Alumni and Faculty Films 'The Mauritanian' and 'The White Tiger' Shortlisted for 2021 BAFTA Awards

Two films by Columbia filmmakers are shortlisted for the 2021 EE British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs): The Mauritanian, co-written by Film alumni Rory Haines ’11 and Sohrab Noshirvani ’12, and The White Tiger, directed, produced, and adapted for the screen by Associate Professor Ramin Bahrani (CC ’96) and associate produced by Film alumnus Mark Haynes ’17. Film alumnus Raj Trivedi ’17 worked on the film as Hindi translator.

The Mauritanian is nominated in the Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Adapted Screenplay, and Cinematography categories. Starring Jodi Foster, Tahar Rahim, Shailene Woodley, and Benedict Cumberbatch, the legal drama is based on Mohamedou Ould Salahi’s 2015 internationally bestselling memoir Guantánamo Diary, which Salahi wrote and published while imprisoned. Salahi was detained under the Authorization of Use of Military Force (AUMF) in November 2001 when the US government accused him of belonging to al-Qaeda. He was tortured and held for 14 years until his release in 2016. 

According to Rolling Stone, “...there’s also a rawness Rahim shows as he’s consistently questioned, beaten, berated, transferred from cell to cell, tortured, mentally and spiritually broken. Watch the actor’s darting eyes whenever someone enters a room, or he’s taken to a new space. Listen to him as he chats with a fellow, mostly unseen inmate in French, in sequences that almost play like Beckett excerpts.”

The film was longlisted in eleven categories: Film, Outstanding British Film, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Leading Actor, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Casting, Cinematography, Editing, and Sound.

The White Tiger is nominated in the Adapted Screenplay and Leading Actor categories. Based on the Aravind Adiga (CC '97) novel of the same name, The White Tiger follows Balram Halwai (Adarsh Gourav) on his journey from the village to the city of Delhi—shining a light on India’s class struggle in the context of a globalized world. The cast also includes Rajkummar Rao and Priyanka Chopra. 

The film received a glowing review in the Wall Street Journal: "The problem in writing about 'The White Tiger' is the temptation to quote so many of its pungent lines and terrific jokes that there’s no space left for describing the film, let alone giving the filmmakers their due. Balram narrates his own saga with infectious elation. He has scruples, but he keeps them under control. Mr. Gourav’s range of feelings and moods is like an elite athlete’s range of motion. He pulls off the impressive feat of portraying his character as a shameless liar, sycophant, obsequious self-promoter and besmircher of family honor while making him intensely likable until, as Balram warns toward the end, 'my story gets much darker from here.'"

The White Tiger was longlisted in seven categories: Film, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Leading Actor, Supporting Actress, Cinematography, and Editing. 

Seven films by Columbia filmmakers were longlisted: The White Tiger, The Mauritanian, The Truffle Hunters, Becoming, Dick Johnson is Dead, Athlete A, All In: The Fight for Democracy, The Assistant, and I'm No Longer Here.

The BAFTAs will be held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on April 11, 2021.