Ken Russell praises young film-makers at IFSW student awards showcase

Acclaimed film director Ken Russell was full of praise for the aspiring movie-makers of tomorrow when he presented the awards at Finest Films 2005, the third annual student showcase and awards ceremony held by the International Film School Wales (IFSW) at the UGC Cinema in central Cardiff.
After viewing a diverse range of films that had been nominated for awards, Russell said, "the standard of films was excellent."
The films included a tale of Newport’s asylum-seekers, a documentary about children in peril in Uganda, how London Underground staff cope with suicides, and a moving story of a boy and his grandfather featuring one of the stars of TV’s ‘Father Ted’.
A visiting professor at IFSW, Russell also enjoyed the many animation films. “They are all very impressive,” he said. “A selection of amusing and very well-made films.”
Gethin While, IFSW Development Manager, said: “Having watched all the short-listed films, I knew it would be a tough task for our specialist industry jurors to decide on the winners – and judging from their comments it really was a tight contest in every category this year.”
Commenting on the winning animation films, programme leader Caroline Parsons said: "One cannot but marvel at the amazing quality of the computer-generated animation and sparkling wit of Astronauts by Matt Turner which won Best Film and Best Script.”
The award for Best Technical (animation) went to James Allchurch for ‘Attack of the Killer Robots’, while Richard Powell picked up the award for Best Innovation for his film, ‘Anima’.
In the BA (Hons) Film and Video category, the award for best direction went to ‘Light In Shadow’ from Alex Konstantaras, Juan Reina, and Golkou Parhizgar.
Best Produced film went to ‘Night Commuters’ by Marc Hoeferlin, Ashley Jenkins and Justin Purefoy. The best sound award went to ‘The 5th Step’ made by Josephine Reynolds, Mariana Conde and Donna Mabey. Best Script went to ‘A Day Out With Gwyn’. by Keri Collins, from Caldicot, and Paul West which was described as an audacious casting coup, starring Frank Kelly, better known as Father Jack of TV’s ‘Father Ted’.
‘One Under’ by Joe Barker, Patrick Brett and Oliver Wright, won the award for best cinematography, while Best Editing went to ‘The Quiet Gardener’ by Jamie Cadwell, Hannah Driscoll and Karl Luke.
Humphry Trevelyan, head of the International Film School Wales, said: “Film-making at IFSW continues to broaden in range and deepen in the development of creative skills. The overall standard this year must be one of the best ever, and shows how the School is managing to combine the demands of the film and TV industries for creative ideas and technical excellence – a successful combination that is winning the IFSW serious national and international recognition.
“All the many students at the Film School produce fine and well formed work after three years or more of hard study and training. There are always a few however who produce films which can stand shoulder to shoulder with massive budget commercial and state sponsored work for quality and entertainment value."
(SP)