Stormzy, Rory Kinnear, and Arlo Parks Bring Booker Shortlist to Life

The Booker Prize 2025 is set to captivate audiences beyond the page, with a stellar cast of acclaimed actors and artists starring in a new series of short films showcasing the six shortlisted novels.

The highly anticipated films, which have become a highlight of the prize season, will feature readings by multi-award-winning musician Stormzy, celebrated Olivier Award-winner Rory Kinnear (James Bond films, Black Mirror), and Mercury Prize-winning singer-songwriter Arlo Parks. They are joined by BAFTA-winning actor and writer Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd, Humans), BAFTA Cymru-winning actor Gabrielle Creevy (In My Skin), and actor Shazad Latif (Toast of London).

The two-minute films aim to bring the words of the shortlisted authors to the widest possible audience, a strategy that has proven immensely successful, with the 2024 films garnering over 83 million views online.

Each performer will read an intimate extract from one of the six nominated titles. Stormzy takes on David Szalay’s Flesh, Arlo Parks reads Andrew Miller’s The Land in Winter, and Rory Kinnear delivers a passage from Ben Markovits’ The Rest of Our Lives. Gabrielle Creevy, Shazad Latif, and Katherine Parkinson will read from Flashlight by Susan Choi, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai, and Audition by Katie Kitamura, respectively.

Directed by award-winning writer-director Sasha Nathwani (Last Swim), the shorts are designed to create a space where the “intimacy of the readings could breathe,” allowing viewers to feel as if they are being told a poignant story just for them.

The Booker Prize 2025 shortlist films will be released in full on Wednesday, October 8th, at 2 pm BST on the Booker Prizes’ website and social media channels (@thebookerprizes). The winner of the £50,000 prize will be announced at the ceremony on Monday, November 10th.