Linda & James are a German/English writing and directing duo based in the UK – and Sony Future Filmmakers 2025. Garnering Awards and Official Selections in OSCAR, BAFTA and BIFA-qualifying festivals internationally, their films have distributed to territories worldwide on leading SVOD platforms, including Disney+ and Amazon Prime.

 

Honoured with the “Student Film Award, for the overall achievement in filmmaking” upon graduating (1st Class Hons in Film, Oxford Brookes University), Linda & James went on to direct their breakthrough short: MAN OF THE HOUR starring Charlotte Ritchie (You, Ghosts) was longlisted for Best British Short at the 2019 BAFTAs and proclaimed “among the best short films ever” by MovieViral. Three times Oscar-Nominee John Logan described it as “a beautiful film, with touching shadows of heartbreak. Elegant, evocative and emotional, the film captures a true and difficult moment of life and explores it gracefully”.

 

Their follow-up short, true-story crime drama UNDER THE BLUE with Nicola Walker (Unforgotten, The Split) hit the festival circuit in 2024, racking up 13 wins of Jury Prizes and Audience Awards alike (and in one case making festival history winning both at the same time). Variety covered its Jury Prize win during the Cannes Film Festival 2024 at the AmPav Emerging Filmmaker Showcase, when Linda & James won for a second time in this category that has previously brought forward directors such as Ryan Coogler (Black Panther) and Jeff Nichols (Mud).

 

In 2025, Linda & James were chosen from 11,750 submissions as finalists (the top 0.26%) in the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards 2025 by a judging panel of industry leaders including Jason Reitman (Saturday Night), Minhal Baig (We Grown Now), Elizabeth Gabler (Where the Crawdads Sing) and Justin Chadwick (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom). Subsequently, they took part in a week-long industry programme at Sony Pictures Studios in LA, during which their work was screened to Sony Delegates at the Cary Grant theatre.

 

Linda & James’ feature script MAN WITHOUT HEART, a drama about neurodiversity, placed as Quarterfinalist in the Raindance Script Competition, one of only 30 screenplays selected worldwide, receiving a score card of 9.1 out of 10 overall. Shortly after, it placed as a Quarterfinalist in the ScreenCraft Feature Competition, which called it “a flawless piece”, “penned by a writer who has mastered their craft”, “a unique and authentic voice”. As a neurodivergent/autistic directing duo, Linda & James are interested in stories about unique perspectives and unlikely connections. Their slate also includes feature scripts for a psychological thriller, an online-investigation thriller and a gothic romance mystery. For TV, they have completed true-story pilot NEW FACE about the dark side of modelling in the UK (longlisted BBC Open Call, top 1.8%).

 

Linda & James’ latest film, courtroom drama A WITNESS for Media Trust Films/CAAR starring Emily Carey (House of the Dragon), Sharon Small (London Kills) and Jordan Peters (My Lady Jane), previewed at Warner Bros in a closed screening in November 2024 and is scheduled for release later in 2025.

 

Linda Ludwig & James Curle are represented by Peter MacFarlane at MacFarlane Chard