01/03/2006

During a ‘mini’ Oscars ceremony held yesterday in London, 10 awards were given to upcoming filmmakers (aged 7 to 18) who hail from Scotland to the UK’s southwest, and who were judged by the new James Bond Daniel Craig, television legend Sir David Attenborough and Martin Freeman from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Organised by the UK Film Council, the First Light Film Awards were attended by over 200 young people and UK film personalities such as filmmakers Anthony Minghella, Kevin Macdonald, Gurinder Chadha, Amma Asante, actors Nicholas Hoult (About a Boy [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), Thomas Sangster (Nanny McPhee) and producer Duncan Kenworthy (Love Actually [+see also:
trailer
film profile]).

Another high profile guest, the UK Minister of Creative Industries and Tourism, James Purnell, said about the event: “First Light helps young people grow from being spectators to creators. They learn the tricks of the trade, both in front of and behind the camera and develop their confidence and imagination… But perhaps most importantly, this scheme is developing tomorrow’s talent. This is vital if we are to realise the full potential of our film industry”.

The winners included Innocent Reality (Best Drama), a film about a broken relationship between a girl and her alcoholic father, produced by a group of 100 17 year-olds from Renfrewshire Arts, Paisley, who received just under €4,400 of First Light Funding; as well as A Right Mayor (Best Comedy), a film about a young boy who wakes up one day to find that he is mayor of London. Produced by Intuition PPIMS in London, the project was shot with a First Light grant of €5,800 and produced by eight 14-15 year-olds.

Since its inception in May 2001, First Light has given some 10,000 young people in the UK a chance to write, act, shoot and produce over 650 films under the guidance of professional filmmakers.