Four Columbia Films Shortlisted for 2023 Yugo BAFTA Student Awards

Four films by Columbia filmmakers were recently shortlisted for the 2023 Yugo BAFTA Student Awards. They are: Children of Light, The Fuse, Mr. Bold, and So They Say.

The Yugo BAFTA Student Awards is an annual event celebrating the works of the next generation of talented and innovative storytellers from around the globe. Top schools are asked to submit their best work for consideration by the BAFTA review committee, who select the best entrants over the course of three rounds of voting. As part of the review and selection process, BAFTA provides a showcase for the emerging filmmakers to connect with experts in the industry.

The shortlist represents 79 projects selected from over 750 submissions from 10 schools across 30 countries. With four films shortlisted, Columbia received more nominations than any other film school.

Read more about the films nominated and the filmmakers below below.

Children of Light

Minkyu Kang ’22, Writer, Director,  Editor, Producer

Bofan Zhang ’21, Producer

In the 1960s, a 16-year-old Korean boy who was kidnapped and assaulted at a juvenile center on a remote island, must escape with his rival to survive.

Kang is an award-winning director, screenwriter, and editor based in the United States and South Korea. He received his BA in Film and TV Production at the University of Southern California in 2012 and a Film MFA from Columbia University in 2022. After two years of military service in South Korea, he worked in the local film and advertising industry. During this time, he directed, wrote, and edited short films, TV commercials, documentaries, and art videos, which have been selected and screened at 50+ international film festivals. He is currently based in Los Angeles, where he is developing a feature film project.

Zhang is a bilingual producer based in Los Angeles, holding an MFA in Creative Producing from Columbia University. She is a BAFTA Newcomer talent, the recipient of Katharina Otto-Bernstein Production Grant and GiGadgets Creative Foundation Award, and a BGDM member. She has produced narrative films, documentaries, and commercials in the US, China, and South Korea, and these films have been screened at 50+ film festivals such as DOC NYC, Austin Film Festival, Asian American International Film Festival. 

The Fuse

Kevin Haefelin ’22, Writer, Director, Editor

After being fired from his job, a struggling senior garbageman embarks on a journey to find a fuse.

Haefelin (he/him) is a Swiss writer/director. He holds a BFA from HEAD Geneva and an MFA from Columbia University. He recently completed a trilogy of short films on NYC and is developing his first feature, Pufferfish, which took part in the Torino Film Lab & IFFR Rotterdam Lab. His films have been invited to 32 countries within international festival programs, and have won over 40 awards.

Mr. Bold

Aiman Mimiko ’22, Writer, Director, Editor

Kaelo Iyizoba ’23, Producer

A young Nigerian boy desecrates his school's Mosque in a bid to connect with his older brother.

Mimiko is a Nigerian Writer/Director whose work centers on the challenge of identity in worlds where your name is constantly mispronounced. A 2022 semifinalist of Fox’s Writers’ Incubator, Mimiko has participated in various screenwriting labs that center Black and Muslim perspectives.

Iyizoba, a Nigerian-American Pharmacist turned filmmaker, holds an MFA in Film from Columbia University. His work explores "otherness" in identity. A Blackhouse-Meta fellow,  Iyizoba is a recipient of the Arthur Krim award for Excellence in Producing and a Facebook SEEN grant. He spoke on a panel about the Black filmmaker's journey at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Iyizoba’s films have been screened at major festivals around the world.

So They Say

Natalia Luque ’22, Writer, Director

Donovan Tolledo ’22, Producer

Cecilia Otero ’22, Producer

In a small Chilean town where abortion is deemed illegal, a fetus is found floating on a lake. A single mother and saleswoman’s values and morals are put to test when she discovers the culprit to be one of her young female clients. Watch the trailer here.

Luque is a Chilean writer/director. She holds an MFA from Columbia University and is part of BAFTA's Newcomers Program. Her fiction short films On My Own (2019) and The Virgin, The Old Lady, The Journey (2020) have screened in over 50 International film festivals. On My Own was awarded the Jury Prize Award at the 2020 DGA Student Film Competition. She is currently developing her first feature film, Decorous Woman, which has participated in several markets and labs in the Ibero-American Region, such as Guadalajara Film Market (Mexico) and a writing residence in Madrid. So They Say had its world premiere at the 2023 Palm Springs ShortFest.

Tolledo is a writer and producer born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Manila and Chicago. He recently received his MFA in creative producing. His work at Columbia won multiple grants and has screened at Newfest and Outfest Fusion Film Festival. His thesis short, Fat Lip, received support from Panavision New Filmmakers Program and was a CUFF Jury Selects recipient. The feature-length script for Fat Lip landed him the 2022 Outfest Screenwriting Lab Fellowship and CUFF Faculty Honors. He is also a 2023 Film Independent Project Involve Producing Fellow.

Otero is a New York-based producer born in Cuba and raised in Chile. The first movie she produced, Piola, won the Best First Feature Prize at FICG 35 in México, and was acquired by Netflix in 2021. She’s part of BAFTA's Newcomers Program and Film Independent Producing Fellowship. In 2021, Cecilia was awarded the Sloan Producing Fellowship for her project, Upstreamers.