Three producers have been named as Film London Lodestars for 2021 and tipped as future stars of the industry. You can learn more about them below, including messages from the people who nominated them for the award.

Alexandra Blue (@alexandrablue4)

Alexandra is an award-winning producer committed to bold, original and inventive storytelling. With a talent-led approach, Alexandra’s short films have been Oscar-longlisted and received acclaim at festivals including BFI London, Clermont-Ferrand, Flickers Rhode Island and Palm Springs. Previously working in development roles at Heyday Films and Element Pictures, Alexandra’s accolades include Emerging Producer of the Year (SASA), Best Emerging Filmmaker (Shorts Film Festival) and Short Film of the Decade at the Australian Academy Awards. Alexandra’s slate includes features developed with Film4, BFI & Screen Australia, and she is co-developing a TV series with the producers of I May Destroy You.

Alistair Payne-James (@APJ___)

Alistair Payne-James is a producer from London. He co-produced Grierson-awarded and BAFTA-nominated Kingdom of Us and line produced across various projects at different stages of production including American Honey and Arcade Fire: The Reflektor Tapes. He has produced several short films including Landline (Grierson Award for Best Documentary Short), Dear Araucaria (Audience Award at Shef Doc/Fest) and most recently The Conversation (Best Dance Film at Aesthetica Film Festival). In 2019 he set up 140 Films. He currently has two feature documentaries in development with BAFTA and Oscar winning producers and a feature in development with BBC Film.

Rajita Shah (@RajitaShah)

Rajita is the founder of UK based Miraj Films a diverse and female focused and led company. She has since produced critically acclaimed shorts Jubilee, Crimson and Lost Paradise funded by UK Film Council and B3Media which premiered at BFI Film Festival. Thereafter she produced And It Was The Same With My Son funded by BFI & Film London’s ‘London Calling’ which had its World Premiere at Sheffield International Film Festival, Underwire, Aesthetica and was nominated for the Research in Film Award by UKRI.

She has also produced politically charged films with non-actors in Morocco and Israel-Palestinian border. Feature film Zohra: A Moroccan Fairytale premiered at Rotterdam Film Festival and Short film 4 Kilometres was awarded by National Geographic.

In 2020 Rajita produced her theatrical feature film a UK-German co-production Love Sarah starring Celia Imrie, Rupert Penry-Jones and Bill Patterson. It was one of the first releases post COVID-19, yet reached No. 1 in New Zealand Box Office and No.4 in Australia. It was released in the UK thereafter and was TOP 10 on Amazon, AppleTV USA and iTunes premiering on SKY CINEMA. Love Sarah will be released in 50+ countries around the world including Hulu (USA).

Yaw Basoah (@Dark_Pictures)

Yaw established Dark Pictures to produce distinctive films that explore the dark side of human nature. He has produced a number of well received shorts. He recently completed his debut feature, Zero, a collaboration with BAFTA nominated filmmaker Faye Gilbert, commissioned through Film London’s Microwave. In recent years he’s been named a Screen Star of Tomorrow, received a BFI Vision Award, graduated from the Ashridge Executive MBA for the Creative Industries as the BFI/Headstart Scholar and been selected for Breaking the Glass Ceiling. Yaw is mentored by Oscar winning director and Turner Prize winning visual artist, Sir Steve McQueen CBE.

You can see the full list of Film London Lodestars for 2021 here.