As part of our Creative Media Weekend (16 & 17 May 2020) we launched a short film competition, which encouraged students to submit their creative short films. We had some excellent work sent to us and we are really excited to share the winning entries with you!

We received 29 films in total and were very impressed with the overall quality of the submissions. They represented a broad range of film making styles and content and the level of creativity involved made the judging extremely difficult. In the end we went for the films that had left the biggest impression on us, the ones who had used the medium most effectively. While the four films selected are very different they manage to engage the viewer successfully through the quality of the content and the film making.  

You can watch all four of the winning films in the video below including a short introduction by each student.

First Prize: Amber Cannings – Every Day is the Same but Different

Footage from Loughborough, Britain, during the corona virus pandemic. It tells the story of two girls from the beginning of the pandemic, and how they grow to adapt to a ‘new normal’, a normality of virtual relationships and lots of time spent at home.

The judges commented on the quality of the observational recording of real lives during the pandemic.  The film was an honest and real portrait of the protagonists lives and the relationships they maintained with each other or their friends.   It also contained humour which the judges felt is not easy to achieve successfully.   It was an excellent piece of documentary film making.

Second Prize: Laura Evans – Bodies of Water

From rural paths to the confines of my back garden, I have used my time in isolation to journey through and investigate ways humankind experience nature. Astrida Neimanis’ essay ‘Hydrofeminism: Or, On Becoming a Body of Water’ (2012) forms the narrative of this short film, and I attempted to visualize her concepts around re-connecting the human form with the landscape and the importance of ecological kinship. Humans continuously cut ties to the earth, replacing this vital relationship with screens and pixels. Technology persistently takes root in all areas of our lives and as we willingly plant and water it, we extend the distance between self and nature exponentially. Through mining resources both online and on-land, I have visualized the connection between the digital and the natural in collage form.

By using footage appropriated from nature documentaries, YouTube and Google Maps, I have explored how our encounters with nature are now mediated through screens and based upon our rampant, obsessive consumption of imagery whilst scrolling through mass and social media. I hope to replicate these notions, whilst acknowledging a growing desensitization to the world around us; the physical, the daisy in our garden, the duck in the river, the bodies we occupy. Our digital devices facilitate journeys across the globe – we inhabit foreign landscapes, experiencing a 2D, pixelized rendition of Victoria falls whilst remaining within the confines of our homes. In a culture where the narrative surrounding our impact on the environment grows bleaker, I hope to highlight how, and the importance of, reconnecting and re-blending our watery bodies with the other bodies of water that surround us. I found Neimanis’ poetic writing the perfect framework to illustrate and weave together my love of visual imagery and the ecological concepts I have been considering.

The judges commented that this was a very considered piece of film making, involving significant research and combining high quality videography overlaid with a narrative written by the artist. It was a very accomplished film.

Third Prize: Rennae Walker – 56 Black Men 

Inspired by the 56 Black Men Campaign, this story reflects and challenges the stigmas black men in Britain combat daily, with a hope for a land of higher ceilings and ferocious dreaming.

The judges commented on the quality of the film making which powerfully communicated the message in a very direct and engaging way.  It was very well produced and put together.

Special/Honourable Mention: Sri Hollerma – The Hollerma Bubble

A really seductive heartfelt bit of film making that is beautifully filmed and offers a glimpse into the Hollerma family life in lockdown

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We are grateful to alumnus Alex Widdowson for his help in selecting the winning films.

Alex studied Fine Art at Loughborough University and animated documentary at the Royal College of Art. His graduate film screened at festivals around the world and received seven awards. He is currently developing project on autism as part of his PhD at Queen Mary, University of London, funded by the Wellcome Trust.