‘I Swear’ director Kirk Jones wins The Film Award at the Rolling Stone UK Awards 2025
Director Kirk Jones picked up the award at the Roundhouse this evening, calling for greater awareness and understanding of Tourette's
Kirk Jones has won the The Film Award for the fantastic I Swear at tonight’s Rolling Stone UK Awards 2025 in London.
The award was picked up at the Roundhouse by director Jones, whose stunning film traces the real-life story of John Davidson, the Scottish man who has become one of the UK’s most influential campaigners for Tourette Syndrome, having lived with the condition since he was a teenager.
In his speech, Jones said: “Hello beautiful music people! I bring news from the film world. This is really special, I want to thank Rolling Stone UK and Zyn.
“It’s a true story about John Davidson. He has lived with Tourettes’ since he was 14 and the most inspirational man I’ve ever met .Such is Tourettes that what comes out of his mouth is racist, sexist, but it isn’t him. That’s the story I wanted to tell about this man.”
He added: “I wanted to thank Kirsten Lane our music supervisor who spoke to many artists and explained it wasn’t just a film about Tourette’s. She appealed to many artists and that allowed the film to use the music of New Order, James, Portishead and Paul Weller so I’m very grateful for them.
“You got to cinemas these days and here’s a lot of talk of superheroes. But John Davidson, with his daily struggle, John is the superhero who inspires me and hopefully inspires you.”
He also went on to thank Robert Aramayo for his performance, that of Scott Ellis Watson as the young John Davidson and the film’s producers.
Jones and I Swear were up against Danny Boyle (for 28 Years Later), Bernard MacMahon (Becoming Led Zeppelin), Cynthia Erivo (Wicked: For Good), Little Simz (Steve) and Tim Key (The Ballad of Wallis Island) for the award.
The Rolling Stone UK Awards 2025 kicked off earlier tonight with a performance from Myles Smith, who also won The Breakthrough Award. Other award winners so far include Biffy Clyro, Bob Geldof and Wunderhorse.
Tonight’s awards will close out with a special one-off performance from The Cranberries‘ Noel Hogan and Australian duo Royel Otis, who went viral recently with their cover of the band’s hit single ‘Linger’.
Check back here for all the winners and stories from the Rolling Stone UK Awards 2025 across the evening and in the coming days.