Steyning student wins major film award

Spokeswoman Savannah Perry said: “Proud students, parents, and teachers from across the UK gathered at the prestigious event to celebrate the work of young directors, screenwriters, and producers. The Moving Image Awards, which launched in 2014 in collaboration with the British Film Institute, recognise and celebrate the best moving image productions from students undertaking Eduqas qualifications in Film and Media across the UK.”

Categories this year included best short film, music video, TV/film extract, screenplay, one to watch and student jury prize.

Cherry Ellis, from Steyning Grammar School, took home the student jury prize title at this year’s awards for her film entitled The Deep Mind Experience. The film is an experimental stop-frame animation where the protagonist is taken on a psychedelic dream-like journey inside his own subconscious mind.

The judges commended Cherry on her use of contrasting images, colour and music to reflect the mundane real-world versus the colourful and beautiful world of the subconscious mind.

Cherry said: “I am so surprised to have won this award! After they announced all the winners I didn’t realise there was going to be another category so I was so surprised and so happy when they called my name! I wanted to create a story that was a form of escapism and wanted to emphasis the difference between the mundane everyday life and the crazy, wacky other worlds.”

The winning videos are available to view on the Moving Image Awards YouTube channel.

The event has gained acknowledgment from educators and professors of film and media studies at various institutions throughout the UK along with prominent figures within the film industry. Among this year's guest speakers were film critic and former president of the UK Critics’ Circle Anna Smith, writer and director Lorna Tucker, feature film script editor Kate Leys and Metro chief film critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh. Larushka said: “Today’s award ceremony has been absolutely amazing. It’s always so inspiring!

"I believe the biggest challenge facing young people today is getting over their own limits and beliefs about being film-makers. What we’ve taken away from today is that actually, the industry is an amazing place.

"There is enough work for everyone. You just have to really find your voice and believe in yourself. You have to believe that people really want to hear what you have to say and produce.

Anna Smith added: “To the students who want to pursue a career in Film or TV I would just say, keep knocking on those doors – don’t give up!

"You must be very determined.”