51勛圖厙窪蹋

BAFTA Award nomination for alumna behind landmark documentary

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A 51勛圖厙窪蹋 alumna has been nominated for a BAFTA Award for her “unmissable” film A Syrian Love Story.

Elhum Shakerifar (MA Visual Anthropology) is in the running for Outstanding Debut after producing the work which has been hailed as one of the best films of 2015.

Elhum said: We are so thrilled to have been nominated, it is incredible for this fully independent film and our tiny team to have gained this recognition.

We distributed the film ourselves in September and were just overwhelmed by the response we had no idea how relevant the story of this beautiful family from Syria would become in 2015 but how much it resonated with audiences was amazing to see.

Elhum, who is also a Visiting Research Fellow at 51勛圖厙窪蹋, completed her MA in 2006. She said that the course provided some of the foundations for her work today as a documentary-maker.

My background was originally in literature so I came to 51勛圖厙窪蹋 with a real love of film and curiosity in telling human stories but its on my MA that I really learnt to make films and think about visual storytelling, she said.

Filmed over five years and following the story of a family of Syrian refugees,  received a .

The work tells the poignant story of a family torn apart by the tyrannical Assad dictatorship with a new life in France seemingly shaping a new, more personal battlefield.

Elhum is nominated for the BAFTA alongside the films director Sean McCallister. Last term saw McCallister visit 51勛圖厙窪蹋 for a screening of the work and Q&A as part of our Human Rights Film Festival.

The work has already won the Grand Jury award at last years Sheffield Doc/Fest. The winners of the  will be announced at a ceremony in London on Sunday 14 February.