FYI Daniel Kokotajlo won the £50k Bursary Award for his film Apostasy - see previous post above
British Film Institue, Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Stars from the UK’s film and television industries gathered tonight in support of BFI LUMINOUS, the biennial fundraising gala presented in partnership with IWC Schaffhausen. LUMINOUS’ special guest speaker Oscar-winning actor Tilda Swinton was among a host of luminaries who came together to celebrate UK film, raise money to ensure young people from all backgrounds can engage with the medium, and champion new talent and emerging filmmaking voices.
The evening culminated in the award of the coveted IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Bursary Award in Association with the BFI to Daniel Kokotajlo, writer/director of Apostasy, one of the UK’s most exciting new filmmaking talents. At £50,000, it is unique and one of the largest prizes for the arts in the UK, offering talent at the beginning of their career the gift of time, allowing them to grow and develop.
The Jury for the IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Bursary Award in Association with the BFI commented:
“We were unanimously moved by Daniel’s compelling and extraordinarily powerful debut Apostasy. We were very impressed with his delicate approach and skill at drawing in the audience and creating a subtle but incredibly affecting piece of work. We were also struck by his process – his commitment to research, lengthy workshopping and collaboration with his performers – something we felt that he would be able to develop with the benefit of this Bursary. We are excited to see where Daniel goes next and how this extremely distinctive and exciting new British filmmaking voice evolves.”
Daniel Kokotajlo, writer/director of Apostasy comments:
“Thank you for selecting the film; I come from a place where it would be a dream to win such an award and stand here. I know what it feels like to have very little, I know what it feels like when people are not listening, it’s been a difficult journey for me on Apostasy but once I worked out what I wanted to say then people did start to listen. A big thanks to the BFI and IWC for believing in me and for seeing that I have some talent.”
READ FULL ARTICLE: http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/announcements/daniel-kokotajlo-apostasy-iwc