Asif Kapadia, film director

Published: Dec. 1, 2019, noon

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Asif Kapadia is an Academy Award-winning film director, renowned for his documentaries about the musician Amy Winehouse, the Brazilian motor racing star Ayrton Senna, and the Argentinian footballer, Diego Maradona.

Born in 1972, Asif is the youngest of five children. His parents emigrated from Gujarat in the mid-1960s. His father\\u2019s ambition to seek his fortune took the family to the US for a short time in the late 70s, but by 1980 they had returned to London. Asif grew up in Hackney, and describes his all-boys secondary school as tough. His mother was ill while he was taking his GCSEs, and he vowed never to sit exams again. At 17, he worked as a runner on a film and so enjoyed feeling part of a crew that he decided he wanted to make a career in the industry.

He studied film at the Newport Film School, going on to the Polytechnic of Central London where his graduation film, Indian Tales, was highly regarded. His 1997 Royal College of Art graduation film, The Sheep Thief, shot in Rajasthan in the Hindi language, won a prize at Cannes. He made two feature films, The Warrior which won two Baftas, and Far North, which was filmed close to the North Pole.

His first documentary was Senna, which was widely acclaimed and won two Baftas. Asif used the same collage technique - drawing on camcorder snippets, TV news, and entertainment specials \\u2013 on Amy, his film about Amy Winehouse. It won an Oscar, a Bafta and a Grammy Award and surpassed Senna to become the highest grossing documentary of all time in the UK. His latest documentary is about the footballer Diego Maradona: he calls it \\u201cthe third part of a trilogy about child geniuses and fame\\u201d.

Asif is married to Victoria Harwood with whom he has two sons.

DISC ONE: Tears Dry On Their Own by Amy Winehouse\\nDISC TWO: Good Times by Chic \\nDISC THREE: Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil Mein by Lata Mangeshka And Mukesh \\nDISC FOUR: Rebel Without a Pause by Public Enemy \\nDISC FIVE: No Good (Start The Dance) by The Prodigy\\nDISC SIX: Man With A Harmonica by Orchestra Ennio Morricone\\nDISC SEVEN: A Morte by Ant\\xf4nio Pinto\\nDISC EIGHT: Just by Radiohead\\n \\nBOOK CHOICE: The Autobiography of Malcolm X, by Malcolm X and Alex Haley \\nLUXURY ITEM: A polaroid camera with film from the seventies\\nCASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Man With A Harmonica by Orchestra Ennio Morricone

Presenter: Lauren Laverne\\nProducer: Cathy Drysdale

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