Yarns has announced that film critic James King will be returning to host this year’s screening of the four films made by this year's Yarns finalists, on 16th November at Prince Charles Cinema, in London's West End.King is a writer, broadcaster and one of the UK’s best-known film critics, appearing regularly on television and radio programmes. He is BBC Radio 2’s resident movie critic on the Jo Whiley Show and has his own BBC Radio 2 series My Soundtrack Stories - where he has interviewed renowned directors such as Quentin Tarantino, Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan. He is returning as presenter of this year's Yarns screening at tthe Prince Charles, for the second year running.The screening will also see a performance by one of the UK’s leading spoken word poets, Miss Yankey. Known for her work on BBC Radio 1XTRA, BT Sport and BAFTA winning show ‘Life and Rhymes’, excerpts of her work served as this year’s brief, asking entrants to start with the ending for their films.Miss Yankey states: "To know that this year's brief were my own words has been so exciting," says Miss Yankey. "I’m incredibly passionate about bringing Spoken Word into new spaces, so to have an opportunity to inspire young filmmakers with my poetry is mind blowing. I can’t wait to see the films in full and be part of what promises to be an amazing screening night!"Stitch Editing co-owners Leo King and Tim Hardy are delighted to have both Miss Yankey and James King on board. “The team are over the moon to have James return as our host for Yarns," says King. "His vast film knowledge brought last year’s screening to new heights, and it’s great to have someone on board who’s totally behind our mission to uncover emerging talent."Having someone of James’ calibre return shows just how excited he is about the quality of the competition this year, and it will be fantastic to have him lead our celebration again on November 16th.”This year will see four finalists compete for Yarns crown, with their short films premiering for the first time to an audience of over three hundred. Taking place at the Prince Charles Cinema, the winning film will be chosen by an audience vote at the Yarns afterparty, to be held at Phoenix Arts Club in Soho.The four films commissioned for this year explored the brief ‘The Ends’. Entrants were invited to take three excerpts of Miss Yankey’s poetry, and craft them into an ending for their short film. Taking inspiration from pieces ‘Energy Wonderland’, ‘& Mischief’ and ‘Right of Way’, the final films and their directors are: Mr. Biscuit, directed by Doug Redfern and Joe Roberts; Travelling Home, directed by Juliet Klottrup; Do You Have Kids?, directed by Tom Gentle and Sam Brain; and Banana Boat, directed by Holly Hunter.In true Yarns fashion, the night will be a showcase for up-and-coming filmmakers, platforming them to the industry’s best and brightest. An entirely not-for-profit initiative, Yarns has identified the next wave of directing talent year on year. Now in its eighth edition, it is supported by some of the industry’s foremost institutions. Those involved in creating the films this year, throughtheir time, expertise and sponsorship are Kodak, Slingshot Intergalactic, Sine, Absolute Post, Nineteen Twenty, Freefolk and Digital Orchard.• Register your interest in tickets for the screening, visit yarnsfilm.co.uk.

BUG is back with a brand new episode in July featuring the best in music video creativity - hosted by Adam Buxton (above) - at the BFI Southbank in London.Tickets are on sale now for BUG 63 on Friday 1st July and Friday 15th July at BFI Southbank.BUG 63 will showcase a selection of the most innovative work in music videos from the past few months, and feature more of the outstanding work that was released during the two year period during the pandemic, when BUG was unable to present shows at the BFI.The show will be MC'd in his inimitable fashion by regular BUG host, the comedian, writer, broadcaster and podcaster Adam Buxton, supplying his own brilliant, comic offerings along the way. After a triumphant return with BUG 62 in April and May, its another unmissable opportunity to catch him in action, and view incredible music videos on the biggest screen at BFI Southbank.And BUG is also on the road in July, with Adam presenting special Best of BUG shows at festivals in Brighton and in Cheshire.First up will be the Brighton Comedy Garden, on Sunday 10th July in Preston Park. Then, BUG arrives for the first time at the Bluedot Festival, which takes place at the amazing Jodrell Bank Observatory, from 22nd to 24th July. • Book tickets for BUG 63 here

Rankin Studio is launching a new art fair next month celebrating the talent of photographers whose graduating shows were disrupted due to Covid-19.VISUAL NOISE will showcase 40 of the UK’s 2020-2022 graduating class of photographers (both BA and MA) to showcase their work at Maryland Studio in East London, and is dubbed as the first art fair dedicated solely to the nation’s emerging photography talent.Each exhibiting photographer/artist will have free reign over a 6ft x 6ft empty space to showcase their work - from performance, to collage, to editorial and film.Applications were open to any graduate from a UK university, on a photography or photography-related course, on a simple remit to “be creative” and to show work never seen before. Having received an overwhelming response to this open call, the team at Rankin whittled down pitches from across incredibly diverse applicants to the group of artists who will be exhibiting their work.Within the show Rankin will also being doing print and t-shirt sales, with all profits going to the Legacy of War foundation, which campaigns to end all wars and is actively supporting partner organisations in the Ukraine. You can find out more here.VISUAL NOISE takes place at Maryland Studio on April 9th and 10th, 2022. Early bird tickets are available here.

The 2020 SHINY Awards takes place next Tuesday, 25th February at the Mill in London, screening the best work and announcing the winners of the best in emerging talent. After a year of celebrating exciting, exceptional work from new directors at events in London, New York and LA, the SHINY Awards will award trophies in the areas of branded content, drama, documentary and music videos, and will include Best Recently Signed Director and Best Unsigned Director. All work that was considered by SHINY’s jurors at this year's competition are by directors with under 5 years’ experience. And SHINY, a not-for-profit company supports the very best emerging talent and is committed to creating opportunities for under-represented groups, encouraging diversity and inclusion across the industry."We make sure screening shortlists for our regular events and the annual SHINY Awards reflect diversity across six categories, including ethnicity, gender and socio-economic groups," says SHINY founder and MD Caroline Bottomley. "The jury network then make selections based on meritocracy, after we’ve applied rough quotas. We know we’re not there yet, but we scout new directors from diverse sources and have better representation than most screenings and awards shows as a result.” Previous SHINY Award winners include Nadia Lee Cohen, John Ogunmiywe and Charlotte Regan, current heavy hitters at Academy, Havas and Knucklehead.At this year's SHINY Awards, as keeping up with the best new directing talent, guests can enjoy a friendly and unpretentious pizza and beer awards event.Tickets for the Awards on Tues 25th Feb at The Mill are £45 and available here.