A Celebration of Young British Filmmakers

On March 5 British filmmakers from all over the country will be congregating at the BFI Southbank for the 11^th annual First Light Awards.

The 2012 First Light Awards is the most prestigious event for young British filmmakers of the year. First Light helps young people from all backgrounds develop skills, talent, creativity and confidence by giving them opportunities to create their own short films, with the help of industry professionals.

This year’s judges include: Danny Boyle, Edgar Wright, Danny Leigh, Laura Haddock, Jason Isaacs, David Hayman, Sam Mendes, Talulah Riley, Sam Taylor-Wood, Myanna Buring, Sam Clafin, Rebecca O’Brien, Tom Hooper, Frank Passingham, Emma Hindley, Roger Goldby, David Yates and Garry Lewis.  

The films created cover many topics and genres, and make use of today’s accessible digital technologies to tell their stories with them in control. The roles of cast and crew would have been undertaken by various members of the young people in the group. Each would have had the opportunity to write, act, shoot, direct, light, edit, produce and screen their own film.  

Barbara Broccoli, First Light Chair: “Filmmaking amongst young people across the UK has never been more popular. It is vitally important that young people from all backgrounds have a creative voice.”

The young filmmakers come from across the UK and a wide variety of social backgrounds and experiences, including those with refugee status, young offenders and those from deprived areas. Each filmmaker has imparted a unique aspect of themselves into their films.

The films themselves explore a wide variety of issues such as, female genital mutilation, homelessness and the lost youth of young care-givers, all of this is done through the art of creative story telling.

Barbara went on to say “The future of the British Film industry will benefit from the creative talents that have been nurtured by First Light and celebrated at the First Light Awards.”


The Watch Read Review team will be there bringing you coverage and interviews with this year's judges and nominees. 

To learn more about this year’s exciting entries, please visit the First Light website where you can see this year’s nominated films and cast your vote for The Audience Award 2012.

http://www.firstlightonline.co.uk/fl-awards/