We are so proud to see the talent of Sydenham High alumnae recognised at the 92nd Academy Awards and the BAFTAs this year.

Alumna Amelia Franklin (Class of 2003), who attended Sydenham High from the age of five, is Head of Post Production at Grain Media. Her film Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)  has just won the BAFTA for Best Short Film 2020 and has been nominated for Documentary Short Subject at the Academy Awards this year. The film is an inspiring documentary about empowerment that had its world premiere at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival. Produced for A+E networks, it depicts the story of young Afghan girls learning to read, write, and skateboard in Kabul. It won Best Short Documentary at Tribeca in 2019 and the IDA awards best documentary short and is both Oscar and BAFTA nominated. Amelia was also Post Production Manager for The White Helmets, another Grain Media documentary which won an Academy Award in 2016:

I love working in Post Production, it’s where a film really starts to take shape. I have been incredibly lucky to work on important issues that I really care about, from rangers working in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to The White Helmets in Syria, and our latest film which follows young Afghan girls learning to read, write, and skateboard in Kabul.

Watch the trailer of Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl) here

Congratulations also to alumna  and multi award-winning Costume Designer Sandy Powell (Class of 1978) for her BAFTA and Oscar nominations for Costume Design for The Irishman, Martin Scorsese’s epic tale of fading mob glamour. Sandy who has already won three Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards for Best Costume Design and a Costume Designers Guild Award. She totals an impressive 76 award nominations and 27 awards wins in her career. Sandy has been a frequent collaborator with directors Martin Scorsese and Todd Haynes. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2011 for services to the film industry.

See the full list of Academy nominees here

Tune in on 9 February for the Oscars and find out the outcome!

_{Image courtesy of Grain Media}