlike the competitive filmmaking categories presented throughout the evening, the Kimberley Marren Recognition Award exists to celebrate resilience, contribution and the difference an individual can make to the people and communities around them.

For 2026, that individual is Gabriela Bolton.

CELEBRATING THE LRFF 2026 WINNERS

The ceremony also celebrated filmmaking from across this year's programme.

Maeve Murphy was horoured with Best Director for The Wolf whilst The Bridge, by Jimmy Hedger, received Best Documentary, with Hedger paying tribute to the producers, camera team and editor behind the production, as well as his wife for supporting him throughout the filmmaking process.

RIP received Best International Feature Film, with its filmmakers dedicating the award to their friend Silvano, who had died only weeks earlier.

During an emotional acceptance speech, the team reflected on filmmaking as something created through passion, talent, communication and, fundamentally, people.

The Best UK Feature Film award went to The Man Who Spoke Twice, whose team thanked the producers, actors, composer and family members who had supported the production, while also celebrating the films and filmmakers they had encountered during LRFF.

My Private Yellowstone received Best International Short Film. Its filmmaker revealed that it was the first short film she had made and that London Rolling had been the first festival to accept it.

He then turned the attention away from his own award and towards the filmmakers gathered in the room “Everyone who made something this year, please give yourself a round of applause.”

He described the challenge familiar to independent filmmakers everywhere: taking something “from nothing to something.”

Sylvia was named Best UK Short Film, with its filmmaker using the acceptance speech to recognise the actors at the heart of the production.

Both the Best UK Short Film and Best International Short Film recipients also received £250 cash prizes from the festival.

TRUE SPARK, SPECIAL RECOGNITION AND SUPPORT BEYOND LRFF

The True Spark Award went to Wild Horses at the Door.

Launched at Cannes in 2026, True Spark was created to champion inspirational and uplifting filmmaking capable of encouraging audiences to take positive action.

Pantone stressed during the ceremony that the important thing was not whether a filmmaker was physically present to collect an award, but the film itself and its ability to speak to an audience.

A Special Mention was also presented to Beyond the Gaze, following particularly close jury scoring across the festival's categories.

Its filmmaker, attending from New York for her first international film festival, used the moment to celebrate the women who had helped shape the production, from its subject and executive producer to members of her family and editorial team.

The evening also extended beyond trophies and certificates.

The Wolf was selected for special support from Yes She Cannes, with Faith Elizabeth explaining that the organisation had been particularly moved by the film's exploration of domestic violence and the often unseen challenges surrounding financial hardship and single parenthood.

The initiative will provide the film with further promotional support around Cannes Film Festival next year.

The festival additionally announced that prints of 'Iris' designed by Marco Salom are available to buy on his website, in addition to the original piece being available to buy.

THE LRFF 2026 AWARDS

Elsewhere during the ceremony, ASKING4IT received Best Costume Design, Truckload received Best Screenplay, The Audition received Best Performance, Untouched received Best Music Score, Sophie's Bakes received Best Production Design, Knock Knock received Best Makeup and Hairstyling, OTP: One-Time Password received Best Animation, Plaster received Best Casting and Dead Dreams Falling received Best Cinematography.

The festival also presented Braced for the Truth as its Audience Choice Award for Best Short Film, while The Black Cube Hunting received Best AI Film.

Across the evening, however, the speeches repeatedly returned to something that had characterised LRFF throughout its 2026 edition: collaboration.

Winners thanked crews. Directors thanked actors. Filmmakers celebrated other filmmakers. And people given only a few minutes at the microphone repeatedly used those minutes to recognise somebody else who had helped them get there.

Perhaps nowhere was that philosophy clearer than in an award created not for a film, performance or technical achievement, but simply to tell somebody that what they are doing matters.

On Sunday night, Gabriela Bolton stood on the London Rolling Film Festival stage and received that recognition.

That is exactly what the Kimberley Marren Recognition Award was created to do.

FIVE DAYS OF INDEPENDENT CINEMA

The festival concluded on Monday 21 September with an industry panel led by actor, director and writer Helen Oakleigh, titled “Representation Matters: Disability, Class and Queerness in Film”.

The conversation addressed representation and access across the screen industries, reflecting themes that have been central to LRFF's programme and its wider commitment to creating space for filmmakers and industry professionals from different backgrounds.

The panel brought the 16th edition to a close following five days of screenings, filmmaker Q&As, industry conversations, networking and project development activities across central London.

The 16th edition was supported by Palm Tree Films as Main Sponsor, DCP for ALL as Technical Partner and Stage 32 as Educational Partner, The Fan Carpet as its Mdia Partner, with The Queens Head Piccadilly and Yes She Cannes as Community Partners. Tumani Productions LLC also supported the festival and its True Spark initiative.

About The London Rolling Film Festival
The London Rolling Film Festival is a female-led nonprofit independent film festival dedicated to supporting filmmakers through curated screenings, industry engagement, networking opportunities and project development. Founded in London as a film night in a Shoreditch pub, LRFF has grown into a multi-day festival in central London while retaining its intimate, filmmaker-focused format.

Selected filmmakers are required to attend in person, creating opportunities for filmmakers to connect with audiences, industry professionals and one another. Its core values are Connect, Inspire, Support, captured in its motto: Stay Focused and Keep Rolling.