Students from the Film BA Honours course have been announced as winners at the Royal Television Society (RTS) London Student Awards.
The University of Westminster led the way with 11 nominations and three wins at the awards.
Michaela Mirpuri won the award for Best Sound Design for the film ‘Cutting’, an 18-minute drama that unfolds over one night as a UFC fighter tries to cut weight for a fight the next day, whilst battling his inner demons. The RTS said about the film: “This entry tackled the issues of body image and masculinity in an innovative way, with the sound design underscoring the tension of the set-up and the stress of the protagonist.”
Laurie Esdale won the award for Best Production Design on the film ‘Mr & Mrs Bucket’, a 12-minute film dark comedy. Characters Brian and Rita win a voucher for a free pre-birth screening that will predict their unborn child’s future character traits – but are confronted by an alarming prognostication.
About ‘Mr & Mrs Bucket’ RTS said: “This film needed a quasi-contemporary feel for its absurd world. The jury agreed that the Production Design excellently underpinned the surreal without venturing into the extreme [...] The black humour in this film was much appreciated.”
The film ‘Oh Me Lads’ won the award for Best Factual film. A young Geordie is determined to rekindle pride in the people of Newcastle Upon Tyne. But is his idea of a mass sing-along going to be enough to spark change?
The RTS said that ‘Oh Me Lads’ is “a film which celebrated a good central character (who was also the producer). It was honest and charming – old-fashioned in a good way.”
Ben Douglass, Producer and central character in the film, said about the win: “We were absolutely thrilled to win this prestigious award and I'm so grateful to the crew and the University for believing in my initial idea and pushing me creatively”
Ralph Sansum, the film’s Director, said: “In my applicant interview a million years ago I spied some RTS awards in the BA Film office and I never thought that I would one day win one. This course has really enabled me to make the films I want to make, and the continuous changing of project groups has introduced me to so many wonderful people which I am grateful for.”
Louis Holder, Sound Recordist for the film, said: “I’m exceptionally grateful to have not only been a part of an award-winning documentary crew on the course, but to have been able to be a part of a team with a bold mission for the film. When you’re working together in a small team, the individual contributions each crew member plays becomes hugely important and intrinsic to the overall success of the film.”
The Royal Television Society’s student awards celebrate the best audio-visual work created by students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The Royal Television Society is an educational charity, designed to encourage and celebrate work in television and its related fields. They frequently hold seminars, screenings and masterclasses and their regional centres offer support and advice for all those interested in television.
Peter Hort, who has recently stepped down as Leader for the Film BA Honours course after 14 years, said: “Our students have consistently done exceptionally well in the RTS awards over the past 14 years. This has been backed up by their subsequent success working in film and television, underlining the value of the Film BA’s unique blend of craft-based film practice and high-level study of film history, aesthetics and criticism.”
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