British-Romanian director Rachel Tâpârjan wins British Film Institute award

British-Romanian director Rachel Tâpârjan has received the BFI & CHANEL Filmmaker Award for her documentary Something Familiar.

The award is granted by the British Film Institute (BFI) in partnership with CHANEL to filmmakers selected for their “creative audacity and ambition to explore a new dynamic to their practice.”

Rachel Tâpârjan is one of four filmmakers honored this year, selected by a jury that included Oscar-winning actress Jessie Buckley, recognized for her role in Hamnet, and Emmy-nominated actress Gwendoline Christie, known for playing Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones, alongside Edward Enninful OBE, former editor-in-chief of British Vogue; producer Marie-Louise Khondji; and Ben Roberts, the BFI's chief executive.

It was the film that stayed with us the longest, and impossible to stop thinking about.

In explaining its decision, the jury highlighted the director's courage in laying bare her own story and the way it takes on new meanings as the film unfolds. “We wanted to celebrate Rachel’s bravery and total openness – a naked, unself-conscious revelation of self. A deceptively simple search for family that opens onto identity, inheritance and generational trauma, using camera, narration and interviews which all keep shifting the viewer’s understanding. It was the film that stayed with us the longest, and impossible to stop thinking about,” the jury said.

More than anything, the award has made me feel that I can be ambitious about the kind of filmmaker I want to become.

“Receiving the BFI & CHANEL Filmmaker Award has meant an enormous amount to me. Something Familiar is my first feature documentary, and making it required a huge amount of trust, care and belief from the people involved. To have the film and my work recognized in this way has given me real confidence as I move towards my next projects. More than anything, the award has made me feel that I can be ambitious about the kind of filmmaker I want to become,” Rachel Tâpârjan said.

Tâpârjan, who was adopted from Romania as a child and grew up in the UK, holds a PhD in social work and teaches at Teesside University in northeast England. Her professional work focuses on trauma and support for vulnerable people. Her short films have screened at festivals including Sheffield DocFest, the East End Film Festival, and the SEE Film Festival.