UWE Bristol students win two prizes at Royal Television Society regional awards ceremony

Filmmaking and animation students from UWE Bristol picked up awards in two categories at this year’s Royal Television Society (RTS) West of England Student Awards.

In the Factual – Short Form category, the winning entry was ‘Bow and Rise’ by filmmaking students Jasmine Mok, Juliet Harper, Ben Pritchard, Meg Eyres and Max Dunn.

All four shortlisted entries in the Animation category were UWE Bristol submissions this year, with the top prize being awarded to ‘Meal Deal’ by Anais Kheir, Niamh McArdle and Amy Mulcahy.

In all, 11 UWE Bristol entries were shortlisted for prizes across four categories.

Students from UWE Bristol’s School of Arts won a further 12 Craft Awards at the awards ceremony, held at Watershed in Bristol on 4 March:

Drama:

• Beni Bul Anne, Camera (Johnny Austen-Jones) and Producing (Kitty Finlow)
• Sink, Camera (Daniel Hanson) and Editing (Harry Farnhill-Bain)
• The Stranger, Acting and Camera (Barnaby Cole)

Factual – Short Form:

• Bow and Rise, Camera, Editing and Production Design
• 15 Summers, Camera (Dora Cinetci)

Entertainment and Comedy Drama:

• Holy Smokes, Production Design (Alice Bennet, Eve Elridge and Titus Rudkin) and Camera (Megan Bird)

Animation:

• Meal Deal, Production Design, Writing and Editing
• 07:00, Art Direction
• The Boy & the Goldfish, Art Direction

Saving the Planet:

• Big Buses for a Bright Future, highly commended

Additional Craft Award in Drama:

• Birdcage, Production Design, Charles Smith and Pearl Ukairo-Morris, and Sound Design, Jaiden McAuley

Additional Craft Award in Factual – Short Form:

• Dulia, Camerawork, Johnny Austen-Jones and Megan Bird.

Ian Friend, course leader for the BA (Hons) Animation programme at UWE Bristol, said: “We’re thrilled that Meal Deal created by Anais, Niamh, and Amy has won the Animation Award at this year’s RTS West of England Student Awards.

“This caps off another exceptional year for the course, with all Animation nominees studying at UWE. It's a phenomenal testament to the creativity, craft and dedication of our students and staff. A massive congratulations to all our talented filmmakers - your imagination, hard work and storytelling continue to shine!”

John Podpadec, a senior lecturer in filmmaking, said: “It was a great night for the UWE BA Filmmaking programme, winning the award for Best Factual and a collection of craft prizes.

“Huge congratulations go to all those who were nominated but especially Jasmine Mok and her team for their thoroughly engaging and colourful documentary ‘Bow and Rise’, a film that explores and celebrates the experiences of international students in the University of Bristol Lion Dance Troupe.”