Dionne Edwards is a British filmmaker and screenwriter, of mixed Jamaican and Nigerian heritage, best known for her short film ''We Love Moses''.

Early life

Whilst growing up Edwards spent time in the foster care system. Edwards studied film and TV production at the

University of Westminster The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...

, following which she spent a year working at

Working Title Films Working Title Films Limited, formerly Visionensure Limited and Working Title Limited, is a British film and television production company that is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, which is itself a division of Comcast. The company was founded by ...

as a Working Title Action! Intern. Missing out on a place at the

National Film and Television School The National Film and Television School (NFTS) is a film, television and games school established in 1971 and based at Beaconsfield Studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England. It is featured in the 2024 ranking by ''The Hollywood Repo ...

she went on to work for the Rio Cinema in Dalston, East London, whilst continuing to work on her own films.

Career

In 2011 Edwards co-founded production company Teng Teng Films alongside producer Georgia Goggin. It has produced four of her short films, including her breakthrough short film ''We Love Moses''. ''Hi, Miss!'' (2014) is a short film written and directed by Edwards, which explores the relationship between two quarrelling teenage photography students. It won the Audience Award at the

East End Film Festival The East End Film Festival was one of the UK's largest film festivals. Founded in 2000 and operating in various venues across East London, the festival focused on emerging British, Eastern European, and Asian films. It ceased operations on March ...

in 2015. ''We Love Moses'' (2016) is a short film written and directed by Edwards, which explores a 12-year-old's secret crush on her brother's best friend, both of whose lives are dramatically changed in a single moment in a shocking plot twist. The film explores girlhood, relationships and sexuality. Edwards was mentored on the project by Desiree Akhavan as part of the

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, d ...

Flare LGBT Filmmakers’ Mentorship scheme and was pre-funded by

Film London Film London is London's film and media agency – sustaining, promoting and developing London as a major international film-making and film cultural capital. This includes all the screen industries based in London – film, television, video, co ...

, as part of London Calling Plus. Screened at more than 50 festivals, it picked up nine awards including Best British Short Winner at the 2017 Iris Prize and Short Film of the Year at the Critics’ Circle Film Awards. It was licensed for broadcast by Cine+,

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

and

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

. In 2018 she directed ''That Girl'', part of drama anthology ''On the Edge'', a Channel 4 mini-series that explored the criminal justice system from the perspective of a criminal, a witness and the victim. In 2019 she was an assistant director to

Reinaldo Marcus Green Reinaldo Marcus Green (born December 16, 1981) is an American director, producer and writer. His films include ''Monsters and Men'' (2018), '' Joe Bell'' (2020), and '' Bob Marley: One Love'' (2024). His 2021 film ''King Richard'' was nominated f ...

on the

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

revival of the Channel 4 series ''

Top Boy ''Top Boy'' is a British crime drama thriller (genre), thriller television series created and written by Ronan Bennett. The series is set on the fictional Summerhouse Housing estate, estate in the London Borough of Hackney. It focuses on two d ...

'', she went on to direct two episodes of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's ''Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle'', which explored the experience of a family of Caribbean origin over four generations. In 2019 she was named a

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

Star of Tomorrow. In 2020 she was an Sundance Adobe Fellow. She co-wrote an episode of Netflix's '' The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself'' with creator

Joe Barton Joseph Linus Barton (born September 15, 1949) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he represented in the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives from 1985 t ...

Filmography

Films

* ''

Pretty Red Dress ''Pretty Red Dress'' is a 2022 British drama film written and directed by Dionne Edwards. It follows the story of a family of three (father, mother and teenage daughter) after the father is released from prison, and while the mother is audition ...

'' (2023)

Short films

* We Love Moses (2016) * Hi, Miss! (2014) * Got Got (2013)

TV

* ''That Girl'' (2018) * ''Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle'' (2019) * '' The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself'' (2022)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Dionne Alumni of the University of Westminster Black British filmmakers British LGBTQ film directors British television writers British women film directors Living people British film directors Year of birth missing (living people)