BAFTA Award nomination for alumna behind landmark documentary

A Goldsmiths 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 Goldsmiths, 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 Goldsmiths with a real love of film and curiosity in telling human stories but it’s 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, A Syrian Love Story received a five-star review from The Guardian.

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 film’s director Sean McCallister. Last term saw McCallister visit Goldsmiths 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 year’s Sheffield Doc/Fest. The winners of the British Academy Film Awards will be announced at a ceremony in London on Sunday 14 February.