Film Barnet winners celebrate reel success (From Times Series)
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Film Barnet winners celebrate reel success
11:20am Tuesday 13th April 2010 in Film Barnet By Katie McGonagle
Sitting pretty: runners-up Comfort Nwabia and Talinma Khan, with winner Elishama Udorok (under 25) and Rob Heard (over 25). Back row: Kevin Dolan from Film London and Flo Armstrong from Youth and Connexions
Film Barnet winner Crazy In Barnet by Elishama Udorok
BUDDING film-makers are reeling with success following their success in a community competition.
A series of 90-second films about different aspects of life in the borough were entered into the competition, run jointly by Barnet Council and Film London.
The winners in each age range received £150 and the runners-up were each given a £50 Amazon voucher.
The top film in the competition, Crazy, will also be screened for one week as a trailer to the main feature at East Finchley’s Phoenix Cinema later this month.
It was the winning entry in the 11 to 24 age range was filmed and directed by A-level student Elishama Udorok, 17, who attends Woodhouse College, in Finchley. It featured a mix of free running, skateboarding and football, set to an original recording of the song Crazy, by Seal.
Elishama said: “It was basically me and three other guys from my college having fun in Barnet. I really want to get into short film-making. I was pretty ecstatic when I found out and I’ll be chuffed to have something I have made up on the big screen.”
The top prize in the over-25 age group went to 37-year-old director Rob Heard, from High Barnet, who filmed the run-up to a gig by Barnet-based band Wired.
Mr Heard said: “I was really delighted. Ever since I moved to Barnet, I have just been amazed at how creative it is. This is the first time I have borrowed a camera and made a film for myself. It has given me the confidence to carry on making my own films.”
The judging panel included Times Series editor Rachel Sharp, who said: “I thought there was a real inventiveness and passion in the films, and the film-makers had obviously put a lot of thought and energy into it.”
Representatives from the Phoenix Cinema and Barnet Youth and Connexions Service were also on the judging panel.
Crazy will now be judged against winners from six other boroughs across London, and the winner announced at a special screening by Bafta on July 12.
