First Light is an organisation that importantly encourages young filmmakers under the age of 25, and helps to develop their talents.
Their annual awards ceremony returned to London this week, when the winners of the 2013 First Light Awards were announced. The young filmmakers were given the opportunity to walk the red carpet in style at the Leicester Square Odeon, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Olivia Williams, Rafe Spall, Jason Maza, and Joely Richardson.
All of the above were on hand to present awards at the ceremony; a perfect example of how our current industry should be (and, clearly, are) helping to nurture the talents for the generations to come.
Because, let’s face it, if you’re presented with an award from Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg for Best Comedy, or the Best Drama from Chiwetel Ejiofor and Joely Richardson, then you know you’re doing something right.
You can watch all of the work of the winners and nominees over on First Light’s website here. For now, here are three of the winners, for the Young Voice Award, Best Comedy, and Best Drama, to give you a taste of this year’s entries, followed by the full list of winners.
Young Voice Award, sponsored by Independent Talent
Winner: Days That Made Us, produced by Somerset Film
Award presented by Damien Molony and MyAnna Buring
Best Comedy, in association with Pinewood
Winner: H.B. produced by My Pockets, Bridport
Award presented by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg
FILMCLUB of the year, sponsored by FilmClub
Winner: Heague Primary School, Derbyshire
Award presented by Warren Brown and Luke Newberry
FILMCLUB Member of the year, sponsored by FilmClub
Winner: Joe Goff of Lawnswood School, Leeds
Award presented by Warren Brown and Luke Newberry
FLIC Award in association with Odeon
Winner: Watch Your Language produced by Fosse Way School, Bath
Award presented by Jason Maza and Freddie Fox
Best Documentary in association with The Grierson Trust
Winner: Echoes of Substance Abuse, produced by Twin Vision, Liverpool
Award presented by Art Malik
Digital Innovation Award sponsored by YouTube
Winner: The Perfect Dream by Gulliver Moore from Frome in Somerset
Award presented by Rafe Spall and Tom Riley
Best Animation associated with Special Treats:
Winner: High Above the Sky, produced by SPID Theatre Company, London
Award presented by Nik Powell and Will Poulter
Best Film by under-12s, in association with BAFTA Kids
Winner: Time Report, produced by Signals Media Arts Centre, Colchester
Award presented by Olivia Williams and James Norton
Best Film by over 13s, sponsored by Sony
Winner: Not Just a Diagnosis, produced by Ideal Films, Swindon
Award presented by Sir Alan Parker and Manjinder Virk
Best Drama, sponsored by EON
Winner: Mutiny produced by Fairbridge in Scotland
Award presented by Joely Richardson and Chiwetal Ejiofar
First Light helps young people from all backgrounds develop skills, talent, creativity and confidence by giving them opportunities to create their own short films with the help of industry professionals. The films the young people create cover many topics and genres, and make use of today’s accessible digital technologies to tell their stories with them in control. The roles of cast and crew would have been undertaken by various members of the young people in the group. Each would have had the opportunity to write, act, shoot, direct, light, edit, produce and screen their own film.
The young filmmakers come from across the UK and a wide variety of social backgrounds and experiences – including those with refugee status, young offenders and those from deprived areas – with each filmmaker imparting a unique aspect of themselves into their films.
