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Senna Director receives honorary award

Friday 30 November 2012

Asif Kapadia

Asif Kapadia, best known for his 2010 documentary, Senna, was yesterday awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of East London (UEL) at The North Greenwich Arena in London.

Born in Hackney in 1972 to an Indian Muslim family, Asif Kapadia is an inspiration for UEL’s media and creative industries students, working hard to carve his name as an international film director.  

Asif’s career started while he was studying graphic design and was asked to work on a student film as a runner.  He quickly discovered his passion for filmmaking and took work on more films. His success as a filmmaker in his own right did not come quickly – he worked hard and persevered against the odds, specifically being one of the few Indian Muslims working on films at the time.

Asif rates education highly as a factor in his success. He completed an HND at Newport Film School, a degree in filmmaking at the University of Westminster and a Masters in film and TV direction at the Royal College of Art.

His graduate film from the Royal College of Art, The Sheep Thief, in 1997 was filmed in Rajasthan, India, and went on to win a prize at the Canned Film Festival. After completing his Masters, Asif made his first feature film, The Warrior, also set in Rajasthan. The film was nominated for three BAFTA awards and won the Alexander Korda Award for the outstanding British Film of the Year 2002, as well as the Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement by a Director, Screenwriter or Producer in the First Feature.

Asif is best known for his 2010 documentary, Senna, which won two BAFTA awards for Best Documentary and Best Editing, and the World Cinema Documentary Audience Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. It is the highest grossing British documentary of all time and tells the story of Brazilian Formula One driver Ayrton Senna.

Asif Kapadia, said: “I would like to thank UEL for this amazing honour. It only feels like yesterday when I was graduating. I am the youngest of five children, so I pretty much had the freedom to do what I wanted in terms of a career, and that is what led me into filmmaking.

“My advice to graduates is to try and make a career out of your hobby – do something that you love. I would like to say congratulations to the students who are graduating today – you guys have done all the hard work.”

More recently, Asif became one of four filmmakers commissioned by BBC Films and Film 4 to make a series of documentaries on the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games – these premiered at the Hackney Picture House in June.

 

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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