Asif Kapadia
Asif Kapadia | |
---|---|
Born | 1972 (age 51–52) |
Occupation | Filmmaker |
Years active | 1997–present |
Notable work | The Sheep Thief (1997) The Warrior (2001) Senna (2010) Amy (2015) Diego Maradona (2019) |
Spouse | Victoria Harwood (m. 2006) |
Asif Kapadia (born 1972) is a British filmmaker.
Academy Award, BAFTA and Grammy-winning director Asif Kapadia has made his name directing visually striking films exploring ‘outsiders’, characters living in extreme circumstances, fighting against a corrupt or broken system. While he has worked in drama and documentaries, Kapadia is best known for his trilogy of narratively driven, archive-constructed documentaries Senna, Amy and Diego Maradona.
Amy (2015), based on singer Amy Winehouse, had its world premiere at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, and it is the highest-grossing British Documentary of all time at the UK box office. It also won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, the BAFTA for Best Documentary, a Grammy for Best Music Film, the European Film Award for Best Documentary and the Grierson Award for Best Documentary.
Kapadia directed the documentary film
Kapadia's narrative debut The Warrior (2001), won the BAFTA for Outstanding British Film of the Year and the Award for Special Achievement by a Director, Writer or Producer in their Debut Feature; the film was also nominated for Best Film Not in the English Language.
In 2019, he released the film Diego Maradona, based on Argentine football legend Diego Maradona, with Kapadia stating, "Maradona is the third part of a trilogy about child geniuses and fame."[1]
In May 2021, he released the musical docuseries 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything, based on the book 1971 – Never a Dull Moment: Rock's Golden Year, by the British music journalist David Hepworth.[2]
Early life
Asif Kapadia was born in 1972 in north London, to an Indian Muslim[3][4] British family. He attended Newport Film School (formerly part of the University of Wales, Newport, now the University of South Wales),[5] achieved a first-class degree (BA Hons) in Film, TV and Photographic Arts from the University of Westminster[6] and an MA (RCA) in Directing for Film and TV at the Royal College of Art.
Career
Kapadia's first feature film,
Kapadia's next film Amy was a documentary that depicted the life and death of British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse. Amy was released on 3 July 2015 in the United Kingdom, New York and Los Angeles, and worldwide on 10 July. The film has been described as "heartbreaking", "awe-inspiring", "unmissable", "the best documentary of the year" and "a tragic masterpiece". The film received five out of five star ratings when it was reviewed at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival in May. The film has become the highest grossing British documentary, and second highest grossing documentary of all time in the United Kingdom, overtaking Kapadia's 2010 movie Senna.[9][10]
In 2018, a documentary film titled Maradona, based on Argentine football legend Diego Maradona, was released. Following on from Senna and Amy, Kapadia states: "Maradona is the third part of a trilogy about child geniuses and fame."[1] He added: "I was fascinated by his journey, wherever he went there were moments of incredible brilliance and drama. He was a leader, taking his teams to the very top, but also many lows in his career. He was always the little guy fighting against the system... and he was willing to do anything, to use all of his cunning and intelligence to win."[11]
In 2019, Kapadia was awarded as Honorary Associate of London Film School.[12]
Favourite films
In 2022, Kapadia participated in the
Kapadia selections were:
- Vertigo (1958)
- Raging Bull (1980)
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
- La Jetée (1962)
- Once upon a Time in the West (1968)
- Don't Look Now (1973)
- The Godfather Part II (1974)
- Come and See (1985)
- Yojimbo (1961)
- In the Mood for Love (2000)
Political views
In December 2019, along with 42 other leading cultural figures, Kapadia signed a letter endorsing the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership in the 2019 general election. The letter stated that "Labour's election manifesto under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership offers a transformative plan that prioritises the needs of people and the planet over private profit and the vested interests of a few."[14][15]
Filmography
Year | Title | Director | Producer | Executive Producer
|
Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1994 | Indian Tales | Yes | Short film. 12 mins long. | ||
1996 | The Waiting Room | Yes | Short film. 8 mins long. | ||
1996 | Wild West | Yes | Short film. 1 min long. | ||
1997 | The Sheep Thief | Yes | Short film. 24 mins long. | ||
2001 | The Warrior | Yes | |||
2006 | The Return | Yes | |||
2007 | Far North | Yes | |||
2010 | Senna | Yes | Released in 2010 in Brazil, 2011 everywhere else | ||
2013 | Monsoon Shootout | Yes | |||
2015 | Amy | Yes | Won the 2016 Academy Award for Documentary Feature
| ||
2015 | Ronaldo | Yes | |||
2016 | Oasis: Supersonic | Yes | |||
2016 | Ali and Nino | Yes | |||
2017 | Mindhunter (TV series) | Yes | Netflix series. Directed episodes 3 & 4. | ||
2019 | Diego Maradona | Yes | |||
2022 | Creature | Yes | |||
2024 | Federer: Twelve Final Days | Yes | Yes |
Awards and nominations
List of awards and nominations | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Award / Film Festival | Category | Work | Result | Ref(s) |
2011 | British Independent Film Awards | Best British Documentary | Senna | Won | |
Best British Independent Film | Nominated | ||||
Best Technical Achievement | Nominated | ||||
Sundance Film Festival | World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary | Won[16] | |||
Satellite Awards | Best Documentary Film | Won | |||
Grierson Awards | Best Cinema Documentary | Nominated | |||
Los Angeles Film Festival
|
Audience Award for Best International Feature | Won[17] | |||
Melbourne International Film Festival | Most Popular Documentary Award | Won[18] | |||
Moscow International Film Festival | Audience Award | Won | |||
Adelaide Film Festival | Best Documentary – Audience Award | Won[19][20] | |||
2012 | British Academy Film Awards | Best Documentary | Senna | Won | |
Best Editing | Won | ||||
Outstanding British Film
|
Nominated | ||||
Producers Guild of America Awards
|
Documentary Feature | Nominated | |||
Writers Guild of America Awards
|
Documentary | Nominated | |||
London Film Critics Circle Awards | Documentary of the Year | Won | |||
Technical Achievement | Nominated | ||||
Evening Standard British Film Awards | Best Documentary | Won | |||
Cinema Eye Honors | Outstanding Achievement in Editing | Won | |||
Outstanding Achievement in non-fiction Feature Filmmaking | Nominated | ||||
Outstanding Achievement in an Original Music Score | Nominated | ||||
Audience Choice Prize | Nominated | ||||
FOCAL International Awards | Best Use of Footage in a Cinema Release | Won | |||
Best Use of Sports Footage | Won | ||||
Special Award for the contribution to Archive Filmmaking Industry | Won | ||||
Best Use of Footage in a Home Entertainment Release | Nominated | ||||
2015 | Hollywood Film Awards | Best Documentary of the Year | Amy | Won | |
2016 | British Academy Film Awards | Best Documentary | Amy | Won | |
Outstanding British Film
|
Nominated | ||||
Academy Awards | Best Documentary – Feature
|
Won[21] |
References
- ^ a b "Film-maker Asif Kapadia: 'Maradona is the third part of a trilogy about child geniuses and fame'". The Guardian. 1 October 2017.
- ^ "Apple TV+'s '1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything': TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. 20 May 2021.
- ^ "The Saturday interview: Asif Kapadia". The Guardian. 8 July 2011.
My films often have a spiritual dimension which comes from my Muslim background, and I'm happy to tackle that in cinema.
- ^ "Asif Kapadia's 2012 Odyssey: the film that captures London's dark side". The Guardian. 24 June 2012.
- ^ "History | documentary newport". Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
- ^ "An interview with Asif Kapadia". University of Westminster. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
- ^ Matt Warren (24 August 2001). "Review The silent soldier The Warrior". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
- ^ Bradshaw, Peter (10 May 2002). "The Warrior". theguardian.com. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
- ^ "U.K. Box Office: 'Amy' becomes second biggest doc ever" Archived 1 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Cornerstone film.
- ^ "Amy Winehouse documentary breaks box office records". The Guardian.
- ^ "Amy director Asif Kapadia set to make Maradona documentary". The Independent. 1 October 2017.
- ^ "ASIF KAPADIA ANNOUNCED AS HONORARY ASSOCIATE OF THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL London Film School". lfs.org.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ "Asif Kapadia | BFI".
- ^ "Vote for hope and a decent future". The Guardian. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- ^ Proctor, Kate (3 December 2019). "Coogan and Klein lead cultural figures backing Corbyn and Labour". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- ^ "Award Screening Schedule". sundance.org. Sundance Institute. Archived from the original on 4 February 2011. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
- ^ "2011 Winners". Lafilmfest.com. Archived from the original on 30 June 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
- ^ "People's Choice Award - Docos". miff.com.au. 24 August 2011. Archived from the original on 31 October 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
- ^ Buckeridge, Julian. "Audience Awards Announced". Atthecinema.net. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
- ^ "Adelaide Film Festival". Adelaide Film Festival. 15 March 2011. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
- ^ 2016|Oscars.org
External links
- Asif Kapadia at IMDb