Rory Dhariwal Bentley is an award-winning 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 corporate content for
VISA,
Goldman Sachs,
BlackRock and
Deutsche Bank as well as fashion films for
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 UK.