SEPTEMBER | STUDENT AND ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS

We're thrilled to once again highlight the excellent achievements of our students, graduates, and alumni. Read on to learn about their inspiring success stories. If you have any exciting news to share, we'd love to hear from you! You can sign up to our alumni newsletter here to get the updates direct to your inbox.

We couldn't be prouder of filmmaking alumna, Jing Zhao, who was selected to participate in the HFF Munich Women Writing Lab, a 10-day intensive workshop mentored by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Robin Swicord. She completed a full treatment for her upcoming feature script based on her Term 4 film, Walls

“I was inspired by someone I met in my life. She is an Asian immigrant in the UK and has been running a dry-cleaning and tailoring shop to make a living and support her family in China. Three years later, this character still lingers in my mind, constantly pushing me to tell her story in a more complete way. It feels like a natural progression for this feature to take shape. Of course, the project is still in its very early stages, but I hope to share more exciting updates about it in the near future.” - Jing Zhao

Jing also has a new interactive VR and video installation, Snow, Tiger, Reunion, which has been selected for the DOK Leipzig XR showcase at the end of October. She will be pitching the project and seeking collaborations with industry professionals at the event with her VR producer. We wish you the very best of luck!

Congratulations to alumna, Mela Hilleard, who will be having a special screening of her feature film, HOME. The screening will be taking place at Mammoth Cinema in partnership with Kino Kolo Notts and will be followed by a poetry reading featuring work from Central and Eastern Europe with environmental themes.

"I graduated with an MA in filmmaking at the London Film School and have now completed my first full-length documentary called 'HOME’  which premiered during the Kinoteka PFF at the ICA in London. It has been awarded Best Feature Film at the KIFF International Film Festival and at the same time it also received a special screening at the Center for Contemporary Art in Warsaw.

"‘HOME’ upturns the cinematic rules of how we think a film should be made. This full-length documentary is made from found footage; shot over a number of years, using a hand-held camera shooting ‘with gut feelings’ unscripted events and in an almost reverse process, the script was written last. 

"The film focuses on family, identity, emigration, as well as the circle of life, death and rebirth. Its genesis and inspiration was a seven-year collection of films and photographs covering the lives of a handful of people ejected from their own cultures and homes, who are creating home and finding love at the house of a 90-year-old, bed-ridden writer in suburban London." - Mela Hilleard

We’re also delighted to hear that Mela’s grad film, At Dawn the Flowers Open the Gates of Paradise has been selected for the first edition Elevation Film Festival. “The first ever Elevation Film Festival celebrates emerging voices in artistic, experimental, and expanded cinema across southwest England, the UK and internationally.” Mela’s film will be screened in the ‘Negative Flesh: Positive Code’ category. Best of luck!

Exciting news from screenwriting alumna Angela Franklyn, who is currently participating in a BBC writers' development scheme until next June! As part of the programme, Angela will be developing an original pilot script with the BBC. Her work in the scheme has also earned her a spot on the 'Fade In: Emerging Writers in Conversation' panel at this year's BFI London Film Festival. Congrats!

"Being part of this 18-month long writers' development scheme with the BBC has been a dream come true, and has opened up many doors in this industry, so notoriously difficult to break into. I'm so honoured to have been recommended by the BBC to the BFI to speak at this year's London Film Festival, especially after attending so many talks over the years given by other writers. I always dreamed it would be me up there someday - I can't quite believe that day has come! I'm very excited to share my writing journey with others, and hopefully prove that having a disability doesn't stop you achieving your dreams." - Angela Franklyn

 

MAF Graduate Highlights - August and September 2024

We are delighted to share that two LFS Grad films have been nominated for the BSC (British Society of Cinematographers) Short Film Cinematography Competition in the student category. 

The films are Horse in a Blue Tuxedo (DoP: Moritz Lips, Writer-Director: Holden Boyles, Producer: Juan Antonio Barroso Lopez) and Lapel (DOP: Adar Ravir, Writer-Director: Holden Boyles, Producer: Nabil Muzayyin, Sound Recordist: Qili Li, Editor: Benjamin Sivo). Congratulations also to recent grad Yang Zhang for the work on Farewell also nominated for the student category. Huge congrats to the creative teams! 

Stunning real time eviction drama, A Splinter in the Eye premiered at Oscar Qualifier in August. OFF Odense Film Festival (Denmark). Writer-Dir: Harry Hayton Iles, Prod: Hollye Swinehart, Prod. Design: Anastasiya Mykhaylova, Art Dir: Kelly Diapère, Editor: Harry Hayton Iles, DoP: Pablo Garrido Carreras. 

Quelques Nuits d'hiver screened at Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival 2024 (Israel). Writer-Dir: Jules Thin, Prod: Amanda Millenia Salvati, DoP: Adar Raviv, Editor: Nicholas Seaton, Sound Editor: Marta Malvestiti. 

Premiering at Cannes in 2024, Praeis was selected for  Tirana International Film Festival (Albania). Writer-Dir: Dovydas Draksas, Producer: Jing Zhao, Production Designer: Anastasiya Mykhaylova, DoP: Tamás Apor Méder, Editor: Dovydas Draksas, Camera Assistant: Yinghui Jing. 

Huge congrats to the team as stunning drama set in a stone quarry in China, Poet won the won the Jury’s Award and the GOLDEN KOJIKA Award at the world premiere at Nara international Film Festival 2024 (Japan). Writer-Dir: Kun Sun, Co-Producer: Xianhe Wang, Prod: Haoyuxuan Liu, DoP: Leslie Lin. 

Set in a Tapas restaurant in North Wales and doing well in Festivals, Sharks in the Cowlyn Bay was part of Rome Independent Cinema Festival 2024 (Italy) and Greenwich Film Festival 2024 (UK). Writer-Dir: Jonathan Williams, Prod: Siddharth Menon, DoP: Maxwell Cutting, Production Designer: Ben Packwood, Editor: Tom Chambers 
 
Moonstruck, a short film exploring being a single woman in this modern world, was selected for Imagine This Women's Film Festival (USA). Writer-Dir: Haojie Lu, Prod: Ming Huang, DoP: Xiangyu Guo, Prod.Desig: Getian Han, Sound Recordist: Semyon Voinov, Editor: Haojie Lu. 

The second prize in the Film School category at the Imagine India International Film Fest (Madrid, Spain) goes to adventure drama Chai Coffi (Writer-Director-Producer, Sanjoli Malani, Associate Producer: Siddhanth Srikanth). Well done! 
 
Congratulations to WW2 historical drama The House That Stood for winning the Best Student Narrative Film award at the Mosaic World Film Festival 2024 , 22nd Molise Cinema FF 2024 (Italy), and also screening at the 3rd Cilento Fest 2024 (Italy) and  Matera International Film Festival 2024. Writer-Director: Antonella Spirito, Producer: Nathan Legger, DOP: Bo Giesen 

Continuning a long festival run award winning Sparare alle Angurie, exploring toxic masculinity in Italy with a humorous approach, was accepted to 29th edition of Schlingel International Film Festival (Germany). Writer-Dir-Editor: Antonio Donato, Prod: Patrick Verlin, DoP: Sahil Kotwani, Prod. Designer: Anastasiya Mykhaylova. 

Of Dysphoria and Blood was accepted to the Lonely Seal Film Festival (USA) Writer-Dir: Matteo Magnoni, Sound Recordist: Tavleen Kour, Prod. Design: Aayushi Agarwal, Art Assistant: Tanith MacLynn-Hill, Sound Design and Editor: Matteo Magnoni. 
 
Thread Tension was screened at the Slash Fantastic Film Festival (Austria) . Writer-Director: Ruby Mastrodimos, Producer: Oliver Staton, Henry Hayton Iles, Editor: Benjamin Sivo. 

 

Photo credits (top to bottom)

Still from Walls, director: Jing Zhao

Group picture from HFF München Women Writing Lab by Jing Zhao

Stills collage from HOME, director: Mela Hilleard

Angela Franklyn at BBC development scheme