BAFTA Awards 2023: Edinburgh’s Charlotte Wells shines with debut film Aftersun receiving four nominations

Edinburgh-born director Charlotte Wells has scored four BAFTA nominations for her debut feature Aftersun
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The Edinburgh-born writer and director Charlotte Wells has received four BAFTA nominations for her debut feature film Aftersun. The tender and heartbreaking tale of a father and daughter stars Normal People’s Paul Mescal and rising-star Frankie Corio.

On Thursday, the The British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) released their nominations in an effort to celebrate the very best in film over the past year. Netflix’s World War 1 epic All Quiet On The Western Front scored a hefty 14 nominations.

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While other notable productions such as The Banshees of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All At Once saw success in most categories, it was a certain A24 film that swivelled the heads of Scottish film buffs.

Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun follows 11-year-old Sophie who joins her troubled father on a budget vacation at a Turkish resort. The film garnered critical acclaim upon release with The Guardian ranking the debut as the best film of 2022.

Though snubbed for top prize, Aftersun received a nomination for ‘outstanding British film’ and another for ‘casting’. Whereas, Wells walked away with a nomination for ‘outstanding debut by a British writer’ and Paul Mescal for the ‘leading actor’ category.

The 35-year-old director was raised in Edinburgh but attended King’s College London before graduating with a Master of Arts at Oxford University. Prior to her debut feature, Wells has directed three short films - Tuesday (2015), Laps (2016) and Blue Christmas (2017).

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