We’re thrilled to announce that Shola Amoo is joining the 2023 edition of FHN x NFTS Director Training as our resident industry mentor. Shola will lead a group of 8 early-career filmmakers through a three-day course from Tuesday 18 - Thursday 20 July, teaching them the fundamentals of directing for the screen and helping them find their filmmaking voice.

Shola brings a wealth of experience and an inspirational track record with him to the training programme. Starting his career with acclaimed shorts Touch and Dear Mr Shakespeare, Shola made his feature debut with A Moving Image - a multimedia project that incorporates fiction, documentary and performance art in telling its story of gentrification in Brixton.

His second feature, The Last Tree is a powerful, semi-autobiographical drama that follows a young black man as he is uprooted from a loving foster home in rural Lincolnshire to an unfamiliar life with his birth mother in inner-city London. And Violence, Shola’s 2020 VR project, saw the filmmaker return to experimental territory in order to examine the nature of violence and state oppression of marginalised groups.

Throughout his career to date, Shola’s work has been characterised by a willingness to blend filmmaking styles, an unflinching approach to challenging subjects, visual flair and strong acting performances. He’s the perfect mentor to guide our 2023 Director Training cohort through the process of directing for the screen.

Applications for FHN x NFTS Director Training close at 17:00 on Monday 5 June.

Early-career writers might be interested in applying for Script Lab 2023. Applications for this programme also close at 17:00 on Monday 5 June.