FILM LONDON LODESTARS: Beru Tessema
Director
Website
WHAT WE SAY
Lions was Beru’s first funded short and the stakes were high as first we and then the French national funding body CNC backed the project. He delivered in spades. His work as an actor and with actors helped him get the best from his cast but his storytelling and big heart is what makes Lions so compelling. We knew from first cut of the film that it would be a success. He has shown that he is ready for longer form work as a director as well as writer.
BIO
Beru Tessema is an Ethiopian-British writer and director based in London. He is a graduate of the London Film School and RADA. Beru’s stage play Exile in North Weezy was shortlisted for the Papatango Playwriting Prize, and his latest play, House of Ife, premiered at Bush Theatre to brilliant reviews. Beru’s short film LIONS, made with the support of CNC and BFI NETWORK was recently awarded the UniFrance Grand Prix for Best International Short Film, it also competed at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival 2023. Beru has written LETTING GO, a drama for Channel 4 to be broadcast later this year. Beru was part of BBC Drama Writersroom 2020-21 and is an Oxbelly Episodic Program Fellow 2023. He made his professional debut as a screenwriter when he co-wrote the feature film BARLEY FIELDS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN. In addition to his work as a writer and director, Beru is an actor and teaches Screen Acting at RADA.