A film by University of Brighton researchers on a post-war designer’s home life and legacy has won Best Short Documentary at London Independent Film festival.
27 April 2026
The award-winning documentary, Designing from Home, which was produced by academics from the University of Brighton Design Archives and Centre for Design History offers an intimate portrait of pioneering graphic designer, FHK Henrion, widely known as one of the world’s pioneering graphic designers of the post-war era. The 16-minute film, co-directed by University of Brighton researchers Dr Harriet Atkinson and Dr Sue Breakell, won the top prize for short documentaries ahead of dozens of international entries at the London Independent Film Festival.
As an artist with Jewish heritage, Henrion fled Nazi Germany in 1933, moving first to Paris and then to London three years later, where he worked on wartime propaganda projects for the UK Ministry of Information and the US Office of War Information. Some of his most iconic work, including identities for Tate & Lyle, the National Theatre and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
The film centres on the house where Henrion lived and worked for over four decades in Hampstead, combining his family life with his creative practice until his death in 1990. It uses newly recorded interviews with his family as well as a collection of his most rarely seen works currently kept at the Design Archives, to highlight how everyday routines, relationships and domestic surroundings shaped his creative output.
FHK Henrion
Dr Sue Breakell, Director of the University of Brighton Design Archives, and co-director of the film, said: “We’re thrilled to have won this award, which feels like recognition for what we wanted to do with the film: to connect with audiences through the story of this house and the people who lived and worked there, and through the archive that we look after. It’s been incredibly rewarding to see how this kind of research can resonate beyond academia and spark curiosity about design in everyday life.”
Dr Harriet Atkinson, design historian and co-director of the film, added:
“It was fun to attend the festival, to experience a red carpet, meet other filmmakers, and see the diverse range of films that LIFF champions, and it was ridiculously exciting to come away with an award. It’s a reminder of how powerful film can be in bringing history to life and engaging people in stories they might not otherwise encounter.”
Designing from Home was produced in collaboration with Banyak Films, with funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the University of Brighton’s School of Art and Media and School of Humanities and Social Science, and the Centre for Design History.
The film’s success at the London Independent Film Festival, which celebrates emerging and independent filmmakers from around the world, reflects a growing recognition of practice-based research being shared through creative and accessible formats, extending the impact of research beyond traditional academic settings.
Designing from Home continues to be shown at special screenings at cultural, heritage, and educational institutions, as well as at documentary film festivals. It shows next at the Gordon Russell Museum at Worcestershire on Friday 8 May 2026. Further screening details be found on the University of Brighton Design Archives website.
Dr Sue Breakell
Principal Research Fellow – School of Art and Media
Communication and Creative Ecologies Research Excellence Group, Centre for Arts and Wellbeing, Material History Research Excellence Group, Centre for Design History
Dr Harriet Atkinson
Senior Lecturer – School of Humanities and Social Science
Material History Research Excellence Group, Centre for Design History, Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics and Ethics