Prize in the can for film makers (From Swindon Advertiser)

Prize in the can for film makers

12:00pm Thursday 21st March 2013 in News

A GROUP of young film-makers from Swindon have won a top award at a ceremony in London.

Young people from across the country gathered at the Odeon cinema in Leicester Square for the 2013 First Light Awards, which develops and celebrates the work of young talent throughout the UK.

And rubbing shoulders with famous faces at the red carpet event was the team from Ideal Films, whose five minute movie Not Just A Diagnosis won the Best Film By Over 13s category.

Thirty teenagers from the Swindon area were involved in the production of the film, which tells the story of a young woman facing up to life after being diagnosed with mental health problems.

Rachel Hughes, who came up with the initial idea for the story, said: “For young people with mental health issues it’s so hard to get points across and the film was a perfect way for us to get those messages out there.

“The whole day was amazing and to find out that we won was brilliant.

“I really enjoyed watching all of the films made by the other young people. It was a great experience. It was great to hear such nice things from the judges about the film.”

And production manager and mentor Sherylee Houssein added: “The event was fantastic.

“As always First Light Movies pulled out all the stops to make the awards ceremony a fantastic experience for all involved.

“The presenters, Hacker T Dog and Ian, where hilarious and made all the young film-makers at ease about coming up to the stage.

“Winning the award was a brilliant but well deserved outcome for the team of Not Just A Diagnosis, every one in the team worked so hard to make it an award winning film.”

The award was presented by film director Sir Alan Parker, whose credits include The Commitments and Bugsy Malone, and writer/director/actress Manjinder Virk.

Other stars at the event included actors Simon Pegg, Rafe Spall, Art Malik, Olivia Williams and Joely Richardson.

The judging panel included TV’s Doctor Who Matt Smith and Martin Freeman, star of the movie The Hobbit and TV series Sherlock.

Not Just A Diagnosis has already won the Swindon heat of the Preloader short film competition and is now in the final at Salisbury next month.

Nominated in the same category at the First Light Awards was Cat In A Box, an animated film made in Swindon about a woman who receives a mysterious package which changes her life forever.

The film was made by a group of girls, with assistance from the company Evil Twin Artworks.