The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has announced the participants of its annual Elevate program. As this year’s initiative addresses the gender gap among directors in the entertainment industry, BAFTA selected 15 female film directors for the program. BAFTA Elevate 2017 “will support the participants to progress in high-end television and feature films,” a press release details. BAFTA hosted a reception honoring the women on May 17.
This year’s focus on female directors is credited to “Africa United” director Debs Paterson, who wanted “an opportunity to highlight the number of experienced female directors ready to work, and to build a peer-to-peer community based on support and shared knowledge.”
Over one year, Elevate will provide the directors “tailored panel discussions, masterclasses, and workshops that will build peer support relationships, address cutting edge technical advances, and promote the directors to the wider industry.”
Among the Elevate 2017 selectees are television director Christiana Ebohon-Green (“EastEnders,” “Doctors”), “Honeytrap” helmer Rebecca Johnson, “My Brother the Devil” filmmaker Sally El Hosaini, “I Am Nasrine” helmer and HETV Director Program participant Tina Gharavi, and “Call the Midwife” director Lisa Clarke.
“We are thrilled to be supporting our incredible 15 selected participants across the next 12 months,” BAFTA Film Programme Manager Mariayah Kaderbhai commented. “Through BAFTA Elevate, we hope to provide these talented individuals with the platform they need to reach the next stage of their careers by helping them build relationships and allow them to benefit from BAFTA’s network of industry experts.”
In April news broke that BAFTA had accidentally CC’d all of the directors who were not selected for Elevate 2017. The snafu gave the 225 unaccepted women a chance to comfort one another, network, and organize. They eventually launched #BAFTAsLucky225, which reached number nine on Twitter’s trending topics list. As fate would have it, BAFTA managed to elevate all of its applicants — not just those selected for its official program.
Below is a full list of the Elevate 2017 participants, courtesy of BAFTA.
- Alicia Duffy
- Amanda Blue
- Cathy Brady
- Christiana Ebohon-Green
- Dawn Shadforth
- Delyth Thomas
- Emma Sullivan
- Kate Saxon
- Lindy Heymann
- Lisa Clarke
- Rebecca Johnson
- Sally El Hosaini
- Sarah Walker
- Tina Gharavi
- Vanessa Caswill
