Clara Amfo: 'You will never lose learning about how somebody else lives differently to you'

“We’ve been really spoilt this year!” Clara Amfo says, gushing over the BAFTA nominees ahead of the upcoming awards on Sunday (16 February). 

Presenter and broadcaster Clara Amfo is hosting the BAFTA Film Awards red carpet, and while she raves about several of the films vying for an award this year – Anora, Hard Truths, Conclave and Bird are up there with her favourites – she claims it’s still too close to call the winners. 

“It’s been a good year,” she says. “Last year there was the dominance of Oppenheimer, which we could all predict, but this year you can’t quite call it, which I think is really exciting.”

“It’s always a pleasure to be asked to be part of [the BAFTAs],” Amfo, who hosted the red carpet last year, says. “It’s a stalwart of British entertainment and culture, really. Those gold faces are iconic, everybody wants one, to hold them is quite something.”

“They do weigh a lot. They’re really bloody heavy!” She laughs. 

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Describing the BAFTAs as a “really joyous event”, Amfo explains: “It’s just a really exciting time… Even though we have the luxury of watching films at our own pace at home, there’s a joy in going to the cinema with your mates. It’s just great to have conversation starters around films. I love that feeling of having a chat with someone when they’re like, ‘Did you see this? Did you like it?’ 

“It’s good to disagree, good to agree, but the fact is, we’re watching important films that are reflecting our culture, other people’s cultures, and that’s really exciting.”

Describing her red carpet plans, she explains: “This weekend, it’s all about grabbing who we can, celebrating their movie, having a good chat, and doing what we can in the time we have.

“That’s the exciting thing about the red carpet. There are so many nominees, it’s so busy. Even though you have a plan of who’s going to turn up, you can also be very surprised by it as well. I’m looking forward to that element too.”

Britain has an ‘embarrassment of riches’ when it comes to filmmaking talent

Clara Amfo thinks that accessibility in the arts, and supporting people of colour in the industry, as well as working class and LGBTQ+ filmmakers, is of the “most paramount importance” when it comes to spotlighting new talent in Britain.

“We’ve got an embarrassment of riches when it comes to acting, talent, producing talent, directors, casting directors – often people will only think of the people that are in front of our screens, but there’s some really exciting people in casting and in producing, and screenwriting, who are making great moves, who are making it possible for different types of stories like to be told,” she explains.

“There’s still definitely an idea that Brits only make films about the Second World War or the Regency era, or the Tudor era – and don’t get me wrong, they have their validity – but Britain has a rich tapestry of history across race, gender, class, sexuality, all of that, and there are so many exciting people willing to tell these stories.”

Explaining that the “great thing about film” is that it is a “lens into a life that you haven’t lived”, Amfo says she wants to “be able to know about people from all different walks of life, whether I’m watching A Real Pain and learning about the grown-up children of Holocaust survivors, or whether I’m watching Bird and learning about a young girl growing up in a squat… Or Hard Truths, that’s dealing with mental health in the Black community, which is still quite taboo.”

“You will never lose learning about how somebody else lives differently to you. You’re never gonna be like, ‘Oh, I wish I didn’t learn that.’ Even with things that aren’t sunshine and flowers, it’s always important,” she says.

“I commend all film or film companies who are genuinely putting their money where their mouth is when it comes to DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion].”

The importance of highlighting stories not often told, from a diverse range of filmmakers, came through for Amfo in some of this year’s BAFTA nominees. An ambassador for period poverty charity Bloody Good Period, the presenter explains that a scene in Bird underlined how vital it is to represent voices that may still be an “afterthought”.

“Nykiya [Adams] who plays the lead character – who’s brilliant – you see the horror on her face as she sees that she’s bleeding,” she explains. “There’s a scene where she gets some period products from her soon-to-be step-mum… she’s a tomboy, and you can tell she’s so almost disgusted and annoyed that she’s got her period, and she’s handed the products off, and then when she’s walking away, the step-mum stops her and says, ‘Oi… you’ll live.’ It’s such a lovely scene. There’s so much attached to it, the shame, the embarrassment.”

Clara Amfo is a “passionate” advocate for removing the stigma from periods, adding that the issue of period poverty “is absurd to me… it should not exist”. 

“I’m seeing changes. Now when I go to certain offices, there’s free period products in the loos, which is wonderful,” she says, “but it’s such an indignity to not be able to have your period comfortably if you’re someone that menstruates. It makes me really angry.”

“I am somebody that suffered from really painful, heavy, awful periods, and I was lucky enough to have the surgery to correct it,” she explains. “I just remember thinking, if I am suffering like this… and I’m able to financially support myself and just run into a local supermarket and get what I need to get, think of that poor person who literally is deciding, ‘Should I heat my house, or should I buy this? Should I eat, or should I buy these products?’ Or that mum who hasn’t got any support, and has got a kid who’s menstruating and they’ve just had to spend their last money on electricity.”

“When it comes to issues of the womb, it’s still such an afterthought. Even when period products were taxed as a luxury. It’s a privilege to be able to have these products, but they’re not a luxury,” Amfo explains.

It’s scenes and stories like the one in Bird that makes Amfo so passionate about amplifying under-appreciated issues, and the arts being made accessible for those who can tell diverse stories.

“It’s a tale as old as time, when we’re going through some shit, or when there’s any sort of social turmoil, the first thing we do is run to any sort of art form to make ourselves feel better, your favourite song, your favourite comfort film,” Amfo says. “But you can’t expect to enjoy the benefits of that and not pay into it.”

“Whether they’re coming in at apprenticeship level or senior level, bring people in, because there are capable people out there in all of these fields… It’s not that there’s not any talent there, it’s about who is letting the talent through the door.” She explains, adding that the UK needs “more free schemes” for young people interested in film, and more “government backing” for the arts. 

“The imagination is such a beautiful and powerful thing. So why not? Why not invest early and help to form this new generation of creators and thinkers, because it’s all linked,” she says.

“Take a chance for people, for God’s sake!”

Clara Amfo’s big questions

What is your big issue?

I mean it’s always going to be women’s safety, whether that’s online or in real life, revenge porn. I don’t even like to call it porn, because that almost implies some sort of consent… There are so many levels to it, but I think I’m still gonna say women’s safety.

What TV shows were the biggest in your household growing up?

Anything MTV. I’m an MTV addict. Any music show – still Jools Holland, from now till present day, Jools, because that was a proper bonding show for me and my brothers… I’m always gonna watch Hootenanny! I’ve been lucky enough to go to tapings with Jools and it’s always such a surreal experience. I’m friends with him now! He’s a lovely, lovely man.

What’s the film that’s made the biggest impact on you?

Top of my head… The Color Purple.

What song/artist/album was the biggest for you growing up?

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, all day every day.

What have been the biggest influences on your career?

Being underestimated.

What’s the biggest thing you wish you could tell your younger self?

Stay listening to your gut. You’re right!

What’s your big idea to save the world?

Free university education, free healthcare, and free childcare in every country.

What’s your biggest achievement?

Taking care of my mum.

What’s your biggest dream?

At this point, it’s to see the pyramids!

The BAFTA Film Awards will be on BBC One and iPlayer in the UK on Sunday (16 February) at 7pm. Clara Amfo will be interviewing nominees on the red carpet live from 3pm on YouTube. 

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