We are delighted to announce the shortlisted entrants for the FOCUS Award, a new award which we are running for the first time this year. With the support of ERIC, and the sponsorship of The Edge Picture Company, we launched this award in August. We called for short films from 18-25 year old Black, Indigenous and People of Colour filmmakers who were not already working in the TV and film industry. Our judges were incredibly impressed by the response, which ranged from music videos to documentaries to drama and showed a huge amount of ambition and creativity.
The shortlisted films are:
56 Black Men by Esther Rennae Walker
Conscious by Loren Alleyne
Happy Birthday by Jigyasa Anand
Magpie by Hamza Pool
STRANDED IN NIGERIA – THE ROAD TO ENUGU by Godgift Chidinma Emesi
We will be revealing the winner at the EVCOM London Live and Film Awards on 19th November. Tickets for the event are available here. We will be screening excerpts from all shortlisted films at the ceremony, as well as a longer excerpt from the winning film.
The winner will receive 9 months of mentorship from, in turn, The Edge Picture Company, Gorilla Gorilla! and Plastic Pictures. Through the programme they will have the opportunity to get regular feedback on their work, gain insight into the industry, build relationships and join their mentor on shoots and in the editing suite.
All shortlisted entrants who do not win, will receive an afternoon of mentorship from a filmmaker in which they will be able to speak to their mentor about the industry, have their questions answered and get practical feedback on their submission.
We, at EVCOM, commit to building an ongoing relationship with each of these filmmakers, and supporting them as they begin their career in the industry.
We look forward celebrating new talent with you at the EVCOM London Live and Film Awards! See you there.