Manchester Film Festival Screenplay Competition 2023 | Winners Announced

ScriptUp is delighted to announce the final results for the 2023 Manchester Film Festival Screenplay Competition.

After overseeing more than 250 submissions, ranging from high-end TV dramas to low-budget horror features, ScriptUp’s dedicated competition team whittled its list down to just five finalists.

These top screenplays were then sent to industry judges for ranking and commentary. The final results are:

FIFTH PLACE

LANCASTRIA

**By Richard Apletree**
The incredible true story of a British military squad left behind after Dunkirk, and their journey on a ship destined for disaster and secrecy.

JOINT-THIRD PLACE

OUR HOUSE

**By Niamh Dunne**
In 1950s London, actress Kathleen O'Connor decides to pursue her dream of starring in her own TV sitcom when her radio career - and long standing engagement - collapse overnight.

UNTITLED FRENCH THRILLER

**By Byron Tully & Weatherford Bradley**
When a young British art student is caught in the middle of a criminal gang's daring home invasion robbery, she must fight to save her family. But her efforts are complicated when criminals and family members alike begin to disappear from the house, one by one, without a trace.

JOINT WINNERS

MENDOZA THE JEW

**By Robin Uriel Russin**
1782: When the boxing coach to the Prince of Wales spots a Jewish boy dominating in a street fight against a bigger man, one of the great boxing rivalries in history is born as young Daniel Mendoza becomes first the protege and then bitter adversary of Gentleman Richard Humphreys, rising to be the first Jewish boxing champion of England, an underdog who fights as “Mendoza the Jew," but is known as “The Lion of Israel” to his people.

EMMETT GREY

**By John Pisano-Thomsen**
Set in Atlantic City in 1961 as the former “Jewel of the Atlantic” is beginning to show its cracks, “Emmett Grey" follows the life of a young boy who must pave a new path with the help of his underground drag queen uncle in a city that is threatening to consume them.

All finalists will receive judges’ feedback collated into a detailed development report, in addition to a lifetime free subscription to Arc Studio screenwriting software.

Congratulations to all those who took part, and especially to 2023’s joint winners.

ScriptUpMarch 21, 2023