UWE graduate wins BAFTA for flood documentary

Nyal Mueenuddin is now setting up a production company in Pakistan

A graduate from University of the West of England (UWE) has won a student BAFTA award for documentaries.

Pakistani-American filmmaker Nyal Mueenuddin completed UWE Bristol's Wildlife Filmmaking course earlier this year.

His film, When the Floods Come documented the stories of people affected by flooding near the River Indus in Pakistan.

It beat submissions from 109 schools across 37 countries.

Inspired by floods

The film was inspired by the plight of those affected by the 2022 floods in his home country, the worst it had ever seen.

"I grew up in the South of Punjab, which is the main agricultural province. My village was about 30km (18 miles) from the Indus River.

"I had this beautiful childhood in that place.

"But during the 2022 floods, which was just after my course had started, I noticed there were a couple news stories coming out in international media about what was happening in Pakistan, but really just big, broad strokes of how many people were killed, how many people were displaced.

"I didn't see anything that really humanized the people of Pakistan to make us realize that, 'Hey, this isn't just a huge number of people, 30 million people displaced, that shocks you and makes you click on the article'.

"But it doesn't make you feel what that means to lose a child, to have their dreams, of being able to give their children a better future than they had, squashed.

"So the idea of this film was to return to Pakistan to ask those very simple but fundamental questions."

Nyal Mueenuddin, pictured with partner Chloe Finch at the 2024 BAFTA Student Awards in Los Angeles

When Floods Come was among 800 projects considered for the prize.

Mr Mueenuddin received the news of his film being considered for a BAFTA while he was filming at the base camp of the Nanga Parbat in north Pakistan.

A few weeks later, he was informed that his film was among three finalists for the prize.

Four days later he was in Los Angeles for the awards ceremony.

'Empathy and compassion'

"I was already planning my concession speech but amazingly, the guy pulled the card out of the envelope and announced, 'When the Floods Come'. I was just stunned.

"I was moved very much emotionally to think that the film that we made had actually gone so far and moved so many people to actually first be nominated, and then to win this award.

"I thought it was a great achievement for a kind of storytelling that prioritizes human emotion and empathy and compassion.

To win the award in that way elevated the voices of Pakistanis and what's happening in that country."

The film depicts the human stories of those affected by the 2022 floods in Pakistan

Jacqueline Butler, Dean and Head of School of Arts at UWE Bristol said: "Nyal’s film is truly extraordinary and tells an incredibly powerful story.

"To win this award amongst this talented group of global filmmakers is something he should be very proud of."

Mr Mueenuddin also credits Bristol's creative environment for his success. "In terms of a community for filmmaking, I don't know if I could imagine a better place.

"It's such a hub for collaboration, for sharing ideas, for trying to come up with new ways to tell stories.

"Bristol will always have a very special place in my heart."