Kathryn Ferguson | Writer/Director

Kathryn Ferguson | Writer/Director

(She/Her)

Like with many documentary filmmakers, Kathryn Ferguson is driven by a deep interest in people and their stories. This fascination is clearly evident in her debut feature documentary, Nothing Compares (2022), a moving and absorbing film about talented musician Sinéad O’Connor. This was not the Belfast-born filmmaker’s first collaboration with the maverick Irish singer-songwriter and activist. Kathryn featured a song by O’Connor in her MA graduation film from the Royal College of Art, Máthair (Mother), and was subsequently asked to direct O’Connor’s first music video in 15 years for ‘4th & Vine’ back in 2013.

Kathryn then spent a decade honing her craft in short-form, including making award-winning commercials, music promos and short films, before feeling confident to tackle Nothing Compares. Along the way, she has collected two BIFAs, an IFTA, the inaugural BFI & Chanel Award for Creative Audacity, two Emmy nominations and a BAFTA long-listing. As her debut film illustrates, she has a gut instinct for picking and telling previously untold stories with compassion and a light touch. And, thankfully, she has many more stories to tell.

In their own words...

“There are so many stories about Ireland I want to tell through the perspective of being an Irish woman. There’s so much bubbling up in its people. Ireland’s changed dramatically in the last 10 years. There’s a real energy there right now, with a younger generation wanting to change the narrative.”

“I’m very interested in hybrid documentary-making and how two forms can merge. Clio Barnard’s The Arbor is a big inspiration. It really turned my head and excited me when I first saw it. That’s something I’d like to do: push the form.”

“There have been so many moments where I thought, ‘If only there was somebody more experienced I could ask for a bit of guidance’. It would have been hugely beneficial. So when I saw Breakthrough, I thought it was perfect... Being a part of this really inspiring cohort, the mentorship, everything BAFTA has to offer, it’s just extremely exciting."

Kathryn is currently readying her sophomore feature documentary for release in 2024 (through Universal), and is developing a short drama based on a short story by Belfast writer Wendy Erskine, which is being adapted by screenwriter Stacey Gregg.

Kathryn’s breakthrough credit is the unscripted documentary Nothing Compares

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