Body of Water, the debut feature film by director and screenwriter Lucy Brydon — who also teaches at her alma mater, the University of Warwick — has been longlisted for three British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs).

The film, which traces the complicated story of a celebrated war photographer who is grappling with an eating disorder and disintegrating relationships with her mother and daughter, stars Sian Brooke and Amanda Burton.

Body of Water is longlisted by BIFA for:

• Raindance Discovery Award (Body of Water – Lucy Brydon, Dan Cleland, Jeannette Sutton)
• BIFA 2020 Most Promising Newcomer (Fabienne Piolini-Castle - Body Of Water)
• Debut Screenwriter (Lucy Brydon – Body of Water)

Graduating from Warwick in 2005 with a First Class BA in Creative Writing, Lucy moved to Shanghai, where she began writing, directing, and producing short films and television dramas.

She then moved to New York to study Film Directing at Columbia University, before returning to the UK to work in the film industry – and returning to Warwick, where she now leads the Screenwriting course on the world-renowned Writing Programme.

Body of Water has received critical acclaim from publications such as Empire, the Daily Mirror, the Guardian, Radio Times, and from broadcasters such as Mark Kermode.

Earlier this year, Lucy Brydon talked about what she wanted to communicate in Body of Water:

“I wanted to challenge the misconception that eating disorders are the preserve of young, predominantly female, middle-class girls. I had issues with food in my twenties, as well as anxiety and depression, and so I'm passionate about opening up conversations around mental health. It was important that the character is successful and strong, outwardly. That the grip anorexia has on her is not about vanity. It's an expression of control.

“I wanted to explore how this could infiltrate all aspects of her life, her relationships with her daughter and mother most specifically but also how she relates to the world around her.”

You can read more about Brydon’s hopes for the creative industries in the pandemic age, her time at Warwick as both student and teacher, and the importance of being kind to yourself, in this interview.

Body of Water was released last month in selected cinemas, and can be watched online (Sky Store, BFI Player, Curzon Home Cinema, HOME, Broadway). More info from Verve Pictures here.

26 November 2020

For further information, contact:

Luke Walton, International Press Manager

L.Walton.1@warwick.ac.uk

+44 (0) 7823 362 150