A Bournemouth Film School (BFS) production has secured top honours at a prestigious national student filmmaking competition, highlighting Arts University Bournemouth’s commitment to sustainable creative practices.
A Bournemouth Film School (BFS) production has secured top honours at a prestigious national student filmmaking competition, highlighting Arts University Bournemouth’s commitment to sustainable creative practices.
Fairytales of the Future won the Excellence in Fiction category at the Green Film School Alliance (GFSA) awards, part of the newly launched A Few Minutes For The Planet competition. The accolade was presented at a star-studded Green Gala screening held at The Garden Cinema in Soho, London, attended by industry professionals, educators, and environmental campaigners.
As a reward for their triumph, the student filmmaking team has been awarded an exclusive scholarship for a Masterclass at the world-famous Sundance Film Festival. In addition to the scholarship, the short film will now be screened in UK Green Film Network cinemas nationwide.
Organised by NAHEMI (National Association for Higher Education in the Moving Image) in association with the UK Green Film Network, and supported by the BAFTA albert education partnership and the GFSA, the competition challenged student filmmakers across the country to create short films addressing the climate crisis.
Submissions were strictly limited to between one and two and a half minutes in length, and every project had to be produced using eco-friendly production protocols. Out of 12 shortlisted films from institutions nationwide, the BFS production was named the winner, with judges praising its simplicity and economy of storytelling.
Clare Cahill, Senior Lecturer for BA (Hons) Film Production, responsible for supporting the students on the Albert credentials, comments: “Bournemouth Film School takes the sustainability of filmmaking very seriously. We’ve been actively incorporating sustainable practices into our productions since 2015 and have been an educational partner of BAFTA albert since 2018.
“This year, we expanded our live briefs to include the NAHEMI A Few Minutes for the Planet competition, which challenges students to exemplify these values. The winning film, Fairy Tales of the Future, wasn't just sustainable in its practical production, which achieved both albert and PEACHY recognition, but also in its core message.
“Championing sustainability both on screen and behind the camera is exactly what the industry needs right now, and our students are leading the charge.”
The winning film was a truly collaborative effort, produced by third-year BA (Hons) Film students in tandem with peers from the Make-up and Costume degree programmes at AUB. The project was led and supported by Film Senior Lecturers Mark Sheldon and Clare Cahill.
The student filmmaking team includes Director Caitlin Brook, Creative Director Ben Saggs and Producers Olivia Bailey and Bay Whittingham.
Mark comments, “This is a superb example of BFS creative output, as well as a practical demonstration of our school's already embedded commitment to sustainable production practices and BAFTA albert.
“Congratulations to the entire cast and crew on this outstanding national achievement.”
