Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) academic, Aislinn Clarke, has received the 2019 Academy Gold Fellowship for Women.
Aislinn is the first woman from Northern Ireland to write and direct a horror film. Her first feature film, an award-winning horror entitled 'The Devil’s Doorway', was released last year and is currently on Sky Cinema and Amazon Prime (UK).
She is currently under contract to write and direct features for several BAFTA and Oscar winning companies. Her work has been distributed internationally, and this year her debut feature was one of the top ten box office grossing genre films in Brazil.
The Academy Gold Fellowship programme is a global effort and part of ‘Action: The Academy Women’s Initiative’, which is designed to create opportunities for female filmmakers and executives to connect, share their stories and celebrate inclusion.
The Fellowship is sponsored by Swarovski and winners receive a £20,000 bursary as well as year-long support from the Academy.
Aislinn recently accepted her Fellowship at the prestigious Academy Women’s luncheon hosted by the Academy in Claridges Hotel, London.
Speaking about the award, she said: "This kind of recognition means so much for me and for women like me who will benefit from increased visibility for women in film.”
Aislinn is a filmmaker, writer and director, with an academic background in film and scriptwriting.
She has worked in film, TV, theatre and radio for 15 years and is currently a lecturer in scriptwriting at the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s University Belfast.
Last year, the UK award went to the London-based Ethosheia Hylton, whose short film 'Brixton Rock' is subsequently being developed as a feature by BBC Films.
Fiona Shaw and Aislinn Clarke at The Academy Women’s Initiative luncheon presented by Swarovski at Claridge’s, London.
