We are Delighted to announce that Asif Kapadia is our AFFA 2020 Guest of Honour! Kapadia won our AFFA Film Directing award in 2001, and will be presenting our awards to this year’s winners.
Academy Award, four time BAFTA award and Grammy winning director Asif Kapadia has directed a series of visually striking films, exploring ‘outsider’ characters living in extreme and unforgiving landscapes, best known for his acclaimed trilogy of documentaries SENNA, AMY and DIEGO MARADONA, these groundbreaking films work dramatically like fiction but are constructed entirely from archive footage. Kapadia has also written / directed fiction THE WARRIOR, FAR NORTH, television MINDHUNTER, as well as award winning short films THE SHEEP THIEF and commercials THE TALE OF THOMAS BURBERRY. His films have been distributed around the world, broken box office records, been critically acclaimed and have won numerous international awards.
Kapadia first gained recognition while a student at the Royal College of Art with his short film THE SHEEP THIEF which won an award at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.
Kapadia co wrote and directed his epic debut feature THE WARRIOR (FilmFour) shot in India, the film won two BAFTA Awards; Outstanding British Film of the Year and Special Achievement by a Director, Writer or Producer in their Debut Feature, as well as being nominated for Best Film Not in the English Language.
His thrilling film SENNA (Universal Pictures / Working Title Films), told the story of the Brazilian Formula One legend Ayrton Senna, the film was a hit around the world, winning BAFTA Awards for Best Documentary and Best Editing, it also was nominated for Outstanding British Film. The dramatic, visual storytelling of SENNA, told entirely through archive, was seen by many as a turning point in documentary filmmaking.
AMY (Universal Music) world premiered at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and told the story of singer songwriter Amy Winehouse using her own words and lyrics. The film was universally acclaimed, was a hit at the international box office and is the most successful theatrical British documentary of all time. AMY won the Academy Award, BAFTA award, the European Film Award and a Grammy award for Best Documentary.
In 2017 Kapadia directed two episodes of the critically acclaimed Netflix original series MINDHUNTER for Producer David Fincher.
Kapadia’s most recent film DIEGO MARADONA tells the story of the controversial and iconic Argentinian footballer and his his 7 years in the incredible city of Naples, the film world premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and completed his trilogy of film on child geniuses and the price of fame.