Alia Ghafar is a filmmaker from Glasgow, with a passion for telling stories which reflect the experiences of young people in contemporary Scotland. Alia graduated from the Film & TV programme at Edinburgh College of Art.
Her graduation film, SALT & SAUCE, premiered at BFI London Film Festival 2017. The film went on to screen at 20 festivals in the UK and internationally, including Edinburgh International Film Festival, London Short Film Festival, Underwire Festival and British Shorts Berlin. SALT & SAUCE won the Scottish Short Film Award at Glasgow Short Film Festival 2018 and was nominated for Best British Short at the London Film Critics’ Circle Awards 2019.
In March 2019, SALT & SAUCE was broadcast on BBC Scotland, as part of their series
NEXT BIG THING, which profiles award-winning new Scottish filmmakers and their work.
SALT & SAUCE is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
Alia has also co-written and produced short films with director Martin Allison.
MAN, I FEEL LIKE A WRANGLER premiered at London Short Film Festival 2019 and their short film GLOOP GIRL premiered at LSFF 2020.
She is currently in post-production on SCUZZ, her next short as a Writer/Director, which was commissioned by BFI and Screen Scotland via Scottish Film Talent Network. The film is due to be completed in Spring 2020.
Alia has been selected as a Writer/Director for BFI NETWORK X BAFTA CREW 2019 - 2020.
SALT & SAUCE
2017
Writer/Director
BROADCAST:
BBC Scotland
'Next Big Thing': Series 1, Episode 2 - March 2019
AWARDS:
Nominated - Best British/Irish Short Film, London Critics' Circle Film Awards 2019
Winner - Scottish Short Film Award, Glasgow Short Film Festival 2018
Winner - RTS Scotland Student Awards: Best Sound 2018
Winner - RTS Scotland Student Awards: Best Editing 2018
Winner - Rising Star Award, Edinburgh Short Film Festival 2017
Winner - Best Student Film, Readingfest Studentfest 2017
Nominated - Production Design Award, Underwire Film Festival 2017
OFFICIAL SELECTION:
BFI London Film Festival 2017 / Underwire Film Festival 2017 / Edinburgh Short Film Festival 2017
Kinofilm: Manchester Int' Short Film Festival 2017 / Two Short Nights Film Festival 2017
Dublin Feminist Film Festival 2017 / Readingfest Studentfest 2017 / Graphic Design Festival Scotland: Shorts 2017 London Short Film Festival 2018 / Berlin British Shorts Film Festival 2018 / Glasgow Short Film Festival 2018
Hidden Door Festival 2018 / Firenze FilmCorti Festival 2018 / Edinburgh International Film Festival 2018
Norwich Film Festival 2018 / Leigh Short Film Festival 2018 / Inverness Film Festival 2018
Dunoon Film Festival 2018 / CineSkinny On Tour 2019
SCUZZ
Post-Production
Writer/Director
On a Saturday night in Glasgow, a bassist pursues a teenage boy through the streets for a stolen guitar, but ends up finding what she really needs - a sincere human connection.
Commissioned by BFI & Screen Scotland via Scottish Film Talent Network.
