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Stormzy reading Flesh by David Szalay in the Booker Prize 2025 shortlist films
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Watch our shortlist films, starring Dua Lipa, Will Poulter, Stormzy, David Jonsson and more

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Since 2022, the Booker Prize Foundation has created several series of short films to celebrate the books shortlisted for our annual prizes

The films feature some of the UK and Ireland’s best-known actors and artists performing extracts from the shortlisted books. They have become highlights of the Booker Prize and International Booker Prize seasons and have grown in popularity each year. 

The films produced for the Booker Prize 2025 have had over 70 million views on the Booker’s social channels. Since 2022, the shortlist films have been viewed over 200 million times.

As well as forming the centrepiece of the promotional campaigns for each prize, the films are also shown at many of our live events, including our ceremonies, where they are watched by hundreds of high-profile guests from across the cultural spectrum. 

Previous performers have included Dua Lipa, Will Poulter, Ambika Mod, Stormzy, Jason Isaacs, Lucy Boynton, David Harewood, Katherine Parkinson, Eleanor Tomlinson, David Jonsson, Anna Friel, Jarvis Cocker, Caitriona Balfe, Adelayo Adedayo, Rory Kinnear, Paterson Joseph, Aisling Bea, Alfred Enoch, Adjoa Andoh, Tobias Menzies, Tanya Reynolds and many more. 

The films have been produced by Sharon Horgan’s production company Merman, and by Schedule Nine. They have been directed by Sasha Nathwani, Sebastian Thiel, Roxy Rezvany, Hannah Berry George, Charlotte Hamblin and Kevin Thomas.

Sasha Nathwani, director of the Booker Prize 2025 films, said: ‘My hope is that these films feel both intimate and cinematic, a celebration of literature, performance, and the human experience that inspires them.’

Watch all of the films below.

The Booker Prize 2025 films

Stormzy reads from Flesh by David Szalay | The Booker Prize

Gabrielle Creevy reads from Flashlight by Susan Choi | The Booker Prize

Shazad Latif reads from The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai | The Booker Prize

Katherine Parkinson reads from Audition by Katie Kitamura | The Booker Prize

Rory Kinnear reads from The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits | The Booker Prize

Arlo Parks reads from The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller | The Booker Prize

The International Booker Prize 2025 films

Watch Ambika Mod read from ‘Heart Lamp’ | The Booker Prize

Watch Jamie Demetriou read from ‘Perfection’ | The Booker Prize

Lucy Boynton reads from ‘On the Calculation of Volume I’ | The Booker Prize

Omari Douglas reads from ‘Small Boat’ | The Booker Prize

Rosalind Eleazar reads from ‘Under the Eye of the Big Bird’ | The Booker Prize

Peter Serafinowicz reads from ‘A Leopard-Skin Hat’ | The Booker Prize

The Booker Prize 2024 films

Will Poulter reads from ‘Orbital’ | The Booker Prize

Tanya Reynolds reads from ‘The Safekeep’ | The Booker Prize

Nonso Anozie reads from ‘James’ | The Booker Prize

Chipo Chung reads from ‘Stone Yard Devotional’ | The Booker Prize

Jason Isaacs reads from ‘Held’ | The Booker Prize

Adelayo Adedayo read from ‘Creation Lake’ | The Booker Prize

The International Booker Prize 2024 films

Dua Lipa reads from 'The Details' | The Booker Prize

David Jonsson reads from 'Not a River' | The Booker Prize

Antonia Thomas reads from 'Crooked Plow' | The Booker Prize

Tobias Menzies reads from 'Mater 2-10' | The Booker Prize

Anya Chalotra reads from 'What I’d Rather Not Think About' | The Booker Prize

Eleanor Tomlinson reads from 'Kairos' | The Booker Prize

The Booker Prize 2023 films

Caitríona Balfe reads from ‘Prophet Song’ | The Booker Prize

Alfred Enoch reads from ‘If I Survive You’ | The Booker Prize

Susan Lynch reads from ‘The Bee Sting’ | The Booker Prize

Paterson Joseph reads from ‘This Other Eden’ | The Booker Prize

Bel Powley reads from ‘Study for Obedience’ | The Booker Prize

Nina Wadia reads from ‘Western Lane’ | The Booker Prize

The International Booker Prize 2023 films

Toby Stephens reads from ‘Time Shelter’ | The Booker Prize

Aisling Bea reads from ‘Whale’ | The Booker Prize

Jessica Brown Findlay reads from ‘Still Born’ | The Booker Prize

Osy Ikhile reads from ‘Standing Heavy’ | The Booker Prize

Michelle de Swarte reads from ‘Boulder’ | The Booker Prize

Adjoa Andoh reads from ‘The Gospel According to the New World’ | The Booker Prize

The Booker Prize 2022 films

Prasanna Puwanarajah reads an extract from 'The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida' | The Booker Prize

Sharon Horgan reads from 'Small Things Like' These by Claire Keegan | The Booker Prize

Jarvis Cocker reads from 'Treacle Walker' by Alan Garner | The Booker Prize

Anna Friel reads from 'Oh William!' by Elizabeth Strout | The Booker Prize

David Harewood reads from 'The Trees' by Percival Everett | The Booker Prize

Nikki Amuka-Bird reads a second extract from 'Glory' | The Booker Prize