Ben’s debut feature film Pikadero premiered at San Sebastian International Film Festival in 2015. Pikadero went on to screen at over 40 international film festivals, winning multiple awards including the Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature at Edinburgh, the FIPRESCI Award and Best Film in Kiev, the Critic’s Choice Award in Zurich and the Cineuropa Award in Brussels. The film gained further recognition from the Spanish Film Academy as an outstanding contribution to Spanish independent cinema and received theatrical distribution in a number of European countries.

Pikadero has been described as ‘touching, absurd and visually striking’ by The Hollywood Reporter while Ben has been hailed as ‘Scotland’s brightest young talent’ by The Herald and ‘a name to look out for” by Filmmaker Magazine. Ben’s previous short film work garnered several awards. Among them, four BAFTA New Talents, including ‘Best Drama’ and ‘Best Writer’ for Patata Tortilla in 2015, which was his graduation film for the MFA Advanced Film Practice at Screen Academy Scotland.

Ben graduated from The University of Edinburgh with a degree in Arabic and Politics before attending Screen Academy Scotland, where he graduated with an MA with Distinction in Film Directing. After working in the advertising industry in Dubai, Ben completed an MFA in Advanced Film Practice, for which he was awarded the university medal for outstanding achievement.

Ben’s second feature, Limbo developed by Creative Scotland and SFTN, is currently in production in Scotland. Ben is represented by TROIKA in London for film and television. 

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