Film at Jesus announces One Second a Day winners
Judges were ‘thrilled by the quality, ambition and technical accomplishment displayed by the entrants’ in the latest competition from the College film society.
Film at Jesus, the College film society, runs a termly filmmaking competition which asks students to tell a story using one-second film clips. The winners of the Lent Term One Second a Day challenge were announced on the Film at Jesus Facebook page on Monday.
‘One Second of a Day’ by Mojola Akinyemi (2019, English) took the top prize of £50. Second prize (£25) was awarded to ‘There and Back Again’ by Megan Hickes (2020, English). 'Home' by Sharvani Sivakumar and 'Bonfire' by Aurelia Eulenburg came in joint third place, winning £10 each.
Master Sonita Alleyne, Senior College Lecturer Dr Christopher Burlinson and screenwriter James McCarthy judged the competition. The judges highly commended four entries for ‘specific individual achievement’:
- ‘Devotion’ by Nathan Brooks (English, 2020)
- ‘On the Ning Nang Nong’ by Olivia Bourne (Engineering, 2017)
- ‘My Biggest Achievement in Lockdown’ by Sophie Brawn
- ‘Quietness’ by Lalie Constantin.
The judges said: “In ‘normal’ times, such creativity would have been impressive enough. However, for every entrant to have realised this level of vision under lockdown conditions is worthy of the highest praise. Congratulations to each and every filmmaker! Your resilience, creative risk-taking and hard work have resulted in films that are riveting, thought provoking, emotional and, ultimately, deeply life affirming.
"Your resilience, creative risk-taking and hard work have resulted in films that are riveting, thought provoking, emotional and, ultimately, deeply life affirming.”
"Entries include tight narratives, impressionistic montages, laugh out loud comedies, elegiac mood pieces, experimental forms and vivid portrayals of actual lived life. Camera direction ranges from tightly-fixed, locked off frames to fluid moves that traverse wide-ranging locations. Some participants play characters, others are simply themselves. Some films use their many shots to convey a powerful central idea. Others explore something new and visionary at every edit point. Almost every film uses natural available light and have been shot on phones, iPads or similar. Themes touch upon friendship, loneliness, heartache, beauty, home life, the inescapability of time and human transience.”
Without exception, whether serious or irreverent, each film has made a vivid impression on the judges. Each entry is of such a quality that it has been awarded Official Selection status and will be shown on a big screen (conditions permitting) at an end of year Film at Jesus Festival.”
The judges would like to thank every participant for making and entering their wonderful films. They particularly want to thank organiser Anja Diel for her creativity and hard work in making Film at Jesus the success it is.
Following the success of the Michaelmas and Lent competitions, Film at Jesus plan to run a third One Second a Day challenge in Easter Term. You can get in touch with Film at Jesus via Facebook, or by emailing Anja Diel.
