It's Nirvana For Bpf Shorts
High praise from judges in young film maker contest
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Chiswick was buzzing after JacksGap opened the recent Bpf Shorts 2013 short film competition prize-giving and screening.
Now in its third year, the Bpf Shorts short film competition, which is designed to encourage filmmaking amongst 11-18 year olds, has always attracted a great jury from the film and TV world: Simon Curtis (Director My Week with Marilyn and the Cranford TV series) in 2012, actors Colin Firth and Kevin Mc Nally in 2011, as well as Director Jim Gillespie and Charlie Philips of Mind's Eye.
This year the YouTube phenomenon twins behind JacksGap, Jack and Finn Harries, headed a line-up of other committed and passionate industry professionals, who lent their time and energy to judge and support the competition.
Opening the prize-giving, Jack and Finn said they were both humbled by the talent, skill and commitment shown by the young filmmakers who entered the competition and other jury members went on to reiterate these sentiments.
Phil Brown, a well-known name in film post production, who started out in the early seventies at Ealing Studios and went on to work with companies such as ITV, BBC and HBO Productions, awarded the first prize (a 650D Canon camera) to Jack Bradley (Abingdon School) for his short film documentary ‘Nirvana'. Phil said the cinematography and attention to detail was exceptional, in this beautiful documentary piece about Buddhism in Burma.
Phil is a key benefactor and supporter for the Bpf Shorts competition this year, generously offering work experience prizes at his Post Production company Phil Brown PRC.
Phil Brown
Tassy Russell of Bpf Shorts and Programme and Events Manager for the Bedford Park Arts Festival, introduced the jury member, Director Eddy Marshall, to award the second prize (a day on the Hollyoaks set in Liverpool) to Chloe Hannaford (The Arts Educational School, London) for her intriguing and original short film ‘Captured'.
Eddy Marshall
Currently directing the TV series, Hollyoaks, Eddy has worked extensively in television in drama and comedy, from serials to children's television and commercials. He is also an accomplished short filmmaker and was awarded' Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Short Film' in 2004 , from the Director's Guild of Great Britain, for ‘ The Wreck of the Mary Celeste ‘. Speaking at the prize-giving, Eddy praised the quality of the winning films and gave advice and encouragement to the young filmmakers.
JacksGap twin, Finn Harries, awarded the third prize (a day on set with Mind's Eye Media) to Sophia Wigg (St Paul's Girls' School), for her charming and witty stop motion short ‘The Circus'. Sophia has entered each year, since the competition started, and Richard Broke of Bpf Shorts said they were delighted by her development over this time, and by the skill, originality and commitment shown in ‘The Circus'.
Jury member, Ben Grass, CEO of Pure Grass Films, (formerly at Sony Pictures Digital in Europe and a Senior Advisor of Corporate Strategy at the BBC) spoke to the audience and awarded the fourth prize to Jack Bradley for his fiction short ‘Into the Woods'.
One of last year's winners, Hana Kapetanovic, addressed the audience to tell of her fantastic work experience prize at Mind's Eye Media last year, helping out as a runner on a commercials shoot. Moreover, as a Bpf Shorts 2012 prize winner, Hana was one of several other winning filmmakers to be awarded a trip to the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, specially organised by Nicky Kelly of Bpf Shorts. Hana told how delighted she was to tour the school and various fascinating stop motion shoots, especially as she got to show her film personally to the Director of the school (and prolific British Producer of films such as ‘The Crying Game' and ‘Ladies in Lavender') Nik Powell and to gain his insights and advice.
A packed programme of fourteen original, entertaining and often moving films were shown on the night with a mix of fiction and documentaries included. Some films dealt with social issues such as ‘A Wordsmith ‘set in a local Chiswick book shop, which explored the theme of dyslexia. Cathy Millin of Bpf Shorts introduced ‘Not Quite There' a poignant and very personal documentary about depression, whilst Nicky Kelly of BpfShorts introduced ‘Not at Home' a touching and subtle story about a homeless mother and child.
Kelvin Murray of Bpf Shorts said they were very thankful for the generosity of many companies and individuals this year, which enabled them to offer prizes (often work experience sessions) to all filmmakers in the top ten final selection. Special thanks were given to Phil Brown who donated several prizes, Charlie Phillips of Mind's Eye Media and also to The Young Film Academy and Torin Douglas for donating prizes.
Organisers said particular thanks should also be given to Nik Powell and staff at the National Film and Television School, who have supported the competition since its inception, and very kindly met with prize-winners in the first two years and laid on special tours and screenings for them.
Full details of this year's films, prizes and jury members and next year's competition will be updated on the Bpf Shorts web site later this year at www.bpfshorts.co.uk
The top ten placed filmmakers were as follows:
Winner First Prize
Second Prize
Third Prize
Fourth Prize
‘Into The Woods' by Jack Bradley
Fifth Prize
‘Not Quite There' by Alice Taylor
Sixth Prize
‘It's the thought that counts' by Jasmine-Olivia Morton
Seventh Prize
‘Cacophony' by Arthur Williams
Eighth Prize
Ninth Prize
Tenth prize
‘Not at Home' by Charlotte Winyard, Gigi Moya, and Ella Stephens
July 15, 2013
