Year 3 and 4 pupils from Langford Village Primary School demonstrated how Lego, a good script, and steady camera action provide the winning formula to become Bicester Schools Film Festival 2015 film-makers of the year, picking up awards for Best Overall Animation and Best Overall Film. The films were judged by representatives from the Film Club and the winners were announced at a Gala Award Ceremony at the Vue Cinema in Bicester, after all the entries were screened.
Sports Day! was one of 68 entries from 750 pupils across 13 schools at this year’s festival, sponsored by Kingsmere, the new village development in Bicester, with Rosemary Early, James Durbin, Skylah Walton, Kerry Stanley and Matthew Oke of Langford Village Primary School showing that they are true movie-makers with their short animation, scooping the best Overall Film award.
Other winners included a documentary called Snakes by Year 1 and 2 pupils from Bure Park Primary School; a drama called A Titanic Adventure by Year 3 and 4 pupils from Finmere CE Primary School, and an inventive documentary called Making Dinosaur Jelly, by foundation pupils at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School.
Andrew Carrington, Director at Countryside Properties (Bicester) Ltd, the developers behind Kingsmere, commented: “The standard of entries this year was incredible and the pupils demonstrated some real talent – we definitely spotted some actors, directors and scriptwriters of the future. Sports Day! is an excellent film and the pupils’ steady camera action, great sound effects and inventive use of props secured the top award.”
“Our partnership with the Bicester Schools Film Festival is part of our ongoing commitment to supporting communities and provides an excellent platform to enhance education. It’s great to see that there is such great talent out there and we look forward to seeing what students can achieve next year. The Gala Award Ceremony at the cinema provided the children with a very well-deserved taste of limelight, which they clearly made the most of.”
Greg Stagnell, one of the founders of Bicester Schools Film Festival, added: “The festival has gained great momentum in the past couple of years and we are pleased to have Countryside on board to support this fantastic initiative.
“Taking part in the festival is an exciting and creative learning opportunity for young people in Bicester, through which they can develop a wide range of skills as well as having great fun. From seeing all the entries, it certainly looked like all the children enjoyed the experience, and we had a tough job judging – the quality, imagination and story-telling in each film was impressive.”
