Daniel film in line for Bafta

9:51am Monday 24th March 2008

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A TEENAGE maths sensation and former York College student could be picking up a BAFTA for a TV documentary he starred in.

Daniel Lightwing, 19, is one of a group of exceptionally gifted young mathematicians who took part in Beautiful Young Minds, which aired on BBC2, last October.

Now the film has been nominated for a British Academy Of Film And Television Arts (BAFTA) award in the single documentary category at the academy's TV awards being held in London at the Palladium on April 20.

Daniel, of Warthill, near York, gained a place to read maths at Trinity College, Cambridge, when he was 16, but was asked to defer his entry until he was 18.

The documentary tells the story of some of the brightest mathematical brains of a generation. Each year, exceptionally gifted teenagers from over 90 countries compete for medals at the International Mathematical Olympiad. The film follows a group of brilliant teenagers as they battle it out to become the chosen six selected to represent the UK.

Daniel, who was 17 at the time of filming, has been diagnosed with Aspergers' Syndrome, a form of autism that affects the way a person communicates and relates to others. But he recognises that "it's good to be different".

Apart from mathematics, the most important thing in Daniel's life is his wife, Zhu Yan. The couple met when Daniel spent three months travelling around China - during which time he taught himself Mandarin to fluency.

In the programme, Daniel is desperate to win a medal at the Olympiad and we follow his progress as he gears up for the competition and brings Zhu Yan back from China to his family home in York with the intention of marrying her. As the competition draws closer, minds and emotions are pushed to the limit.

It follows his attempts to represent the UK at the Olympiad, where he won a bronze medal while competing against the best in the world. There were 12 countries taking part in the contest, and each of them put forward six mathematicians.

As The Press reported at the time, Daniel spent a year training with the UK maths squad, teaching English in China and travelling. He was then selected for the UK team at the main International Mathematics Olympiad, in Slovenia and is now studying in his second year at Cambridge.

His mum, Carolyn, a maths teacher, said: "It's really exciting news that they have been nominated for a BAFTA.

"It was a very sensitively done documentary and it deserves to do well."

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