Sue Bruce-Smith receives Bafta Special Award

21 January 2019

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has presented a Special Award to Sue Bruce-Smith, Deputy Director at Film4,  at BAFTA’s headquarters, 195 Piccadilly, at a tribute event on Friday.

BAFTA Trustee and co-president of Cornerstone Films, Alison Thompson, presented Bruce-Smith with the iconic BAFTA mask on the night, highlighting Bruce-Smith’s profound and far reaching contribution to the British film industry over the past 30 years. Speakers included Tessa Ross, BAFTA-winning producer and former head of Film4, Ben Roberts, Deputy CEO of BFI, producer Gail Egan, and Daniel Battsek, Director of Film4.

Bruce-Smith, unaware that she was receiving the BAFTA accolade, was joined by colleagues and friends in celebration of her expansive career to date, including BAFTA-winning directors Steve McQueen and Kevin Macdonald, and BAFTA-winning producers Alison Owen, Liz Karlsen, and Ed Guiney.

Sue Bruce-Smith commented, ‘Over the last 30 years, from my somewhat fluky start in the business, I have developed a real love of independent film, film’s power and the collaborative process required for its creation. The world seems such a strange place at the moment and the arts - and within that film - has such an important role to play. I am very grateful to BAFTA for this Award and for prompting me to encourage all women out there not to limit themselves. Be properly ambitious and confident in your own ability to see that ambition realised.'

Pippa Harris, Chair at BAFTA, said: ‘We are delighted to announce that both Sue Bruce-Smith and Roger Pratt [honored at a separate BAFTA event on Sunday] have received Special Awards this year, one of BAFTA’s highest honours. Both recipients have made an extraordinary contribution to the industry and we are thrilled to be recognising their talent, skill and creativity’.

 

About Sue Bruce-Smith

Sue Bruce-Smith has made an outstanding contribution to the British film industry for over 30 years across finance, production, marketing, distribution and international sales. Starting out at Palace Pictures in 1985, Sue became Marketing and Distribution Manager on releases including Nightmare on Elm Street and Scandal. Since then, Sue has worked for the British Film Institute as Head of International Sales, BBC Worldwide where she was responsible for investment strategy in feature film, and for two stints at Film4, most recently as Deputy Director. During her time at Film4, Sue has worked on films including This Is England, Slumdog Millionaire, 12 Years a Slave, Under The Skin, Suffragette and The Favourite. She has also exec produced Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here, Mike Leigh’s Peterloo and Steve McQueen’s Widows.

 

ENDS

 

Photography

 

Free press images from the Special Award presentations and Tributes can be found here: www.bafta.thirdlight.com in the ‘Tributes’ folder.

A wider selection of imagery is avialable from Rex/Shutterstock

 

About BAFTA

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) is a world-leading independent arts charity that brings the very best work in film, games and television to public attention and supports the growth of creative talent in the UK and internationally. Through its Awards ceremonies and year-round programme of learning events and initiatives – which includes workshops, masterclasses, scholarships, lectures and mentoring schemes in the UK, USA and Asia – BAFTA identifies and celebrates excellence, discovers, inspires and nurtures new talent, and enables learning and creative collaboration. For advice and inspiration from the best creative minds in working in film, games and television, visit www.bafta.org/guru. For more, visit www.bafta.org.