IFSW students scoop awards at Film Showcase event

The International Film School Wales (IFSW) recently held its first ‘Finest Films’ showcase in Cardiff and presented some of the top moviemakers of tomorrow with awards.
IFSW, which is part of the University of Wales College, Newport (UWCN), organised the event as a celebration of the achievements of the talented young students graduating from the BA Animation and BA Film and Video courses this year.
“The films on show here today are the work of some very accomplished young film-makers,” said Humphry Trevelyan, the recently appointed head of the film school, who presented the awards to the winning students. “Innovative and imaginative, these movies are the result of a huge amount of creative effort, imagination and hard work.”
The screening and awards ceremony took place at the UGC Cinema in Cardiff.
In addition to a wide range of animation and short feature films, the showcase featured a taste of the emerging talent from the new BA Documentary Video and TV, which is now in its second year at the School.
The majority of the films on show were shot in and around Newport and Cardiff. Others, reflecting the true international status of the film school were filmed in overseas locations as diverse as an Italian village and a Palestinian refugee camp.
“We’re hoping that this will be the first of many annual awards ceremonies to mark the achievements of the talented young film-makers who graduate each year from the film school,” commented Gethin While, IFSW’s Media Development Manager.
In Film and Video, the Best Direction award was won by Mahdi Fleifel and James Spink – Shahdi for ‘The Beautiful Well’; Best Cinematography went to Elisa Parolo and Giulia Fabbri for ‘The Goddess’; For Best Screenwriting it was Rob Loader and Morgan Bushe who took the prize for ‘Shelter (A place of refuge)’; Best Sound went to Gwyn Moxham and Christopher Williams (‘Friday Reservoir’); David Davis and Lee Bhogal won Best Creative Innovation for ‘Sex, Drugs and Drum ‘n’ Bass’.
In the Animation category, Best Sound went to Shane Skuse (‘Oily Trimmings, Space Adventurer’); Best Script was Matt Harding’s ‘Last Day on Earth’; Best Use of Medium (2D) went to Luke Oram for ‘Brand Wars’; the Best Use of Medium (3D) award went to Keith James-Harrison (‘Dust’); and Eirik Kirkaune’s ‘In Periculum’ won the Best Design award.
(MM)