Channel 4 commissioning editor Aysha Rafael has ordered 12 x 30 minute First Cut films from first time directors with a view to transmission in early summer.

According to C4, The First Cut strand showcases “original and bold documentary films by up and coming directors as part of Channel 4′;s continuous commitment to nurturing new and diverse talent”. Now in its sixth year, the new slate of films covers subjects such as the world’;s first IVF lottery, in ‘;Win a Baby‘;, a finishing school for Chinese students in London in  ‘;Tale of Two Chinas’;,  Britain’;s Oldest Stand-up comic and story of the mother of one of Ian Brady’;s victims who wants him to reveal where her boy is buried: ‘;Dear Mr Brady’;.

Commenting on the slate, Rafaele said: “First Cut is one of the very few platforms on primetime TV for emerging film-making talent in the UK. Channel 4 continues to showcase and support distinctive singular documentary films and is always open to new opinions and ideas. This series of First Cut delivers a run of thought-provoking films from a variety of talented first-time directors.”

In addition to the subjects referred to above, films in 2012 will include ‘;The Harry Hunters‘;, which follows five girls on their quest to snag a royal including Cassie who grew up in rural Iowa watching Disney movies and dreaming she would one day marry Prince Harry.

In a separate development, C4 has commissioned Crackit Productions (Fat Fighters, The Ugly Face of Beauty) to produce a 40 x 60 min feel good property makeover show, fronted by Amanda Lamb (A Place in the Sun, My Flat Pack Home). ‘;You Deserve This House’; was commissioned by Helen Warner, Channel 4′;s former Head of Daytime, and will transmit in March 2012.

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