Three named as winners of Bafta film writing comp

Bafta and Rocliffe have announced the three winners of the nationwide BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Competition for Film.

The competition is a platform for aspiring screenwriters to have their work showcased and to take their writing career to the next level.

The winners for Film are Dominic Flint for The Burning Hill, Lawrence Pumfrey for Peakland and Claire Tailyour for Mother Wild.

The winners will be supported through mentoring and networking opportunities, as well as receiving access to BAFTA’s year-round learning events programme.

The Jury selecting this year’s winning writers included actor Colm Meaney, actor-writer-directors Romola Garai and Clint Dyer, director Annemarie Jacir and Louisa Dent from Curzon, Emma Berkofsky from Lionsgate and Todd Brown from XYZ from a shortlist drawn up by a panel of creatives including execs from Mubi, Film4, and Netflix.

The BAFTA Rocliffe-winning film scripts will also be showcased to industry guests later this year, where an extract from each script will be performed by professional actors, previous years’ casts have included Jodie Comer, Himesh Patel, MyAnna Burning, Cyril Nri, Greg Wise, Taj Atwal, Valene Kane and Sharon D Clarke.

BAFTA is currently exploring options around delivering a digital showcase event. Previous industry showcase guests who have attended and offered feedback to writers at BAFTA Rocliffe showcases include Amanda Posey, Finola Dwyer, Lucinda Coxon, Richard Eyre, Damian Jones, Julian Fellowes, Matt Greenhalgh and Moira Buffini.

This is the 20^th consecutive year that the competition is taking place with BAFTA’s support since 2007. Past winners include Amanda Duke, Zu Quirke, Dan Brierley, Ryan Brown, Javid Rezai, Claire Wilson, and BAFTA nominee and Breakthrough Kayleigh Llewellyn.

Over the course of a two-year period, BAFTA Rocliffe runs four competitions across genres including film, TV comedy, young adult and children’s media, and TV drama.

Today applications are opening for TV comedy scripts on Monday 27 July 2020, and children’s media and TV drama both opening for applications in 2021. Visit www.bafta.org/supporting-talent/rocliffe.

Krishnendu Majumdar, BAFTA Chair, said: “We’re delighted to introduce and showcase these exciting British film writers to the industry. The program has a fantastic track record in identifying truly talented writers and creators who have gone onto enjoy great success. I look forward to seeing this cohort progress their careers and welcome them into the BAFTA community.”

Farah Abushwesha, Founder of Rocliffe, said: “It is always incredible to see how the jury respond to the scripts on the day, and the fact that these writers have been selected through a completely blind process is very exciting, allowing for a level selection process. Whilst we have three great winners chosen on the strength of their writing alone, we are also able to offer all unsuccessful applicants a detailed script report to help them to develop their writing and story skills.”