Ridley Scott roots for teachers in BAFTA Fellowship acceptance speech

Veteran director Ridley Scott, who was honoured with the Fellowship at the 2018 Baftas, gave a shout-out to the teachers, calling the profession "the most important of all". The 80-year-old filmmaker, known for films such as "Blade Runner", "Gladiator", "Alien" and "Black Hawk Down", among others, said the social issues will be "sorted" if the state of education is taken care of by the authorities.
In his acceptance speech for the lifetime achievement award, Scott said, "I've always been a late starter. Years ago when I was 15, my dad was reading my report card and saw that my position in the class was 29th. But the number in the class was 29. I had achieved the distinction of being bottom in the class. dad put his hand on my shoulder and said you know you did the best you can. Whatever you decide to make do, make sure you love it. Fortunately, I love working with my hands and I was good at two things woodwork and art. "Dad strongly encouraged me to go to art school. College was a revelation. Teaching is the most important of all professions. Sort that out and social problems will get sorted out." The filmmaker quipped as it was his first Bafta in a career-spanning 40 years, "I'm not going to go quietly." Scott called films arguably "the most challenging of all occupations". "Today the explosion of content and social media platform have made this (filmmaking) a far more accessible and democratic art form. It's important to acknowledge that entertainment can be the most powerful form of education," Scott said.