Rory Dhariwal Bentley is an award-winning self-taught Writer / Director of mixed British-Punjabi heritage from Leicester / Edinburgh.
His first feature
AMRIT is in active late-stage development with the
BFI after being selected for a coveted place on the BBC Films / BFI / Creative UK
iFeatures initiative - the UK’s premier development lab for debut feature films. His debut TV show
‘CUTH - Just A Little Bit Brown’ was selected as one of 7 U.K projects through The Independent Film Trust’s Creative Corridor scheme, backed by
Sony Pictures. He was selected for
BBC Writers Room - Scottish Voices, 2023.
Rory was one of the inaugural
FILM LONDON LODESTARS, celebrating emerging talent in the capital and is a
BAFTA connect
member. He was also a recipient of the prestigious John Brabourne Award.
His award-winning 16mm independent short film
SURPRI-! premiered at BFI London Film Festival 2022 and won
‘Best Super Short’ at the
British Short Film Awards. He co-wrote/shot/directed the award-winning 8mm short
JAMELLA, starring
Jamie Demetriou - which won
first prize at the
Straight 8 ‘o
ne roll, no editing’ Industry Competition. He has made several other independent & diy short films on 8mm, 16mm (and digital) - which have screened at Academy / BAFTA qualifying film festivals around the world. He was Second Unit Director for Raine Allen Miller on her smash hit debut feature film
RYE LANE (BBC/BFI/Searchlight).
Alongside making his own films, he cut his teeth working in-house and freelance for award-winning production companies on commercials and features. Notably, he was assistant to
Paul King (
PADDINGTON 2) on a feature film for Disney, through Film London’s
Equal Access Network. He has also directed content for
VISA,
Goldman Sachs,
BlackRock,
Deutsche Bank,
ASOS,
Nike,
Converse,
Dickies and
Ray-
Ban.
He has been mentored by
Sally Potter (
ORLANDO) as part of the Four Corners’
Zoom programme, and was mentored by
Camera D’Or winner
Anthony Chen (
ILO ILO) as part of iFeatures and the Director’s UK
Inspire Scheme.
He studied French & English Literature and, after a stint writing and marinading in Paris, is now based in the U.K.