Asif Kapadia

Birthday: 1972, Hackney, London, England, UK

Academy award and four time BAFTA award winning Director / Writer / Producer Asif Kapadia is known for his visually striking films exploring characters living in timeless, extreme and unforgiving landscapes. His films have been box office successes around the world as well as being critically lauded and awarded internationally.Born in Hackney in 1972, Kapadia studied filmmaking at the Royal College of Art where he first gained recognition with his short THE SHEEP THIEF (1997) shot in Rajasthan, India, the film won many international awards including the Second Prize in the Cinefondation section of the 1998 Cannes International Film Festival.Kapadia's distinct visual style developed with his debut feature THE WARRIOR (Film4, 2001), shot in the deserts of Rajasthan and the snow capped Himalaya. The Warrior was championed in the British Press as 'epic' and 'stunning' (Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian) and in 2003 was nominated for three BAFTA awards, winning two for Outstanding British Film of the Year and The Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement by a Director in their First Feature, as well as being nominated for Best Film Not in the English Language. The Warrior won the prestigious Sutherland Award at the London Film Festival, the Evening Standard British Film Award for the Most Promising Newcomer and the Douglas Hickox Award at the BIFAs for Best Debut Film.FAR NORTH (2007), Starring Michael Yeoh and Sean Bean premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Based on a short story by writer Sara Maitland. Kapadia used the epic and brutal arctic landscape to show what desperation and loneliness can drive people to do.Kapadia's feature documentary SENNA (Universal Pictures / Working Title, 2011), the thrilling story of the Brazilian motor-racing legend Ayrton Senna, was a break out hit at the international box office. The film was Nominated for three BAFTA awards, winning Best Documentary and Best Editing, as well as being nominated for Best British Film. SENNA broke records at the cinema and on DVD & Bluray in the UK. The film has won many awards around the world including the World Cinema Documentary Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, Best Documentary at the London Critics Circle, the BIFA award for Best Documentary, the Audience Award for Best International Feature at the Los Angeles Film Festival and was nominated by the Producers Guild of America for the Documentary Theatrical Motion Picture Award 2012.AMY (Universal Music, 2015), world premiered in Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival and tells the story of Amy Winehouse in her own words. The film was an international box office hit and is the highest grossing UK documentary of all time, overtaking SENNA. AMY won the Academy Award for Feature Documentary, won the BAFTA for Best Documentary as well as being nominated for Outstanding British Film. Amy won Best Documentary at the European Film Awards and was nominated for Best Feature at the International Documentary Association Awards and has received 5 nominations at the BIFA Awards, including for Best Film, Best Documentary and Best Director. Hide

I made three short films of my own which I wrote, produced, directed ... you did everything in those Show more I made three short films of my own which I wrote, produced, directed ... you did everything in those days. My favourite one was something I shot on VHS ... a little documentary. I used to live in Pillgwenlly and there was this old Italian Pizzeria that used to be there with a really amazing character who ran it. It was really just a starting point. You're only as good as what you've got to show, and so it gave me that first piece of work that could lead me on to do some more studying, where I could make another film that I could just improve on and keep pushing myself. Hide

[About directing his film "The Warrior" in a desert in Rajasthan] "The crew suffered the odd illness Show more [About directing his film "The Warrior" in a desert in Rajasthan] "The crew suffered the odd illness along the way; dehydration, sunstroke, heat-stroke, malaria, dysentery, scorpion stings, being bitten by rabid dogs, the usual kind of thing." Hide

[on his documentary about Formula One racer Ayrton Senna] Senna was an incredibly charismatic figure Show more [on his documentary about Formula One racer Ayrton Senna] Senna was an incredibly charismatic figure.Some people are inspired by him because they feel he was the best driver motorsport has ever seen. Some see his compassion for other people, and some might just think he's very good-looking. But there was something special about him, and it's that distant look in his eyes. I think Senna was a person who went on a journey, and God was part of that journey. My job was to capture the moments along the way. Hide

Asif Kapadia's FILMOGRAPHY

as Director (4)

Amy (2015)

Senna

Ali and Nino

Creature