Congratulations are in order for Markus Ovre as his 2nd year film is selected for screening. 'Salt Blue Wasteland' will be screened at Les Sommets du Cinama D'Animation in Montreal, Canada. He is much happier about it than the poster suggests.
'Trunk Calls' by recent graduate Ross Stringer continues it's phenominal festival run, with screenings left, right and center. It has official selections at London International Animation Festival, Animest, Kuandu International Animation Festival and the International Short Film Festival of Cyprus to name but a few. He recently gave a Q&A at Bolton International Film Festival: "I was a bit nervous, but they were so nice to talk to". Humble as ever, that's our Ross.
'Alchemy' was created by our own, very talented Treya Hall and has been selected for Anilogue International Animation Festival in Budapest, an incredible achievment for a first year film! She is now hard at work on some more stop-frame goodness, and we look forward to seeing what magic she has been cooking up.
Markus Ovre's other second year film, 'Fade Out' has also been accepted for international screening. This time at Animafantasia. That's two films simultaniously circling the world. He is currently busy working on his graduation film to satisfy the ravenous appetite of the international film festival circuit.
More good news as yet another 1st year film has been selected for international screening.'Rush' by current 2nd years Alicia Froy Johnsen, Milly Campbell and Priya Choudhury has been accepted to screen at Analogue International Animation Festival in Budapest.
Our very own Ciara Kerr has won Best Student Film at Factual Animation Film Festival for her graduation film Right Now I Am. She and Ross Stringer have both been accepted on the Directing Animation MA at the National Film and Television School. Next stop, world domination.
The wonderfully talented Molly Mayhew's second year film Bedtime Rituals has been selected for the New York Film Awards, We Like'Em Short, Fest Anca and Chaniartoon film festivals. She has a further two films screening in various international festivals accross the globe, obviously.
Sian Taylor's weird and wonderful second year film The Body has been selected for competition at PRIMANIMA World Festival of First Animations in Hungary. The first of many, we are sure.
Unlikely Love, the first year film directed by Molly Mayhew, produced by Markus Ouvre, with additional animation from Kieran Firth-Bernard and Jacob Fenton has been, like a moth to a flame, busily fluttering around the international film circuit: especially impressive since it was collectively their first foray into the fabulous world of film. Phenominal stuff.
African Sonata by Kieran Firth-Bernard has been awarded Best Student Film at the Wonderland International Film Festival in Australia, and the Best Family Film Award at Malta International Film Festival. Well done Kieran!
We are very excited to announce that three of our student films have been selected for this year's Manchester Animation Festival. The second year films 'Big Fish' by Samantha Turner and Celine Ufenast, and 'Signal Failure' by Saana Hutton will both be screened alongside Milda Kargaudaite's graduate film 'My Life As a Goat'. This year's MAF festival is online, so well worth a look if you want your ears and eyeballs full of some excellent animated goodness.
Oona Tiirakari, recent graduate of our MA Animation course, and all-round good human, has had her film 'Unbearable' screened at Her International Film Festival. Well done Oona!
Ciara Kerr's graduation film 'Right Now I Am' is still busy taking the world by storm. Most recently it has been selected for Thessaloniki Film Festival, Factual Animation Film Film Festival, Canlandiranlar, and Yuoki. Phew.
Huge congratulations to recent graduate Milda Kargaudaite whose graduation film "To Be a Goat" was awarded Best Animation at the PRISMA Awards, alongside fellow graduate Ross Stringer, whose film "Trunk Calls" also took Best Experemental Film.
Marrianne Lang's disturbingly beautiful graduation film "Tinker, Tailor" has been selected for screening at this year's FLICKFAIR Film Festival. We are glad to see the wearing of facemasks taken seriously.
Our current second (soon-to-be-third) year student Milo Bonnard has had his film 'Fyodor' selected for Warsaw Animation Film Festival and The Digital Juice Short Film and Animation Festival. As if that wasn't enough, a live-action/stop motion film he has since made, during the summer, has been selected for Wipe Amateur Film Festival in Berlin. Can't wait to see what he has in store for his graduation film, next year!
Phoebe Morrison's graduate film "Senescence" continues to gather momentum, this month it has been selected for DISFF and Women Over 50 Film Festival.
Ciara Kerr is off to France (pandemic permitting) where you can catch her at This Is England Film Festival. Ciara has been invited to join the panel, where she will be talking about the process of making her mesmirising graduation film "Right Now, I Am". The film has also been selected to be shown in Kyiv, Warsaw and at the truly fantastic Bolton Film Festival: plenty of chances for the world to see this gem.
Some more excellent news for Farnham Animation ahead of the new term. This year we are joined by none other than this year's BAFTA winning Maryam Mohajer, who will be filling the brains of our new, fresh faced Year 0 recruits.
Our very own Dr Birgitta Hosea has also been made a Professor! Enormous congratulations for this well deserved accolade.
The unstoppable class of 2020 continue, it seems, to dominate this summer's festivals circuit. Dynamic duo, Will Westgate and Hazuki Takada, have had their graduation film "Mountain" selected for this year's INKFEST. Well done you two!
More good news for recent graduate Vicky Carr whose graduate juggernaut of a film "Flea in a Jar" has only gone and won Best Student Film at Indie Shorts AND Venice Shorts film festivals. There aren't words. No really, there are only so many different ways to say 'well done'. Phenomenal achievement, Vicky.
Recent graduate Phoebe Morrison's bone-crunchingly good grad film Senescence will be screened at Westminster Film festival, before jetting off to Ukrainian territory for Linoleum Film festival's special programme Becoming Human.
More good news for Kieran Firth-Bernard, as his film African Sonata wins yet another award! This time for Best Animation at the Rosebud International Film Festival in India. Kieran was not availible for comment. He is very busy building a trophy cabinet to house his growing collection.
The unforgettable Meg Earls has her grad film Border/line selected for the Weird Animation Market and Festival in Segovia, Spain. Here she is with her British Animation Award, just 'cos... you know... she's got one of those.
Our fingers are firmly crossed for 2020 graduate Ross Stringer's Trunk Calls, which is nominated for Best Experimental Film at the PRISMA Awards. It has also been accepted for Athens Digital Arts Festival. Good luck Ross!
Flea in a Jar by the wonderful Vicky Carr is also having an incredible start with yet another festival selection. This time for Monthly Indie Shorts. Well done Vicky!
Ciara Kerr's grad film Right Now, I Am continues it's flying start with yet another screening! This time at This Is England Festival, alongside fellow alum Ross Stringer. These guys are unstoppable! Right now, we're very proud indeed.
Congratulations are in order for Francesca Salmasi, whose graduation film 'Beyond the Veil' has been selected for Lift Off Sessions Film Festival. That's three of our students in the lineup! Fly my pretties, fly.
Astounding news keeps on coming as Ciara Kerr's powerful graduation film 'Right Now, I Am' is already off to see the world. It is being screened at Lift-Off Sessions, as well as Flipbook Film Festival and Rome Independent Prisma Awards alongside fellow classmate Ross Stringer. I mean, they havn't even graduated yet....
Can I axe you a question? Wood you believe that the utterly mesmirising graduation film 'Trunk Calls' by Ross Stringer has already been listed in the Best of the Festival category at Rome Independent Prisma Awards? It will also be shown at Athens Digital Arts Festival. I wood love to stay and give you my full tree-based-puns repertoire, but I'm really looking to branch out. Ok, I'll just leaf now.
Current events have given us all enromous sympathy for the title character of Vicky Carr's Graduation film 'Flea in a Jar'. Barely a month old, the film has recieved an Honourable Mention for Best Animation at New Cinema Lisbon Monthly Film Festival, and has been selected for FLICKFAIR and Monthly Indie Shorts. Vicky gave an insightful interview about her work, which you can read from the comfort of your own jar here.
Congratulations are in order for second year student Tilly Wallace has had her film 'Mind(FULL)' Screened at Long Distance Film Festival. We would have visited, but its probably really far away.
We miss these smiley faces! We really do have the best students and are wishing all our wonderful third year good luck as they hand in their final films. They don't need it, they're a talented bunch.
Celine Ufenast has had her film 'Beach Body Ready' selected for no less than a whopping 5 international film festivals! It is jetting off to: Central Illinois Feminist Film Festival; Les Mains Gouches, Marseille; Feminist Border Arts, New Mexico and Sunday Shorts, Lisbon, before returning to familiar shores for CUFF, Canterbury. Well done Celine!
Congratulations are in order as 'Mind (FULL)' by the one and only Tilly Wallace, will be screened as part of BAM! Festival, accross the pond in Texas. Exellent news, Tilly!
Kieran Firth-Bernard's film 'African Sonata' continues to amaze as it wins Best Student film at CICFF and CCMA in India!
With unquestionably excellent timing, Meg Earls was treated to nothing less that a British Animation Award for Best Student Film, moments before the apocalyplse. So much love and respect was expressed, despite a ceremony woefully bereft of handshakes. *We fully support hand-shaking restrictions during cataclysmic circumstance* We've been saying it for years.
It's March and the good news keeps on coming, as Jack MacEntire's grad film Conkered is nominated for 'Best Undergraduate Film' in the Southern Royal Television Society Awards. He came, he saw, he conkered.
Our very own Meg Earls' important and moving grad film Border/Line has been selected for the prestigious CILECT prize. Well done!
Congratulations to Kieran Firth-Bernard, whose debut film African Sonata has been selected for Athens ANIMAFEST. Sound the trumpets. Ivorything else is irrelephant.
Fantastic news as our own Marta Lemos and Meg Earls have both been nominated for the Best Undergaduate Film Award at the bienniel British Animation Awards. UCA Farnham now have half the nominations in this prestigious category. Current third year, Phoebe Morrison is up for a People's Choice Award too.
In Marta's own words, this is a tick off the old "bucket list". We have a new bucket list for you - step 1: get bucket. Step 2: fill with ice. Step 3: insert champagne.
As we hit the second month of the year we celebrate wonderful news that recent graduate Jack MacEntire has had his grad film 'Conkered' shortlisted for the RTS Best Undergradute Film Award. Brilliant news and well done Jack.
A blustery and rather rainy day didn't dampen the spirits of the first of the 3rd Year Studio Visits.
The morning was spent at stop-motion facilities studio Clapham Road Studios in South London where we got to see the glorious shooting spaces, workshops and a lucky chance to meet Becky Sloan and Joe Pelling (Becky & Joe) finishing off a commercial (or four) and a glimpse of Sam Gainsborough in the basement.
The afternoon was a hop, skip and a jump up to North London to have an insiprational tour round a crazily busy Nexus Studios and a really helpful and informative talk about working as a freelancer in the studio system.
Such an invigorating glimpse of the worlds ahead. We can't wait for our budding talents to find themselves here in a few years (months?) time! Many thanks to Daisy Garside at Clapham Road and Natalie Busuttil at Nexus for spending the time with us.
An update of the Visiting Lecturers we have had the honour to hear from this month.
First was Anthony Farquhar-Smith, stop-motion stalwart and animation director in his own right who took us through some chapters of his career from the 1980s through to today via a spectacularly touching period working on Fantastic Mr Fox. A bonus was a series of photos of a very young Stuart Hilton on a roof in Soho.
Then we were blessed to have Children's BAFTA nominated John Knowles (Jellyfish) who imparted a series of extremely interesting and useful life-lessons he has gone through in his career working in CG and longer form Children's TV series.
...and to balance the range of experiences, we had the pleasure of having Edwin Rostron, founder and curator of the Edge Of Frame abstract animation platform and inspiring experimental filmmaker in his own right, come and talk to our 3rd years. He shared his experience about the ways and workings of being a self-directed art-based experimental filmmaker which was as inspiring and informative as those Visiting Lecturers we have had working in the commercial field.
(photo credit - Martin Pickles - London Animation Club talk March 2015)
More exciting news from one of our 3rd years, Ciara Kerr, whose 2nd year film Bisonna's Parasol has been selected for the BeBop Channel Content Festival in New York. A really well considered film and well deserved selection to boot.
Following from his Golden Globe win earlier this month, Farnham ex-graduate and Laika writer/director Chris Butler gave students on the course an exclusive and intimate screening of his film, Missing Link, with a Q&A afterwards.
It was both a treat and an honour to hear about his process and journey and even more so to have the time at the end to hold the puppets and chat informally.
Thank you Chris and, once again, massive congratulations on your achievements.
We've been hosting the British Animation Awards Public Choice Screenings for quite a few years but it's rare that we have one of the filmmakers attending the course itself so the most enormous congratulations to 3rd year Phoebe Morrison and her 2nd year film, 'Handmade', which screens in the third BAA Public Choice Screening here at the college this Monday.
We are absolutely proud as punch (and a bit teary to be honest) at her accomplishment. It's a superb film exploring animated processess and we are so thrilled for Phoebe.
Such enormous congratulations to graduate (from a loooong time ago) Chris Butler (seen here with producr Arianne Sutner) who scooped a Golden Globe for his Laika feature film Missing Link. The film took the gong from Frozen 2, Toy Story 4 and How To Train Your Dragon 3. A surprise to no-one except for those who hadn't seen it.
Chris has created a full and astounding body of work since he left including writing and directing Paranorman and Missing Link as well as writing Kubo and the Two Strings. Even after all of this time we are extremely proud of you Chris.
A little update on 2018 Graduate Mim Fox – she’s just started her MA Animation Direction course at the National Film & Television School alongside fellow Farnham-ites Leto Meade and Sophie Bird, meanwhile her award winning Graduation film ‘Look For Me’ is still doing the rounds at festivals including Oska Bright Film Festival in Brighton, The Extraordinary Film Festival in Belgium and Regards Croisés
Great news just in. that one of our current 3rd Years, Daniel Aguirre Hansell, has had his 2nd Year film Silk Net accepted into the Oska Bright Film Festival as part of the Discover Oska Bright screening. Well done Dan.
Every two years we have the honour of hosting the British Animation Awards Public Choice Screenings which goes over three weeks in January.
The added delight is seeing a glut of graduates and staff amongst the films shown including Michelle Brand’s Synchronicity, Smith and Foulkes’ Jimi Hendrix promo, Chris Shepherd’s Brexicuted and Jonathan Hodgson’s BAFTA winning Roughhouse for which Stuart Hilton, recently of this parish, created the music for.