Tribeca Festival’s Ben Thompson awarded Honorary Fellowship

Ben Thompson, filmmaker and Vice President of Shorts Programming at Tribeca Festival in New York, has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of Aberystwyth University.

An Aberystwyth alumnus, he graduated from the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies, before moving to New York and joining the Tribeca Festival.

Passionate about short form storytelling and introducing short films to new audiences, he has watched over 11,000 short films for Tribeca alone.

An avid filmmaker himself, Ben Thompson has also directed and produced dozens of short films and documentaries, including the multi-award winning The Yellow Balloon.

Ben Thompson (l) was presented as Honorary Fellow by Dr Greg Bevan (r), Senior Lecturer in Film and Media Practice in the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies at Aberystwyth University, on Tuesday 18 July 2023.

Speaking after the event Ben Thompson said: “It is a very proud day for me. When they chose me for the Fellowship I thought immediately of Lord of the Rings. One of my biggest regrets  when I was here at Aberystwyth University is that I didn’t do enough. I wanted to give the students that reminder, that vision that you can make it from anywhere you just have to believe in what you are doing.”

Commenting on the fellowship award for Tina Evans he said that Tina was ‘an incredible human being and an inspiration to all’.