Asif Kapadia

British-Asian director, writer and producer Asif Kapadia first became an awards favorite with mythical adventure "The Warrior" (2001) before focusing his lens on two tragic high-profile figures in the acclaimed big-screen documentaries "Senna" (2010) and the Oscar-winning "Amy" (2015). Born in Hackney, London, Kapadia initially had plans to become an architect, but after a friend invited him to work as a production runner on a student film, he decided to pursue a career in the world of cinema. Kapadia went onto study at Newport Film School and the Royal College of Art, graduating from the latter with an MA in Film and Video Directing, before making his directorial debut with "Indian Tales" (1994), a darkly comic short in which a girl takes revenge on her cheating boyfriend. Further shorts "Wild West" (1996) and "The Waiting Room" (1996) were then followed by "The Sheep Thief" (1997), a story of a street kid who becomes an outcast after being accused of stealing, which won the 2nd Prize Cinefondation at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. Kapadia earned similar acclaim for his first full-length feature, "The Warrior" (2001), a Hindi-language drama in which Bollywood star Irrfan Khan plays the titular hero attempting to give up the sword in feudal Rajasthan. Showcasing Kapadia's striking visual style, use of non-professional actors and sparse dialogue, the film won two BAFTA Awards, including Best British Film, and established him as one of the most distinctive new filmmakers on the scene. Kapadia's career faltered slightly when he headed to Hollywood to helm the derivative Sarah Michelle Gellar-starring psychological horror, "The Return" (2006). But he got it back on track when he returned to more low-key fare a year later for the adaptation of Sara Maitland's short story, "Far North" (2007), an Arctic-based drama in which Sean Bean's mysterious soldier disrupts the two lives of Nomadic women. After adding to his body of film shorts with "Trancity" (2008) and "My World" (2008), Kapadia moved into the non-fiction field for "Senna" (2010), a portrait of the Brazilian Formula One champion who tragically died during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. The film not only gave Kapadia a third BAFTA Award, but also became the second highest-grossing documentary in British box office-history, and was followed up by another sporting-themed venture, "The Odyssey" (2012), a half-hour film charting London's journey hosting the 2012 Olympic Games. A year later, Kapadia teamed up with the Human Rights organisation Reprieve for "Standard Operating Procedure" (2013), a short about the method of force feeding hunger strikers in Guantanamo Bay. Kapadia's second feature-length documentary, "Amy" (2015), saw him shine the spotlight on another superstar who met their end far too early, troubled soul singer Amy Winehouse; the critically-acclaimed film won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. Later that year he helmed the adaptation of Kurban Said's cross cultural pre-World War I love story, "Ali and Nino" (2015).