LONDON — It’s lights, camera, action for luxury menswear label Dunhill and BAFTA’s newly announced two-year partnership.

The BAFTA Elevate program will support up to 20 mid-senior development producers, directors and producer-directors from underrepresented backgrounds.

Applications to the program opened on Wednesday and the cohort will be unveiled at Dunhill’s annual pre-BAFTA fete in February.  

“It is a privilege for Dunhill to support the BAFTA Elevate program, a commitment to leveling the playing field for those working in documentary and specialist factual television,” said Andrew Holmes, Dunhill’s interim chief executive officer. 

The program counts BAFTA-award winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia, actor and director Reggie Yates, and advocacy group We Are Doc Women as supporters. 

“BAFTA has a mission to level the playing field for those in society who face barriers and bias in pursuit of a career in the screen industries,” said Jane Millichip, CEO of BAFTA.

“BAFTA Elevate provides opportunity for the voices held back by inequality and encourages people from underrepresented groups to share their stories, and in so doing, enrich our cultural landscape,” she added.

Dunhill’s association with the silver screen goes way back, the brand having dressed Hollywood icons including Frank Sinatra and Truman Capote. 

Equally, a part of the brand’s DNA is its alignments with arts. Since his inaugural collection, Dunhill’s creative director Simon Holloway has riffed on British art to inspire his work, his first runway staged in the National Portrait Gallery’s Duveen Wing.

Following Dunhill’s August announcement that it will extend its support of Frieze Masters Talks until 2026, this year’s talk series speakers have been shared. 

Curated by Frieze Masters’ creative adviser Sheena Wagstaff and head of visual arts for the Barbican Shanay Jhaveri, artists including Jeremy Deller, Nathalie du Pasquier and Ming Smith will be paired with industry figures Glenn Lowry, Lou Stoppard and Zoe Whitley.