The UK Film Festival (UKFF) annually celebrates the best of filmmaking from around the world in the heart of London. This year, three London Film School shorts will join the illustrious list of films screened at UKFF, who within 5 years, have established a tradition of promoting films that later have gone onto to be Oscar nominees and winners.
Screening on Thursday 24th November at 17:00 along with 4 other short films, THE ROAD follows protagonist Jinle, a Chinese high school student, who tries to find a way out of the education system. Nothing changes until he finds a collection of poetry in the drawer of his essay teacher, a young lady who has been asking him to follow the model essays every day.
This is the first official selection for THE ROAD, but director and LFS graduate Yanqi Chen has worked on several other festival nominated films during his two years in London. These included DRESSMAKER (editor and production designer) and THE CHINESE CANVASSER (director), which were screened at the Austin Film Festival and 6th CNEX Chinese Doc Forum respectively.
Other LFS members joining Yanqi Chen’s crew included Director of Photography Toshiyuki Ishihara and Co-Producer Hinnaa Sulharia.
A day after THE ROAD’s appearance at UKFF, Sofia Safonova’s TAMARA will have it’s screening at 17:30 and is in the running for its fourth award after having been officially selected in the Best Student Short Film Category. During 2016, TAMARA was screened at a further seven festivals, picking up Best UK Short at the London Short Film Festival, Best Debut Short Film at Spirit of Fire Film Festival and a Special Jury Mention at the Esperanza International Film Festival.
Credit: Jurgis Kmins
In the short, Siberian bus conductress Tamara introduces her teenage son, Max, to the colleague she started dating recently. As they meet in a karaoke bar, she gets suspended between the two male egos and is forced to look for her own self instead. The film was shot in Southern Siberia and was a collaboration between the FAMU (Academy of Performing Arts in Prague), a mixed non-professional cast, siberian film specialists and students of the London Film School, consisting of Ricardo Saraiva (Editor), Prerna Winter (Co-Producer) and Andy Keresztes (1st Assistant Director).
OCEAN WITHIN
Writer/Director Prerna Winter's short film is nominated for Best Student Film and Best Female Director. The story is about creation, destruction, life, beauty, death and power. The film follows Gaia as she visits an abortion clinic for a procedure. Gaia becomes the lens through which we encounter various charcters on the way to her appointment to the clinic, as she observes teh world around her - with empathy and humour. Collaborated with LFS colleagues Sofia Rimskaya as editor, Andrew Kerestes as AD and sound recordist, Tuna Erlat as Camera Assistant, Asli Umut as Gaffer.
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Written by Ben Corbett
Top image - Credit: Toshiyuki Ishihara