Film London Lodestars 2025: Writer
Helen Simmons
Helen is a BIFA longlisted producer, Crystal Bear winning writer and Screen Star of Tomorrow. Having produced seven feature films to date, she made her writing debut with the successful short film F*ck, starring Brett Goldstein, before working on shows for Sky and Audible. She co-wrote Sasha Nathwani’s Last Swim which premiered at the Berlinale this year and is being released in early 2025. She also co-wrote and co-directed the BFI NETWORK-funded short Measure, alongside Julia Cranney, which won a Méliès Award and was nominated for multiple other awards on its festival run. She is currently writing a TV show for Netflix and working on further features.
Sasha Nathwani
Sasha Nathwani, is a writer and director whose work connects deeply personal stories with an affecting emotional approach to visual storytelling. His debut feature film Last Swim, co-written by Helen Simmons and produced by Caviar and Pablo & Zeus, premiered at the 2024 Berlinale, and was awarded the Crystal Bear. Last Swim, due for wider release later this year, following its UK premiere at LFF will be the first film from Sasha’s slate of forthcoming projects, each one an exploration of the duality of identity, shining a light on underrepresented characters, a core theme in all of Sasha’s work.
Vanessa Rose
Vanessa is an award winning playwright, screenwriter, and director based in London. She draws from her working class and queer identities to create genre and gender-bending stories about magical misfits and unlikely heroes.
She has written multiple short films that have been BAFTA shortlisted, screened at festivals such as LFF and LSFF, and won jury awards from SXSW, TIFF, and the Austin Film Festival. She has also written award winnings plays, poetry, and been a finalist on several writing schemes.
Recently Vanessa has started directing, and her first short film The Weight is premiering at Aesthetica this November, 2024.
