Kibwe Tavares
Born
South London
Alma materBartlett School of Architecture
OccupationFilmmaker
AwardsRIBA President's Medals Students Award

Kibwe Tavares (/ˈkɪbweɪ təˈvɑːrɛs/)[1] is a British filmmaker and architect. He is the co-founder of Factory Fifteen, a studio that uses animation and emerging technologies to understand and explain the built environment. His first short, Robots of Brixton, was awarded the 2011 Royal Institute of British Architects President's Medal. He is a 2020 TED Senior Fellow.

Early life and education

Tavares was born in South London in the 1980s.[2] He studied architecture at the Bartlett School of Architecture.[3] His first short, Robots of Brixton, which was the outcome of his master's degree, was awarded the Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Award.[4][5] The film explored the relationship between architecture, class and race, and showed Brixton as a disregarded area populated by London's future robotic workforce.[6] It was awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects President's Medal in 2011.[6] His second film was Jonah, which was inspired by The Old Man and the Sea and one of the official Sundance Film Festival selections.[7][8] Jonah explored the impact of tourism on Zanzibar.[8]

Career

In 2011 Tavares and other Bartlett graduates established Factory Fifteen, a studio that uses animation and emerging technologies to understand and explain the built environment.[9] Factory Fifteen have worked with Samsung, Film4 and Formula One.[9]

Tavares was selected as a TED Senior Fellow in 2020.[10]

Tavares' first short film, Robots Of Brixton (a thesis project for his master’s degree) debuted in 2012, leading him to be nominated for the Grand Jury Prize and winning the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. His second short, Jonah (2013), also premiered at Sundance where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. His third short, Robot + Scarecrow, debuted at the BFI London Film Festival in 2017 where it was nominated for the Best Short Film Award. In 2020, Kibwe directed the original story Aisha and Abhaya for the Royal Opera House,[11][12] and executive produced the acclaimed adaptation of Malorie Blackman’s book series Nought’s and Crosses[13][14] for BBC One. Kibwe's feature directorial debut, The Kitchen, will have its World Premiere at the closing night of this year’s BFI London Film Festival.[15]

Filmography

Awards and honours

His awards and honours include:

References

  1. ^ "Kibwe Tavares on the Use of Camera as a Subjective Presence". Sundance Institute. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  2. ^ "From Architecture to Animation: Kibwe Tavares on 'Jonah' + his journey into film". OkayAfrica. 2013-06-24. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  3. ^ "Kibwe Tavares - Biography". Berliner Festspiele. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  4. ^ "Kibwe Tavares". Rambert. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  5. ^ a b "Robots of Brixton by Kibwe Tavares". Dezeen. 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  6. ^ a b c "Presidents Medals: Robots of Brixton". www.presidentsmedals.com. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  7. ^ "Architect Turned Director Kibwe Tavares's Building Blocks for 'Jonah' | LBBOnline". lbbonline.com. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  8. ^ a b "African Shorts at Sundance 2013". OkayAfrica. 2013-01-18. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  9. ^ a b "FACTORY FIFTEEN". www.factoryfifteen.com. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  10. ^ a b "Meet the 2020 class of TED Fellows and Senior Fellows". TED Blog. 2020-01-23. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  11. ^ "Haus der Berliner Festspiele - Aisha and Abhaya". Berliner Festspiele. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  12. ^ "Kibwe Tavares — People — Royal Opera House". www.roh.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  13. ^ "BBC One Releases First Look Image For 'Noughts + Crosses'". TVWise. 2019-12-09. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  14. ^ "BBC - Casting announced for new BBC One drama Noughts + Crosses - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  15. ^ "The Kitchen". BFI London Film Festival 2023. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
  16. ^ francescocortese.it. "Jonah | Good Short Films". Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  17. ^ Kibwe Tavares: Jonah, retrieved 2020-01-25
  18. ^ Sci-Fi Short Film "Robot & Scarecrow" presented by DUST, retrieved 2020-01-25
  19. ^ White, Peter (2018-08-17). "Sky Takes Another Crack At Time Travel With Adaptation Of H.G. Wells' 'The Time Machine'". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  20. ^ "World premiere of Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya's The Kitchen to close the 67th BFI London Film Festival". BFI. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  21. ^ "2012 Sundance Film Festival Announces Jury Prizes in Short Filmmaking". www.sundance.org. 25 January 2012. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  22. ^ "Screen Stars of Tomorrow 2012". Screen. 2017-06-14. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  23. ^ "Constructing kinetic worlds: the futuristic films of TED Fellow Kibwe Tavares". TED Blog. 2013-02-28. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  24. ^ "Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors' Showcase 2015". www.campaignlive.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
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