Students from the University of Westminster won two awards and were nominated six times at the Royal Television Society (RTS) London Student Television Awards, hosted on Wednesday 10 March.
The RTS Student Television Awards aim to encourage, nurture, support and reward talent of young talent across the country for the creation of film and video content. The Awards provide an opportunity for students to be celebrated and recognised for their outstanding skills in their field, offering them a unique chance to put their creative talents before the critical eye of professional judges and be awarded for their work.
In the Genre section of the awards, Animation BA Honours student Aisha Boudjilloudi received the Genre Award for Animation, with her stop motion film titled ‘It’s Okay’. The film was also nominated in the Craft section of the awards for Camerawork.
Talking about receiving the award, Aisha said: “Winning the RTS Animation award was such an honour. This film was a labour of love, and having the opportunity produce something on scale much larger than I'd ever had before was an amazing experience. Working under the time pressure of an impending lockdown was a definite plot twist to my final year at Westminster, and I would have never completed this film if not for the immense and never-ending love and support from my Mum, as well as the support from my course technicians and tutors.”
Stephen Ryley, Course Leader for Animation BA Honours, added: “The graduating animation class of 2020 are particularly special to us, and we are proud of them all. They managed to complete their major projects despite the restrictions abruptly imposed on them by the national lockdown. For Aisha to have produced such an ambitious, elegant and intriguing project is therefore a testament to her tenacity, resilience, good humour and ingenuity - all traits which I am sure will set her up for a very exciting future.”
Students from the Film BA Honours course also received four nominations in the Awards. Second year students James Sinton, Luke Ainger, Louisa Karayiannis, Rebecca Sprague and Carolina de Andres De Almo were nominated in the categories of Production Design, Writing and Scripted Film for their film ‘48 Cuckoo Lane’. It was crowned as the winner of the Writing Award, with the jury describing James Sinton’s script as “sharp, funny and extremely accomplished.”
Tough Love, a film created by Film BA Honours students Deen Gomez, Billy Morley, Sorin Baluta, Linus Sandelands, Filip Arnqvist-Eiritz and Felicia Stalhammar, was nominated in the Genre section of the Awards in the Non-Scripted category. The film was described by the jury as “a powerful and moving film with an outstanding central character, which takes the audience on the emotional journey.”
Talking about the students’ achievements, Tom Hooper, Senior Lecturer on the Film BA Honours course, said: “I am immensely proud of the hard work and dedication of the students through an incredibly challenging year. The quality of the work produced is extremely high and very professional. Great storytelling is crucial for the success of any film, and both of the films nominated this year tell engaging stories, showing wit, compassion and understanding. What is even more incredible is the fact that 48 Cuckoo Lane is a Second Year Major Project, but is competing nationally with graduate films. That is, in itself, something worth celebrating. Well done to all of those involved.”
Watch the full Awards ceremony on the Royal Television Society’s YouTube channel.
