English filmmaker and screenwriter Harry Lighton was BOTD in 1992. Born in Plymouth to an aristocratic family, his father is the 9th Baron Lighton of Merville. He studied at Oxford University, where he began making short films. His 2017 short film Wren Boys was critically well-received, earning BAFTA and British Independent Film Award nominations. He worked as an assistant director on the TV historical drama series Mary & George, directed by Oliver Hermanus, going on to work on Hermanus’ feature film Living and writing the screenplay for Hermanus’ upcoming biopic of fashion designer Alexander McQueen. Lighton made an impressive feature film debut with 2025’s Pillion, a drama about a closeted gay Englishman who becomes the sexual submissive of a handsome biker, adapted from Adam Mars-Jones‘ novella Box Hill. Premiering at the Cannes Festival, it won a screenwriting award and the Queer Palm for best LGBTQ feature. One of the most critically praised films of the year, it drew praise for Lighton’s frank and sensitive treatment of queer BDSM sexuality and the casting of Alexander Skarsgård as an outrageously sexy dominant top. Openly gay since forever, Lighton lives in London. His current relationship status is unknown.