Page 23 - Fujifilm Exposure_3 Michael Winner_ok

THE 1997 FUJIFILM SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS
Constance Takes Top Prize
Constance Takes Top Prize
Goldsmith’s College in London is this year’s overall winner in the pres- tigious annual Fujifilm Scholarship Awards. Its entry was Constance, written, pro- duced and directed by Cyril I Nri, who’s studying for a Masters degree in drama.
Nri - whose film also won several other categories including the Arriflex Award for Best Camerawork and Lighting, The Steenbeck Award for Best Editing and the BBC Award for Most Promising Director - is perhaps better known for his recurring role in the popular and controversial BBC tele-series, This Life.
The competition’s gala award ceremony, compered by Martyn Lewis, was held this year at BAFTA on September 29 where winning students were presented with vari- ous trophies, certificates and £7,000 in prize money by Guest of Honour, Duncan Kenworthy. Kenworthy is, of course, producer of Four Weddings & A Funeral, Gulliver’s Travels and, most recently Lawn Dogs. He’s also a member of DNA, one of the three British consortia awarded Lottery funding for a programme of new movies.
Since its launch in 1981, 241 short films have been made under the umbrella of the Awards’ scheme. Although the number of colleges participating has increased from two to 22 and the number of industry sponsors in the same proportion, the 1997 Scholarship still sticks to the same mission statement it first formulated over 16 years ago -
“ to give some practical assistance to young film-makers at under- financed film colleges.”
Each college team is provided, thanks to a collection of sponsors, the facilities to make a 10 to 15 minute film. With film stock,
dubbing and negative cutting given free of charge - and camera,
sound and lighting equipment provided at reduced cost - their films can be made at about one-tenth of
the normal cost.
The scheme is organised in the
form of a competition between January and July each year, with resulting films judged by a panel of industry professionals for Best Production, Camerawork, Sound, Editing, Production Design, Comedy, Script and Publicity.
One of the most rewarding aspects of the scheme is the way it’s first marked the emergence of impor- tant new talent and many of the short films go on to be shown at festivals. Recent Scholarship winners include Simon Shore, Indra Bhose, Carl Prechezer (director of Blue Juice) and Simon Beaufoy, who wrote The Full Monty, now officially the biggest British box-office hit ever in the UK.
ALEADING FROM THE FRONT
n oasis of civilisation in a cut-throat business, the Awards truly point towards a positive future for British film-making. Part of the cred-
it for this must go to the various companies that offer free technical expertise to student filmmakers entering the competition.
Mike Fraser, head of one of the industry’s leading neg cutting facili- ties, has been involved with the
awards right back to their inception. “We got involved because I’ve always felt that you must put back
in what you get out,” he explains. “We neg cut anything between 75- 100 per cent of all the films that are done through these awards at no charge. We do it completely free, apart from any material costs, and that comes to something like £7,000-£15,000 worth of work which, for a small company like ours, is a major contribution.”
As he honestly suggests, this is not pure altruism, because a budding filmmaker will hopefully remember those companies that offered a help- ing hand on the way up, making it a far-sighted and eminently sensible pol- icy for all concerned. And with compa- nies like Mike Fraser Ltd, young film students are tapping into the expertise of internationally recognised techni- cians, who are busy year round with TV and feature work.
“At the moment we’re providing
tele-cine transfer and neg cutting services for the new Robert Carlyle movie Plunkett & Macleane,” Fraser explains. “We tele-cine transfer all their rushes, sync them up and then put them onto the plane that day back to Prague, where they’re shoot- ing. It’s a very complex business, but
Photos: Winner Cyril I Nri, writer, producer and director of Goldsmith’s College entry Constance (photo by Yiorgis Yerolimbos) - The Constance Team - Cyril I Nri with Martyn Lewis Royal College Of Art’s animation entry Billy Sink (photo Emily Skinner) - Fujifilm MD Toshio Nakamura with Duncan Kenworthy, Rachel Baker and Martyn Lewis - Animator of Billy Sink, Emily SkinnerandDuncanKenworthy(photosbyDougMcKenzie)- StillfromRunner-upWeekInWeekOutfromBournemouth&PooleCollegeofArt&Design(photobyWayneCarter).