Filmmaker Tomisin Adepeju has curated and will be a hosting a screening of short films, which includes BAFTA and Oscar-winning work that interrogates the politics of racial identity in Black and South Asian communities in Britain. How do we navigate racial bias in seemingly liberal environments like the workplace and schools?
The post-screening discussion with the filmmakers will explore the concept and discourse of otherness, exoticism and cultural politics, focusing on the past, our present reality and a possible dystopian future.
There will also be an opportunity for filmmakers and audiences to interact and connect with each other during and after the event.
This is an 18+ event.
Speakers:
Tomisin Adepeju (he/him)
Tomisin Adepeju is a Nigerian-British filmmaker based in London, England. His multi award-winning shorts have been selected at over 150 international film festivals; including multiple Oscar-Qualifying festivals. His award-winning short, The Right Choice, had its World Premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and also screened as part of Sundance London. The film has screened at over 50 international film festivals, including various Oscar and BAFTA-qualifying ones such as the Pan African Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival & HollyShorts Film Festival.
Tomisin is a 2018 Edinburgh Talent Lab alumnus, in 2019, he was one of the 12 filmmakers selected to take part in the annual NETWORK@LFF development programme at the BFI London Film Festival.
His most recent short, Appreciation had it’s North American Premiere at Oscar-Qualifying Aspen Shortsfest. The film was also an official selection of BFI London Film Festival 2019 and was nominated for British/Irish Short Film of the Year by the London Critics circle. He is currently developing his debut feature.
Aneil Karia (he/him)
Aneil ‘s debut feature film SURGE premiered in competition at Sundance Film Festival 2020, where its lead Ben Whishaw won the World Cinema Special Jury Award for Best Acting. It had its European premiere at the Berlinale and was released theatrically in Summer 2021. The film was produced by Rooks Nest for BBC Films and BFI. He is currently in development on his next feature film, due to shoot in late 2022.
In Television, Aneil is about to start work as director on THE GOLD, a new heist drama series for BBC One and Paramount+. He previously directed the closing three episodes of TOP BOY for Netflix.
Last year he made the short film THE LONG GOODBYE with Riz Ahmed which has won multiple awards including the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film, BIFA Best Short Film Award, the London Critics Circle Best Short Film Award and the Grand Prix at Hollyshorts Film Festival. He also made the music video for TEARDROPS by Kano which won Best Music Video at the Shots Awards 2021. In 2017, Aneil directed the short film WORK, financed by Film4, which was BAFTA and BIFA nominated for Best Short Film. This followed his first short film BEAT which screened at festivals worldwide.
Cherish Oteka (they/them)
Cherish Oteka began their career in broadcasting, working across content selection, acquisitions and content curation for leading broadcasters. Cherish has since made documentaries with a range of well-known brands and broadcasters including BBC, London Live, SBTV, Tate, Stonewall and most recently BFI and The Guardian.
Cherish has been selected on well-respected talent schemes including Edinburgh Television Festival’s One’s to Watch, Sheffield Documentary Festival’s Doc Next and The Grierson Trust’s Doc Lab.
In 2016, Cherish won UKTV’s Rising Star Award. The following year they also won Best Documentary at the Movie Screen and Video Awards. Cherish’s latest project, The Black Cop is the recipient of the Best British Short Film Award at the 2022 BAFTAs.
Mitch Kalisa (he/him)
Originally from Rwanda, Mitch Kalisa arrived in the UK as a child via Uganda. Mitch first explored his passion for film through acting and later moving into painting and sculpture before landing on directing as his primary creative output.
“Play it Safe” is his debut short film, influenced directly by his time at a prestigious drama school, and how this perceivably liberal and safe space has just as much ingrained prejudice as other predominantly white spaces. Mitch uses his own experiences to underpin his cinematic pursuit: to break convention and boundaries and tell rich stories from diverse unheard voices. Focusing on complex and often challenging tales, and giving them a visceral character and performance driven platform.
In 2021, Mitch was awarded ‘Next Director’ by the jury at D&AD.
Cornelius Walker (he/him)
Cornelius Walker is a writer & director based in London, England his passion blossomed shortly after being inspired by a teacher he had during his time living in Canada.
Since leaving film school, Cornelius has worked at ITV Studios, as well as co-founding his own company to work on projects for clients such as Google, HSBC, and William & Grant. Cornelius has directed films starring Tosin Cole (Doctor Who), Tom Moutchi (Temple) and Precious Mustapha (Fate: The Winx Saga)
Cornelius’s first Documentary Black Sheep was produced by Lightbox Entertainment and The Guardian and went on to secure an Academy Award nomination. Also nominated at the IDA Awards, it went on to win 13 titles at a series of film festivals.
