Emily Young (film director)

British film director

Emily Young is a British film director and screenwriter who teaches screenwriting and directing at the London Film School.

Early life

Young was born in Islington, London, the daughter of Helen Young (née Mason) and Hugo Young. Both her parents were journalists and her mother was also a children's book author.

Career

After graduating from the Polish National Film School in Łódź, Young won the Cinefondation prize at the Cannes Film Festival for her graduation film, 'Second Hand'. Her first feature film, 'Kiss of Life' (2004) won a BAFTA award (the Carl Forman prize for best debut film). In 2009 Young directed Veronika Decides to Die in New York City. The film is based on the novel Veronika Decides to Die written by Paulo Coelho and stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, and David Thewlis. Young is currently developing an adaptation of the novel, 'White' by Marie Darrieussecq with Film Four.

Education

Young studied English Literature at the University of Edinburgh where she was awarded a First Class MA degree. She then learned Polish and trained as a film director at the National Film School in Łódź. In 2000 she was awarded a residency in Paris by the Festival de Cannes to develop a feature film of the memoir, 'Once in a House on Fire' by Andrea Ashworth.

Filmography

Ziemia na górze (1996)
Second Hand (1999)
Kiss of Life (2003)^[1]
Veronika Decides to Die (2009)^[2]

Awards and nominations

BAFTA Award Carl Foreman Award for Best Newcomer (2004): Kiss of Life
Cannes Film Festival Cinefondation Award (1999): Second Hand

Nominations:

British Independent Film Awards Douglas Hiscox Award (2004): Kiss of Life
Copenhagen International Film Festival Golden Swan Award (2003): Kiss of Life
Dinard Festival of British Cinema Golden Hitchcock (2003): Kiss of Life

References

^ "KISS OF LIFE". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
^ "Vision". www.vision.pl. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

External links

Emily Young at IMDb
Emily Young interview, BBC, December 2003

BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer

1998–2008
Carl Foreman Award

Richard Kwietniowski (1998)
Lynne Ramsay (1999)
Paweł Pawlikowski (2000)
Joel Hopkins, Nicola Usborne (2001)
Asif Kapadia (2002)
Emily Young (2003)
Amma Asante (2004)
Joe Wright (2005)
Andrea Arnold (2006)
Matt Greenhalgh (2007)
Steve McQueen (writer/director) (2008)

2008–present

Duncan Jones (writer/director) (2009)
Chris Morris (writer/director) (2010)
Paddy Considine (director); Diarmid Scrimshaw (producer) (2011)
Bart Layton (director); Dimitri Doganis (producer) (2012)
Kieran Evans (writer/director) (2013)
Stephen Beresford (writer); David Livingstone (producer) (2014)
Naji Abu Nowar (writer/director); Rupert Lloyd (producer) (2015)
Babak Anvari (writer/director); Emily Leo, Oliver Roskill, Lucan Toh (producers) (2016)
Rungano Nyoni (writer/director); Emily Morgan (producer) (2017)
Michael Pearce (writer/director); Lauren Dark (producer) (2018)
Mark Jenkin (writer/director); Kate Byers, Lynn Waite (producers) (2019)
Remi Weekes (writer/director) (2020)
Jeymes Samuel (writer/director) (2021)
Charlotte Wells (writer/director) (2022)
Savanah Leaf (writer/director/producer); Shirley O'Connor (producer); Medb Riordan (producer) (2023)