Winner of the Young Filmmakers Competition announced

Announcing the winner, the judging panel comprising Kieron Corless, deputy editor of Sight & Sound, the magazine published by the British Film Institute, film director Richard Bracewell and Iris Cepero, head of communications at the British Safety Council and editor of Safety Management magazine said: “The film successfully deals with the topic of risk by exploring universal and familiar http://tinyurl.com/h2fosst, but framed in relation to a very modern phenomenon – mobile technology. The performance was strong and, though with no dialogue, the film gets its message across in a very light, elegant way, yet to unsettling effect. The protagonist seems unaware of her predicament and the risks of living a life through modern communication technology, and this lack of awareness create a clever tragi-comic tone that is very clever.”

The judges’ statement concurs with Juan’s idea of his own work. When submitting his piece, Juan Cruz-Hernández had commented: “Rosie Taylor’s biggest achievement to date has been her carefully crafted social media profile, attracting thousands of friends and followers. Pretty, popular and pretentious, Rosie lives life through her iPhone, capturing moments as they happen for the world to observe. But is her offline life quite as fulfilling as her online presence? Behind the scenes, it’s a lot lonelier than what she’s cracked it up to be.”

Other four films were chosen as finalists of the competition: Inertia, by Nikhil Sudersanan, a film-editing student from Kerala, India; Flight Risk, by Scottish independent filmmaker Sean Hall; Let’s Plan a Holiday, by English independent filmmaker Shanil Kawol and Risk, by Kate Haley, student of English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.

The 50 entries received covered topics such as street crime, climate change, family dilemmas, prejudices and uncertainties, and the effects of social media on young people.

In Flight Risk a young woman is unexpectedly faced with a high-risk decision when her estranged sister shows up on her doorstep in the middle of the night.

Inertia circles around a moment of confusion, a dilemma and how it becomes contradictory to the person who is in that state. The film depicts a butcher working in a chicken shop inside a local street market. When the butcher gets to work as usual, he is informed of news that throws him to a circle of confusion, a pause. The film deals with how he confronts himself while taking a choice at that moment.

Let’s Plan a Holiday tells the story of three young adventurers who, while sitting at home decide to go on holiday and begin planning where they want to go. They shortlist some of the most remarkable travel destinations around the world, but then they face a serious problem when deciding which one to choose.

Risk examines the everyday uncertainties that we all experience. From routinely simple things like getting out of bed or choosing the colour of lipstick to wear, it captures the fragility that comes with being human. Its ominous undertones combine poetry, visuals and music to challenge our tendency to expect the worst.

The judges also decided to give a special mention to Days Passed, by Ryan Wilson, from Hackney Academy, London.

The competition called upon the ‘risks youths feel we face in society today’, aiming to keep alive the British Safety Council’s legacy of working with children and young people. It also aimed to encourage the future generation of workers to think about health and safety in creative ways.