Film-Makers Honoured At RTS Student Awards
FILMS produced by students from the University of South Wales (USW) were among the prize winners at the RTS Wales Students Television Awards, which were held on Friday night.
Battling it out in five categories – Animation, Entertainment, Factual, Drama, and Open – the USW entries beat competition from institutions across Wales.
In the Animation section – USW produced all eight entries, with the winner, Evanescent, produced by Alice Parkes, Teddy Hunter, Ross Bugden, Mia Rose Goddard, Anika Rozwadowska, and Andy James.
It was described as “a breathtaking vision of a world coming to life with some striking imagery and an evocative sound track”, which the jury said was “a very accomplished and well crafted piece of work”.
The Drama category had five entries, and was won by Victor Mawer for Needless Things, a spooky coming of age parable, which, said the judges “was an ambitious and highly original production that combined accomplished craft direction with some impressive performances”.
Beating six other nominees, Zak Campbell, Simon Pax McDowell, and Santa Aumeistere won the Factual category with their production That’s That: The Three Loves of Vala.
The film is an effective and moving account of life in a Latvian institution for people with a mental illness.
A spokesperson for the awards said: “The jury members were impressed with the documentary’s high production values effective photography and sense of pace, all of which enabled viewers to identify strongly with the main subject.”
Finally, in the Open category, Jordanne Richards and Katherine Sykes won with their production An Unfortunate End: The Boy and The Fairy.
Jury members were impressed by “the breadth, ambition and sheer originality of An Unfortunate End: The Boy and the Fairy, a gruesome tale in which an act of sadistic exploitation had very destructive consequences”.
After the event, an RTS spokesperson praised the quality of all the entries.
“The jury members were greatly impressed with the very high standard evident in the programmes and short animations submitted which clearly demonstrated a mastery of technical and production techniques,” he said.
“The RTS Awards are for student television productions that show outstanding visual and aural creativity, a mastery of craft skill, innovation and initiative.
“Productions should also take account of the requirements of broadcast television and the jury members based their decisions mainly on these criteria.”
The winners will now go forward to be judged in the national RTS Student Television Awards, to be presented on June 3at the BFI on London’s Southbank.
Spotted something? Got a story? Email News@News.Wales
