Filmmaker Rungano Nyoni awarded the sixth Wellcome Screenwriting Fellowship in partnership with BFI and Film4

Category: News Release
  • Fellowship worth £30,000 lets screenwriters explore intersection between science and health
  • Inspires narratives about the human condtion 
  • Current fellow Michaela Coel uses her award to explore states of consciousness

 

Wellcome, London, 21 November 2018: Tonight at the annual celebration for the Wellcome Screenwriting Fellowship, in partnership with BFI and Film4, BAFTA award-winning Rungano Nyoni is announced as the 2018 Fellow. Now in its sixth year, the Fellowship gives a screenwriter of exceptional talent £30,000 to explore the intersection between screenwriting, health and science. Nominated by leading film and TV industry executives, this unique collaboration takes place without the constraints of a specific project. This allows the Fellow to gain inspiration and knowledge from Wellcome’s vast range of science and humanities resources, which includes access to research, meetings with leaders in the fields of science and medical history, visiting clinical centres and access to the Wellcome Collection.     

Rungano Nyoni said: “I have to say how utterly honoured I am to be this year’s Fellowship recipient. It's not often that someone shows so much faith in you and your work that they support you with no strings attached. It has come at a time where I am trying to figure out what kind of filmmaker I want to be as I embark on my second feature. It’s beautiful and refreshing that Wellcome is allowing me to just explore. That's rare. Right now I am fascinated by the idea of studying indigenous cultures in Africa, and other parts of the world, and the impact modernisation and colonisation has had on their mental health and communities. Besides that I will use the time to scour through Wellcome's extensive archives and collection of graphic novels.”

The Welsh-Zambian writer and director’s debut feature I Am Not a Witch was lauded at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, and Nyoni went on to win the BAFTA award for Outstanding Debut for a British Writer, Director or Producer.

Since the inaugural Wellcome Screenwriting Fellowship was awarded in 2013, every Fellow has taken a very different science-based journey. This has produced a growing legacy of work rooted in a deep understanding of what it means to be human. Clio Barnard, the first recipient of the Fellowship, researched perception, memory and the long-term impact of trauma. Her successor Jonathan Glazer looked at psychological, historical and ethical themes. Carol Morley explored a range of ideas relating to mental health and Sally Wainwright looked at attitudes to sexuality and mental health.

This year’s Fellow, Michaela Coel (Chewing Gum), has worked with a range of researchers and leading experts on different states of consciousness, the brain, memory and cognition, as well as meeting with expert endocrinologists.

Michaela Coel said: “I am very thankful to the Fellowship for giving me the financial freedom to write, think, read and learn at a pace not dictated by my deadlines. It has been crucial in allowing my mind to develop, and broadening my perceptions of the world around me and beyond.

Simon Chaplin, Wellcome’s Director of Culture and Society, said: “We’re delighted that Rungano Nyoni will be the next Wellcome Screenwriting Fellow. With her distinct filmmaking style and keen interest in the way different cultures approach health, we’re sure that she’ll take the Fellowship in a new and exciting direction.

“Supporting and stimulating ideas has always been central to Wellcome’s approach; the Fellowship gives screenwriters a chance to make connections and explore new ideas with Wellcome’s research. It is a joy to see how each Fellow has approached the award in entirely different yet equally creative ways, and we look forward to Rungano’s contribution.”
The Screenwriting Fellowship is chaired by Kate Leys with Lizzie Francke (Senior Development and Production Executive, BFI), Lauren Dark (Commissioning Executive, Film4), Imran Khan (Head of Public Engagement, Wellcome), Iain Dodgeon (Creative and Partnerships Manager, Wellcome) and Emma Duffy (Drama and Film Executive, Wellcome).

Lizzie Francke, BFI Senior Production and Development Executive, said: “It’s wonderful to see Rungano’s unique creativity and talent be so rewarded by Wellcome and the industry who voted for her. She leads a new renaissance of storytelling reinvigorating British cinema. The BFI is proud to have supported her through the BFI NETWORK and then on to I Am Not a Witch, and we are excited to see what she will do next. This award is such a great opportunity for Rungano to explore new ideas around culture, community and health and we only suspect she will do something highly imaginative and deliciously surprising with it.”

Lauren Dark, Film4 Commissioning Executive, said: “I Am Not A Witch was such a genre defying mix of social commentary and magical realism, we can’t wait to see what Rungano does next. It’s exciting to think about what might come out of this unique opportunity, to explore the incredible archives at The Wellcome Trust.

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Notes to editors

Rungano Nyoni biography
Rungano Nyoni has directed several short films, including Mwansa The Great, which won several awards and was nominated for a BAFTA in 2012. Her subsequent short film, Listen, was selected for over 150 film festivals and won Best Narrative Short at Tribeca Film Festival.

Her first feature film I Am Not a Witch premiered at Cannes Film Festival's Directors’ Fortnight. It went on to win a BAFTA Award for Most Outstanding Debut in 2018.

 

Details of Fellowship

  • A £30,000 bursary for one year

Plus Fellows can choose to take up some or all of the following:

  • Access and introductions to leaders in the fields of science and medical history
  • Behind-the-scenes access to Wellcome Collection’s library, archive and collections
  • Visits to research institutions and programmes that carry out health research in areas such as HIV, malaria and tuberculosis and mental health conditions
  • Direct access to science research trials
  • A new interdisciplinary space to work alongside scientists, scholars and creative practitioners – The Hub at Wellcome Collection.

 

Fellowship legacy:

Sally Wainwright wrote and directed her forthcoming BBC drama Gentleman Jack. Wainwright also used her Fellowship to begin the process of translating and digitising all of Anne Lister’s diaries.

Carol Morley used the ideas sparked during Fellowship to develop Out of Blue, a co-production with Wellcome. She also uncovered a new story about the life of British artist Audrey Amiss, whose diaries, artworks and notebooks are part of Wellcome’s archive. Artist Typist Pirate King is expected to shoot in late 2019.

Jonathan Glazer’s next film, which has been his focus for the past four or five years, is set during the Holocaust and starts shooting next summer in Auschwitz.

Clio Barnard was awarded the inaugural Fellowship which informed her film Dark River.

About Wellcome

Wellcome exists to improve health for everyone by helping great ideas to thrive. We’re a global charitable foundation, both politically and financially independent. We support scientists and researchers, take on big problems, fuel imaginations and spark debate.

About the BFI
The BFI Film Fund supports world-class UK filmmaking from talent and film development, through to production and audience development across exhibition, distribution and international sales, investing over £50 million of National Lottery funding a year.

Recent releases and highly anticipated films backed by the BFI include Mike Leigh’s Peterloo which received its UK premiere at the 62nd BFI London Film Festival and Cold War which brought Pawel Pawlikowski the Best Director award at this year’s Cannes. Both screened at the Toronto International Film Festival alongside Wash Westmoreland’s Colette, William McGregor’s Gwen, Claire Denis’ High Life, Peter Strickland’s In Fabric, Carol Morley’s Out of Blue, Annabel Jankel’s Tell It to the Bees, Tom Harper’s Wild Rose, IWC Schaffhausen award-winner Richard  Billingham’s Ray & Liz, and Amma Asante’s Where Hands Touch. In the pipeline for release are Victor Kossakovksy’s  Aquarela; Brian Welsh’s Beats; Scott Graham’s Born to Run;  Chiwetel Ejiofor’s The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind; Peter Middleton and James Spinney’s Chaplin; Chris Morris Untitled Project; Neil Biswas’s Darkness Visible; Jason Barker’s A Deal with the Universe;  Andrew Hulme’s The Devil Outside; Sacha Polak’s Dirty God; Craig Roberts’ Eternal Beauty; Thomas Clay’s Fanny Lye Deliver’d; Iain Cunningham’s Irene’s Ghost; Gabrielle Brady’s Island of the Hungry Ghosts; Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn’s Normal People;; Hong Khaou’s Monsoon;  Steve McLean’s Postcards from London; Ken Loach’s Sorry We Missed You;  Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir; Chino Moya’s Undergods andTim Travers Hawkins’ XY Chelsea; Recent releases include Tinge Krishnan’s Been So Long; Jim Hosking’s An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn; Matthew Jones’ The Man from Mo’ Wax; Haifaa Al-Mansour’s Mary Shelley; Sean McAllister’s A Northern Soul; Matthew Holness’ Possum; and  Idris Elba’s Yardie

At the BFI we support, nurture and promote the art of film, television and the moving image. A charity, funded by Government and earned income, and a distributor of National Lottery funds, we are at the heart of the UK’s fast growing screen industries, protecting the past and shaping their future across the UK. We work in partnership with cultural organisations, government and industry to make this happen. We bring our world-class cultural programmes and unrivalled national collections to audiences everywhere, and promote learning about our art-form and its heritage. We support the future success of film in the UK by nurturing new voices and fresh ideas, enriching independent British film culture, challenging the UK's screen industries to innovate and defining Britain and its storytellers in the 21st century.

Founded in 1933, the BFI is a registered charity governed by Royal Charter.  The BFI Board of Governors is chaired by Josh Berger CBE.

bfi.org.uk / @bfi

About Film4
Film4 is Channel 4 Television’s feature film division. Film4 develops and co-finances films and is known for working with the most distinctive and innovative talent in UK and international filmmaking, both new and established.

 

Film4 has developed and co-financed many of the most successful UK films of recent years, Academy Award®-winners such as Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Lenny Abrahamson’s Room, Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, Asif Kapadia’s box office record breaking documentary Amy, Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire and Phyllida Lloyd’s The Iron Lady, in addition to critically-acclaimed award-winners such as Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here, Andrea Arnold’s American Honey, Rungano Nyoni’s I Am Not a Witch, Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Lobster, Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner, Chris Morris’s Four Lions, Shane Meadows’ This is England, Clio Barnard’s The Selfish Giant, Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin and Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years.

Film4’s recent releases include Steve McQueen’s Widows, Mike Leigh’s Peterloo, Tinge Krishnan’s Been So Long, Bart Layton’s American Animals, Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War, Lenny Abrahamson’s The Little Stranger, Iain Morris’s The Festival, Andrew Haigh’s Lean on Pete, Clio Barnard’s Dark River and Michael Pearce’s Beast. Forthcoming releases include Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Favourite, Sebastián Lelio’s Disobedience, Stephen Merchant’s Fighting With My Family and Tom Harper’s Wild Rose. Films in production include Armando Iannucci’s The Personal History of David Copperfield, Asif Kapadia’s Maradona, Sarah Gavron’s ‘Untitled Girls Film’, Nick Rowland’s Calm With Horses, Justin Kurzel’s True History of the Kelly Gang, Coky Giedroyc’s adaptation of Caitlin Moran’s How To Build a Girl, Gregor Jordan’s Dirt Music, Ben Sharrock’s Limbo, Cathy Brady’s Wildfire and Chaplin from Peter Middleton and James Spinney.

For further information please visit www.film4productions.com.