Announcing the 12th Moving Image Awards speaker line-up

Get ready - our annual Moving Image Awards 2026 is only two months away!  

This prestigious awards ceremony, organised by WJEC/Eduqas in partnership with the British Film Institute (BFI), continues to earn recognition from film and media educators across the UK, as well as from leading industry professionals. 

Dr. Jenny Stewart, Eduqas Film Studies Subject Officer, said: "This year, we’re pleased to welcome a panel of creative industry professionals, including a script editor, film critic, and trailer editor. The panel Q&A session offers aspiring filmmakers, editors, screenwriters and critics a rare chance to gain practical advice, insider knowledge, and inspiration for building a career in the screen industries. Our host is film critic Anna Smith (BBC, SKY, Girls on Films Podcast) who can’t wait to join us at the ceremony to celebrate the work of learners from across the UK”. 

We are excited to announce this year’s remarkable guest speaker line-up, joining us at the BFI in London on 13th February 2026: 

Anna Smith

Anna Smith is one of the UK’s leading film critics and broadcasters. The former President of the UK Critics’ Circle, she is the host and co-founder of Girls On Film, the world’s leading podcast about women in film. Since its first episode in 2018, Girls On Film has welcomed 21 Oscar-winners onto the podcast, been nominated for eight awards and launched its own annual awards show. As a writer, Anna is a regular contributor to Time Out, The Guardian, Rolling Stone UK, and Metro. Having been the film expert on many editions of the BBC News Channel Film Review, Anna now appears regularly on Sky News and BBC Radio 4. She has also hosted hundreds of on-stage Q&As and film premieres and has been a judge at ceremonies including the BAFTA Film Awards, The Sky Arts Awards and the British Independent Film Awards.

Instagram: @annasmithfilmcritic | X: @annasmithjourno   

Kate Leys



Kate Leys is a script and story editor. She has worked for many years on feature films and TV series all over the world. She works on projects at all stages of development and has also worked on documentaries, animation, short films, audio and occasionally theatre. She works often with global indigenous filmmakers, and in one day during lockdown she worked with filmmakers in Vienna, Beirut, Tblisi and Maputo.  

 Recent films she has worked on include:  

  • DREAMERS Berlin Film Festival 2025 

  • TORNADO Glasgow Film Festival 2025 

  • WORKMATES New Zealand Film Festival 2025 

  • 100 NIGHTS OF HERO Venice Film Festival 2025 

  • THE STATION Venice Film Festival Post Production Awards 2025 

  • WHITETAIL Toronto Film Festival 2025 

  • RETREAT Toronto Film Festival 2025 

  • MR K Toronto Film Festival 2024 

  • SKY PEALS (Venice 2023) 

  • THE UNBORN BIRO Sundance 2023 

  • JE’VIDA (Tribeca 2023 and winner best script Helsinki Film Fest 22) 

  • feature doc FADIA’S TREE (London 22) 

  • HARKA (Cannes 22) 

  • MILLIE LIES LOW (Berlin and SXSW 2022) 

  • DO NOT HESITATE (Tribeca 2021) 

Larushka Ivan-Zadeh


Larushka Ivan-Zadeh is the Chief Film Critic at Metro, the UK’s most read daily newspaper. She is also a regular broadcast contributor to Times Radio, Sky News and the BBC and has serves on numerous film juries including the British Independent Film Awards and the BAFTAs. 

Becci Jones
Bec has been in the movie trailer industry for 15 years, starting out as an edit assistant in London and eventually progressing to senior editor. 

She has worked across a range of creative campaigns, cutting trailers, TV spots, promos and sizzle reels for clients such as Warner Bros, HBO, Netflix, Lionsgate and StudioCanal. Some of her favourite projects include Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, The Girl on the Train, Harry Potter, 4k re-releases of The Third Man and Terminator 2 and a feature-length documentary about the world of Paddington bear.

After returning to her home city of Bristol and completing a master’s degree in Contemporary Film Culture, Bec re-joined the industry with Silk Factory in 2020 and loves working alongside the incredibly talented team. 

Silk Factory’s website 

Watch some of Becci’s work: 

 For further information on the Moving Image Awards, including previous winners visit our website.