Breakthrough participants Mdhamiri Á Nkemi & Anna Franquesa-Solano

BAFTA Breakthrough showcases and supports the next generation of creative talent. They are all exciting prospects from film, games and television at a critical 'breakthrough' moment in their careers. Here, two of the 2021 participants, one from the UK programme and one from the US, tell their story in their own words...

BAFTA’s flagship talent programme, Breakthrough, champions and supports individuals on the verge of their big breakthrough. The initiative is supported by Netflix in the UK, USA and India. Find out more at bafta.org/supporting-talent/breakthrough

MDHAMIRI Á NKEMI (Editor)

BREAKTHROUGH FILM: LIFE IN A DAY (2021)

Mdhamiri Á Nkemi, BAFTA Breakthrough UK

BAFTA/David Vintiner

"I didn’t really know film was a job and never considered it when I was younger. I read a lot and had kind of decided that I was going to be an author. That all went off the rails when I turned 12 and my friend got this [DSLR] camera. My friend was using it for photography but I realised it could also do video and started playing around with it. I became obsessed... Editing was the thing I was drawn to – it was the bit that was most exciting to me as it felt like that that was where the film came alive.

I’m looking for projects that feel like they haven’t been done before, at least not through a mainstream lens. Things that feel fresh and exciting, from voices that haven’t had much chance to tell their stories before.

It’s amazing to be recognised by BAFTA... Breakthrough THE was recommended to me by my friend, composer Segun Akinola, who did it back in 2017... He’d gotten a lot out of it and made some good connections. It just sounded like a really good opportunity."

ANNA FRANQUESA-SOLANO (Cinematographer)

BREAKTHROUGH FILM: THE FAREWELL (2019)

Anna Franquesa-Solano, BAFTA Breakthrough USA

BAFTA/Alexey Kosorukov

"I studied art history at university first. By the end of it, the only thing I knew was that I didn’t want to study other people’s work, I wanted to create things myself. By coincidence, I worked on a short film and it opened a whole new world of possibilities. Film was always something you just watched in the cinema, it wasn’t something I thought I could ever do. It was not part of my world in Barcelona.

I learnt about Breakthrough through my agent... I’m looking forward to connecting with people who can give me advice. It’s very rewarding to feel like you’re part of a community, to feel included.

I decided to study filmmaking... I realised all my student projects were silent. My way to tell a story was through images, not dialogue or writing. So I decided to study cinematography in New York [at the New York Film Academy’]. Little by little I’ve got to where I am now."

Read the full interviews: bafta.org/about/awards-brochures