Short Film Winner

Congratulations to Ella in Year 8 on her ‘best film award’ at this year’s GDST Short Film Competition.

Pupils from schools across the Girls’ Day School Trust submitted short films on the theme of time, with 13 shortlisted entries selected for a screening at a special awards ceremony at the Everyman Cinema in Hampstead this week.

South Hampstead pupils secured two places in the final: Mae in Year 9 produced ‘This is Our Time’, a short film on feminism in 2020, praised by the judges for its “powerful message.” Ella – one of the youngest finalists – made a short film entitled ‘I’m Perfect’, exploring the pressures of looking good on social media. Her moving entry picked up the ‘best film’ award in the Year 7 to 9 category. The judges described Ella’s entry as “simple, effective… and perfect accompanying music”, commending her acting performance as well as her narrative and direction.

The judges included Karen Krizanovich (secretary for the London Critics’ Circle Film Section and a visual/factual researcher in the film industry); Trish Edwards (an Academy-award nominated set decorator, best known for her work on the film ‘Finding Neverland’, who also votes on the Oscars); and Becky Knapp (an award-winning and BAFTA nominated producer), who presented Ella with her prize.

The judges praised all the finalists for their hard work in producing such a variety of powerful responses to the theme. “It’s been wonderful to watch your entries on the big screen… Events like this are a great platform for you and will hopefully help boost female representation in film-making… Well done.” 

CEO of the GDST, Cheryl Giovannoni, who attended the event commented: “The girls did the most incredible job… the finalists were first class and made me feel very confident about the future of the film industry being in such creative and capable hands.”