Asif Kapadia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Asif Kapadia is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

filmmaker of India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n descent. He directed several award-winning films, including The Sheep Thief
The Sheep Thief
The Sheep Thief is a 1997 16 mm short film by Asif Kapadia Writer /Director lasting 23mins. It is Kapadia’s graduation film from the Royal College of Art.-Awards:*Festival de Cannes 1998 Cinefondation - Second Prize....

(1997), winner of the 2nd Prize Cinéfondation

Cinéfondation

La Cinéfondation is a foundation under the aegis of the Cannes Film Festival, created to inspire and support the next generation of international filmmakers....

for Short Film at the Cannes Film Festival

Cannes Film Festival

The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...

, The Warrior
The Warrior
The Warrior is a 2001 film by British-Indian filmmaker Asif Kapadia. It stars Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan as Lafcadia, a warrior in feudal Rajasthan who attempts to give up the sword....

(2001), which won the BAFTA Award for Best British Film

BAFTA Award for Best Film

This page lists the winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Film, BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language and Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film for each year, in addition to the retired earlier versions of those awards...

and Senna
Senna (film)
Senna is a 2010 documentary film that depicts the life and death of Brazilian motor-racing champion, Ayrton Senna. It is Asif Kapadia's fourth feature film as director, and is produced by ESPN/Working Title and distributed by Universal Pictures/Walt Disney Pictures...

(2010), winner of the World Cinema

World cinema

World cinema is a term used primarily in English language speaking countries to refer to the films and film industries of non-English speaking countries. It is therefore often used interchangeably with the term foreign film...

Audience Award

Audience award

An audience award is typically an award at a film festival which is selected by the audience attending the festival, rather than by the festival jury or a group of critics.- Examples :...

Documentary

A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...

at the Sundance Film Festival

Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...

2011.

BAFTA award winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia is known for his visually striking films which explore the lives of ‘outsiders’, characters living in timeless, extreme and unforgiving circumstances or landscapes. His films have been awarded and distributed internationally and shown how versatile and expressive British cinema can be.

Born in Hackney

London Borough of Hackney

The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

in 1972, Kapadia studied filmmaking at the Royal College of Art

Royal College of Art

The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...

where he first gained recognition with his short The Sheep Thief

The Sheep Thief

The Sheep Thief is a 1997 16 mm short film by Asif Kapadia Writer /Director lasting 23mins. It is Kapadia’s graduation film from the Royal College of Art.-Awards:*Festival de Cannes 1998 Cinefondation - Second Prize....

(1997) telling the story of a gifted street kid and the family who take him in, made with non professional actors in Rajasthan, India, the film won many awards including Second Prize at the 1998 Cannes International Film Festival Cinefondation

Cinéfondation

La Cinéfondation is a foundation under the aegis of the Cannes Film Festival, created to inspire and support the next generation of international filmmakers....

, the Grand Prix

Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)

The Grand Prix is an award of the Cannes Film Festival bestowed by the jury of the festival on one of the competing feature films. It is the second-most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme d'Or...

at the 1997 European Short Film Festival in Brest

Brest, France

Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...

and Best Director at the Recontres Henri Langlois

Henri Langlois

Henri Langlois was a French film archivist and cinephile. A pioneer of film preservation, Langlois was an influential figure in the history of cinema...

Festival International des Ecoles de Cinema in Poitiers

Poitiers

Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...

1997.

Kapadia’s distinct visual style continued with his first feature The Warrior
The Warrior
The Warrior is a 2001 film by British-Indian filmmaker Asif Kapadia. It stars Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan as Lafcadia, a warrior in feudal Rajasthan who attempts to give up the sword....

(2001, FilmFour), shot in the deserts of Rajasthan and the snow capped Himalaya. The Warrior was championed in the British Press as ‘epic

Epic film

An epic is a genre of film that emphasizes human drama on a grand scale. Epics are more ambitious in scope than other film genres, and their ambitious nature helps to differentiate them from similar genres such as the period piece or adventure film...

’and ‘stunning’ (Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

) and was nominated for three BAFTA awards, winning two the Alexander Korda

Alexander Korda

Sir Alexander Korda was a Hungarian-born British producer and film director. He was a leading figure in the British film industry, the founder of London Films and the owner of British Lion Films, a film distributing company.-Life and career:The elder brother of filmmakers Zoltán Korda and Vincent...

Award for the outstanding British Film of the Year 2002 and The Carl Foreman

Carl Foreman

Carl Foreman, CBE was an American screenwriter and film producer who wrote the notable film High Noon. He was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses in the 1950s.-Biography:...

Award for Special Achievement by a Director, Screenwriter or Producer in their First Feature.

The Warrior
The Warrior
The Warrior is a 2001 film by British-Indian filmmaker Asif Kapadia. It stars Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan as Lafcadia, a warrior in feudal Rajasthan who attempts to give up the sword....

also won the Grand Prix at the Dinard Film Festival, the prestigious Sutherland Award at the London Film Festival

London Film Festival

The BFI London Film Festival is the UK's largest public film event, screening more than 300 features, documentaries and shorts from almost 50 countries. The festival, , currently in its 54th year, is run every year in the second half of October under the umbrella of the British Film Institute...

, the Evening Standard British Film Awards

Evening Standard British Film Awards

The Evening Standard British Film Awards were established in 1973 by the British London area evening newspaper Evening Standard. The Standard Awards is the only ceremony "dedicated to British and Irish talent," judged by a panel of "top UK critics." Each ceremony honours films from the previous...

for the Most Promising Newcomer, the Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Film and the Technical Achievement Award for Cinematography

Cinematography

Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...

at the British Independent Film Awards

British Independent Film Awards

The Moët British Independent Film Awards is an annual award ceremony celebrating achievement in independently funded British film and cinema. Nominations and jury are announced at the beginning of November with the award ceremony taking place in late November or early December.-History:The British...

and the Jury Prize for the best cinematography at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

Far North
Far North (2007 film)
Far North is an independently produced film by director Asif Kapadia, based on a short story by Sara Maitland. It was screened at various film festivals in 2007 and 2008 before a US DVD release on September 23, 2008....

(2007, FILM4), premiered at the Venice Film Festival

Venice Film Festival

The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...

, based on a dark short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

by Sara Maitland

Sara Maitland

Sara Maitland is a British writer and feminist. An accomplished novelist, she is also known for her short stories. Her work has a magic realist tendency.-Biography:...

. Kapadia used the epic

Epic film

and brutal arctic

Arctic

The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...

landscape to show how desperation and loneliness drive a woman to harm the person she loves the most.

Kapadia's fourth feature Senna
Senna (film)
Senna is a 2010 documentary film that depicts the life and death of Brazilian motor-racing champion, Ayrton Senna. It is Asif Kapadia's fourth feature film as director, and is produced by ESPN/Working Title and distributed by Universal Pictures/Walt Disney Pictures...

, (2010, Working Title

Working title

A working title, sometimes called a production title, is the temporary name of a product or project used during its development, usually used in filmmaking, television production, novel, video game, or music album.-Purpose:...

/ Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures

-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...

) the epic story of the monumental life and tragic death of legendary Brazilian motor-racing Champion

Champion

A champion is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition.There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, and even further divisions at one or more of these levels, as in soccer. Their champions...

, Ayrton Senna

Ayrton Senna

Ayrton Senna da Silva was a Brazilian racing driver. A three-time Formula One world champion, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time...

. Spanning the decade from his arrival in Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

in the mid 80’s, the film follows Senna’s struggles both on track against his nemesis, French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

World Champion Alain Prost

Alain Prost

Alain Marie Pascal Prost, OBE, Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur is a French racing driver. A four-time Formula One Drivers' Champion, Prost has won more titles than any driver except for Juan Manuel Fangio , and Michael Schumacher . From 1987 until 2001 Prost held the record for most Grand Prix...

, and off it, against the politics

Politics

Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...

which infest the sport

Sport

A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...

. Sublime

Sublime (philosophy)

In aesthetics, the sublime is the quality of greatness, whether physical, moral, intellectual, metaphysical, aesthetic, spiritual or artistic...

, spiritual

Spirituality

Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...

and, on occasion, ruthless – Ayrton Senna

Ayrton Senna

Ayrton Senna da Silva was a Brazilian racing driver. A three-time Formula One world champion, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time...

conquers and transcend

Transcend

Transcend Information, Inc. is a Taiwanese company that manufactures and distributes of memory products headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. Transcend's product portfolio consists of over 2,000 devices including memory modules, flash memory cards, USB flash drives, digital audio players, Portable...

s Formula One

Formula One

to become a global superstar. Privately, he is humble and fiercely patriotic, donating millions to his native Brasil and contemplating a life beyond racing

Racing

A sport race is a competition of speed, against an objective criterion, usually a clock or to a specific point. The competitors in a race try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time...

. Tragically he is struck down in his prime on one of the blackest weekends in the history of the sport, watched live on television by 300 million people. Years on he is revered in Formula One as the greatest motor racing driver of all time – and in Brasil as a Saint

Saint

A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

.

Winner of the World Cinema Audience Award Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival

Sundance Film Festival

2011.

Kapadia on accepting the award; "This is amazing. This festival has restored my faith in film festivals, Sundance is all about the films, the audience and the film makers. Every single screening is sold out. We were told that no one in the US knew who Ayrton Senna was, that there was no interest in Formula One, that we should forget about releasing the film here, so to win the Audience Award at Sundance is just fantastic, it makes us feel so proud. We hope this shows that there is an audience for SENNA in the US, both fans and people who have never heard of him before and I hope this is just the beginning of a long journey for SENNA in 2011.”

Winner of Best Documentary – Audience Award at the Adelaide Film Festival

Adelaide Film Festival

The Adelaide Film Festival is a biennial and non-competitive film festival held over two weeks in late February, in Adelaide, South Australia....

2011.

Senna has been released in Japan and in Brazil where it had one of the biggest openings for a documentary film ever.

The film will be released in UK, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Australia, S. Korea, USA and around the world during 2011.

Filmography

Indian Tales (1994)
The Waiting Room (1996)
Wild West (1996)
The Sheep Thief
The Sheep Thief
The Sheep Thief is a 1997 16 mm short film by Asif Kapadia Writer /Director lasting 23mins. It is Kapadia’s graduation film from the Royal College of Art.-Awards:*Festival de Cannes 1998 Cinefondation - Second Prize....

(1997)
The Warrior
The Warrior
The Warrior is a 2001 film by British-Indian filmmaker Asif Kapadia. It stars Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan as Lafcadia, a warrior in feudal Rajasthan who attempts to give up the sword....

(2001)
The Return
The Return (2006 film)
The Return is a 2006 psychological thriller directed by Asif Kapadia. The film stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Kate Beahan, Peter O'Brien, and Sam Shepard...

(2006)
Far North
Far North (2007 film)
Far North is an independently produced film by director Asif Kapadia, based on a short story by Sara Maitland. It was screened at various film festivals in 2007 and 2008 before a US DVD release on September 23, 2008....

(2007)
Senna (2010)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.