A trio of films created by BA (Hons) Film Production students at Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) have come away with top marks at the latest Kodak/National Association for Higher Education in the Moving Image (NAHEMI) Student Commercial Awards.
In total, AUB students took home five awards on the night, more than any other institution.
As with previous years, students were provided with four briefs from top London advertising agencies, plus one roll of 16 mm film from Kodak, in order to create a 30-second commercial.
Bon Appetit, This One First, and Pirates all took home prizes at the annual competition, in which more than 60 films were submitted by 20 film schools nationwide.
Like most projects at AUB, this was a cross-course collaborative effort, with Film Production students working alongside those on BA (Hons) Design for Costume and Performance, and BA (Hons) Make-up for Media and Performance to produce their films.
This One First, produced for a brief by Xbox, placed third in the overall competition, as well as winning First in Brief.
“This One First follows a father with Parkinson's Disease teaching his daughter everyday tasks, encouraging her with the phrase, ‘Try this one first’,” explains BA (Hons) Film Production student Issy Campbell, who wrote and directed the film.
“The daughter hands him the Xbox Adaptive Controller, saying, ‘It’s this one first, Dad’. Through the product, the two can play together, encapsulating themes of inclusivity and connection through Xbox's accessible gaming product.
The success of This One First is the latest in a series for Issy, whose second-year project Time Between Us garnered several awards on the UK festival circuit, including Best UK Student Film and the Special Recognition Award at the BIFA Qualifying Sunrise Film Festival, Best UK Student Short at Purbeck Film Festival, and the Audience Choice Award at Lift Off Film Festival London.
Bon Appetit, produced for a Ginsters brief, also won First in Brief. The film's production designer, Phoebe Tankard Bowkett, and costume designer, Jessye O'Reagan from BA (Hons) Design for Costume and Performance, won the Craft Award for Costume and Design.
"As costume designer, I was brought onto the project to mainly get the historical accuracy of the brief down," Jessye explains. "For me, one of the best things about storytelling through costume is the chance to transport an audience to a completely foreign time period. It was something I knew would be crucial for the success of Bon Appetit, so it was my main focus for most of my designs.
"One of the most valuable opportunities at AUB is how much we collaborate with other courses, as it gives you a chance to put your professional practices to the test in a supported environment. The skills I learned on Bon Appetit pushed me as a designer and helped me build on the skills my course has given me across my three years.
"It's such a privilege to be recognised for the work we put in! It's quite surreal to think that a project that took around two weeks from start to finish is an awarded piece of work – I'm extremely grateful to have been given the chance to help build the world of Bon Appetit and it's a huge confidence boost to be recognised by industry professionals."
The successes at the Kodak/NAHEMI awards didn't stop with This One First and Bon Appetit – a third AUB film, Pirates, won the prize for Third in Brief, for an Alliance Witan brief.
Alongside the Kodak/NAHEMI project, this year, the BA (Hons) Film Production course piloted a corporate film for a live client, working in collaboration with NHS Dorset on a brief for UHD Therapies.
The final film, Why Not Dorset? was well-received, with the students Ty Hargrave, Isaac Miller and Leszek Cygan being asked to present at a forum as a result.
“Our students have once again shown their creativity, willingness to accept new challenges, and their commitment to quality outcomes,” says Mark Sheldon, Senior Lecture on BA (Hons) Film Production at AUB.
“The cross-course collaboration has worked so well, with Design for Costume and Performance, and Make-up for Media and Performance playing a vital role in achieving the professional look to our films.”
The Kodak/NAHEMI Student Commercial Awards 2025 took place at the Regent Street Cinema in London on Friday 30 May.
