Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun wins big at the British Independent Film Awards

Aftersun, the independent film by Charlotte Wells, has managed to sweep the British Independent Film Awards, (BIFA) winning a number of the top prizes, including Best British Independent Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. 

Wells also took home The Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director. These three wins came in addition to the other technical categories in which the film managed to pick up the prize- Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Music Supervision.

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Aftersun stars Paul Mescal in the leading role alongside Frankie Corio and Celia Rowlson-Hall.

The film’s story centers around a woman called Sophie who reminisces about the time when she was 11 years old and had gone to Turkey with her father, Calum, on a vacation. 

Before Aftersun, Wells had directed a short film called Tuesday in 2015. In that film, Wells had also looked at a relationship between a child and a young parent. The director has said in an interview that her full-length feature film is “emotionally autobiographical”.

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Aftersun premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival as part of the International Critics’ Week. The film won the jury prize at the festival. It was also screened at the London, New York, Adelaide, Telluride, Toronto International, and the Melbourne International Film festivals.

At the BIFA Awards, Rose McEwen won the award for the Best Lead Performance for her role in the film Blue Jean. McEwen’s co-star, Kerrie Hayes, picked up the Best Supporting Performance honour.

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 Letitia Wright and Tamara Lawrence were declared the Best Joint Lead Performance because of their performances in the film The Joint Twins.