Late breaking news (this should be in the February post so apologies) but not only is ex-student and current lecturer Ciara Kerr a powerhouse of a director herself but she recently attended a screening of Rosie Morris' My Blond GF upon which she worked and a panel discussion with many important voices in the government and media at the House of Commons discussing the impact of abuse online.
Rosie's film educates and implores the world to take action on behalf of women who's photos are being hijacked for deepfake pornography. 96% of deepfakes are of women.
We are so humbled and proud of your voice and your talents Ciara.
Current 3rd Year Matilda Horton has had her beautiful abstract 2nd Year Short Film 'Before You Wake' selected for not one but three festivals (Anilogue International Film Festival, Cinemagic Younge Filmmaker 2023, Future Vision Festival - A celebration of unusual Animation) whilst another current 3rd Year, Bill Montague, has had his rather bonkers ADT microfilm 'Breaking News' selected for the INDI's Film Festival.
You both totally rock.
As always happens this time of year, the snowball of talented UCA Farnham filmmakers getting their films into festivals begins to pick up speed. Hats off, then, to Hattie Greenwood (mentioned below for her Sound and Vision selection) for her 'She Was A House Sparrow' 2nd Year Short Film being selected for the LuminaFlicks International Short Film Festival and the equally talented James Doherty for his 2nd Year Short Film 'Page Turner' being selected for the First-Time Filmmaker Sessions hosted by Lift-Off Global Network.
There will be more distinctive voices in animation singing their chorusses in the coming weeks, just you watch this space.
And oh my goodness.
Ross Stringer, late of this parish, has won the 2024 BAFTA in the Short Animation category for his NFTS grad film 'Crab Day'.
It would be impossible to express how proud we are of him (here is alongside producer Bartosz Stanislawek and writer Aleksandra Sykulak).
Really, Ross, we are just exploding with joy.
Midway through February saw Hattie Greenwood's beautiful 2nd Year Short Film 'She Was A House Sparrow' selected for the Sound and Vision screening in Act One in London. Massive congrats Hattie.
As the dreary rain patters on the rooves of the studios here, a burst of sunshine in the form of news that 3rd Year Sam Richardson's film, 'Terranuim' (made in his 2nd year Short Film Unit) has been selected for the Cardiff Animation Festival in April.
This time of year sees the spinal corridor taken over by the 1st Years to proudly show off their outcomes of their units so far including life studies, character designs and walk cycles. As ever they do not cease to impress us.
Of course, life drawing is extremely important here but we also aim to represent the other end of the spectrum, as well as studies of plants and other organic forms. A day of taking students away from the digital comfort zones is always a good day in the department and leaves everyone filled with... urm... life.
The end of the month has marked the start of the biannual British Animation Awards Public Choice screenings that we are always honoured to host at the college. Two evenings of the last two years of amazing films from all across the UK in the comfort of our beautiful lecture theatre.
As suspected, Mr Ross Stringer, formerly of this course and relatively recent graduate from the NFTS not only got onto the long list for the BAFTA Short Animated Film award but blooming well strode through the crowd to stand proudly on the shortlist for his NFTS grad film 'Crab Day'. There are many articles popping up about his journey, including ones celebrating his partner and current UCA tutor Ciara Kerr's recent wins (see post below).
We will all be watching on the 18th Feb with a pre-written post ready to drop onto this page celebrating his triumph (regardless of whether he wins as he is up against some stiff competition).
Ross, you really are fantastic and we are so proud of you. Well done.
Finally (and I don't think this will be a finally as we think that this film is going to be back on this page pretty soon) Ross Stringer has hit a massive home run with his truly well deserved gong for Best British Film at the London International Animation Festival for his NFTS film 'Crab Day'. It's a true delight and a unanimous decision by the judges who praised its economic story telling and beautiful animation. Gosh we are so proud.
Apart from continuing to be an absolute star in the UCA department as lecturer, Ciara Kerr has continued her world domination by not only winning Best Animation at the 'This Is England' Festival in Rouen with 'Homemaker' she also won the Outstanding Award at the 22nd International Student Film Festival in Bejing.
The Eat Our Shorts Animation Screening brought a deluge of films selected including Finn Morgan-Roberts terrific 'Dead Red Kit', Neil Law's 'Splat' and Matyna Walasek's 'Neighbour'. Such a great representation and such fantastic films.
Like a beautiful fall of snow, we opened our curtains in December to find the garden covered in Good News. Kicking things off was Freya Buckland's charming and hilarious grad film 'Good Mates and Drum 'n' Bass' landing in the 20th London International Animation Festival as part of the International Competition 'From Absurd to Zany' screening.
Huge news to celebrate with Imogen Graham's graduation film 'Wipe Your Tears on my Ears' having been selected for the Anima Festival in Brussels in February '24 hot off the heels of her New York festival win (see below). It's a truly heartbreaking film with a genuinely uplifting ending and a deserved selection.
Leonor Calaca's stunning 2023 graduation film Fairy Ring is off to Northern Ireland for the next stop on its world tour. It is being screened at Cinemagic Film Festival. Good luck Leonor!
Congratulations are in order for recent graduate Rosina Wager, whose graduation film When I Look took the gong for Best Short Documentary at Lavenham Film Festival. Would you look at that...
2023 graduate, Finn Morgan-Roberts' graduation film "Dead Red Kite" has been selected for Manchester Animation Festival. The film is a thrilling (and mildly disturbing) CG / stop frame / hand drawn, mash-up that's well worth a watch. Get yourselves to Manchester, and feed yer' eyeballs.
Recent graduate and dog enthusiast Imogen Graham, spent the summer jetting off to the big apple itself, where she was invited to talk about her graduation film "Wipe Your Tears on my Ears" at New York's Junk Dump International Film Festival. Not only that, but she also took the gong for Best 2D Animation! You may be surprised considering she only graduated 5 minutes ago... we aren't. Well deserved, Imogen. Well done!
Ross Stringer, alumnus and recent National Film School Graduate, has had his film "Crab Day" selected at none other than Manchester Animation Festival, where his film will screen in competition alongside fellow (and totally fresh) UCA alumni. Ross will also be joining our Animation Team as a tutor to lend bits of his film-brain to our current cohorts. Mmm... brains.
Our very own Ciara Kerr, formerly of this parish and recent National Film and Television School graduate, has had her film "Homemaker" selected for both Anima and Norwich International Film Festival. In even more exciting news, she joins the Team this year as a tutor to lend her filmmaking know-how to our lucky students. We do spoil them. In her own words: "I've come home". Aw Shucks.
Fantastic achievements left, right and centre for recent graduate Anastacia Grech, whose second year film "The Persuit of Flesh" continues to be screened all over the world. Made with mixed media, it's a feast for the eyes and well worth a watch...
As much as the course creates distinctive animation directors, it also creates passionate filmmakers with their own focus on the world of animation. An example of this is ex student Daniel Aguirre Hansell's project of uncovering Errol Le Cain's seminal work Sailor and The Devil from 1967 and the recent accompanying article on Animation Obsessive. An incredibly envigorating read and a wonderful new chapter shining a spotlight on an incredible animator that might have otherwise slipped into obscurity.
Fresh from her graduation ceremony, (which finished about 2 minutes ago) Jess Killen's Graduation film "Twin Link", about her family's experiences with Autism, is already doing the rounds on the international film festival circuit. Not only that, but she's only gone and nabbed a job at Royal Television Society Award winning animation studio, PUSHED. Go Jess!
Alicia Frøy Johnsen, who has recently had her Graduation film "Runner" nominated for Best Animation at Student World Impact Film Festival. Well done and good luck, Alicia!
Our very own Mim Fox, alumnus, and sometime-tutor-extrodinaire has had her NFTS film "Dead Silent" screened about all over the place, most notably picking up screenings at the auspicious Zagreb Animation Festival, and a nomination for a Royal Television Society Award! Fantastic news Mim, though we reserve our surprise...
Recent Graduate Priya Choudhury has been awarded a win at 4Theatre Film Festival for her experimental CG/2D digital extravaganza "The Mother of All Fears". Excellent stuff, Priya.
Alemsah Firat, formerly of this parish, is having her graduation film "Weight of Consciousness" screened at Student Impact Film Festival: An incredible and hauntingly skillful oil-on-glass film. Well worth a watch, people.
Current student Leonor Calaca's debut film "The Waltz" has been busy touring the world while she is fast at work on her graduation film. With teh deadline looming, we look forward to seeing the finished article. Good luck, and keep at it Leonor!
Kerry Howlett of last year's graduating class, has been busy with her 3rd year film "Stuffed", visiting various screenings and Q&As. Her trusty puppet and lead actor / star of the show, Blu is always in apperance with her. Fans will be relieved to hear his head has been successfully reattached.
Recent graduate Khalidah McLarty has had her 2022 graduation film and mockumentary masterpiece "Please Clap" nominated for Best Animation at the British Film Istitute's Future Film Festival. She is in the running for a £1000 prize and a mentorship package with the BFI. Some wonderful words from her brain are availible to peruse at your leisure here and here. Good luck Khalidah!
Continuing our Golden Anniversary celebrations: Oscar Nominated, BAFTA Award winning animator Grant Orchard (formerly of this parish) filled the role of Guest Lecturer, to deliver insights into his career so far, and a behind-the-scenes look at his current work directing his children's TV series and all-round sensation 'Hey Duggee'. It's pretty abstract and obscure... you may not have heard of it....
Current 3rd years, fresh from their first major hand-ins were invited to relax and enjoy the welcome chaos of our Animal Life Drawing sessions. Falcons, Giant African Snails, a Skunk and a Bearded Dragon were all in attendance: lending their approval and making additions to drawings as they saw fit.
Current 3rd Year Leonor Calaca has had her 2nd year film "Selva" screened about all over the place. It's been quietly travelling the world and Leonor's been going with it. She set off for Portugal for CINANIMA festival where apparently it doesn't rain as much as Farnham. That's as good a reason as any to make films.
The amazing Amber Munson (formerly of this parish) has had her pun-derful 2022 Graduation film "The Road to Sockcess" selected for screening at Lift-Off Global Network. We notice the price of socks has drastically reduced over recent years. Looks like the sock market is crashing.
The new year has started off with a bang with out 1st Year designing and curating their very own exhibition. The work sums up all they have been doing so far as budding animators, and was celebrated accordingly at the Private View Evening, with lots of crisps and cake and absolutely no alcohol whatsoever. Probably.
It's official... Our very own Pete Saunders is returning to these very walls to give a guest lecture as part of our 50th Anniversary celebrations. He founded McKinnon & Saunders, who have made stop-motion puppets for the likes of Tim Burton and Wes Anderson to name but two. His puppets are currently in public exhibition, but will be in attendance while he makes his triumphant return to Farnham... watch this space.
Current 3rd Year Lee Bennissan had her 2nd year film screend at Covent Graden Film Festival, where alumus Harvey Auerbach-Dunn took the Best Student Animation gong for his grad film "Please Come To My Party". Congratulations Harvey and well done Lee!
Our 2nd years were treated to some rather different life models in a session of Animal Life Drawing. We invite all our models to take an interest in the work, and the Meerkat took a particularly active role in his own portraiture, making adjustments as he saw fit, and signing off all work with his own charcoal pawprints. We only work with professionals.
We are starting to lose track of all the screenings and awards current 3rd year, Finn Morgan-Roberts is picking up for his 2nd year film 'Lonely Souls'. He picked up not one, but three awards at BIAF: Best Animation, Best Young British Filmmaker and Best British Entry. He reliebaly informed us that the prize money is "enough to go missing in Thailand all summer".
Recent graduate Celine Ufenast has been travelling about the place with her graduation film 'Scroll Alice'. Most recently the Festival of Animation in Berlin, Emerging Filmmakers in London and recieved an award for Best Experimental Film at Apex Film Awards! Well done, Celine!
The incredible Remus and Kiki kicked off our 50 Years of Farnham Animation lecture series this year. To celebrate our golden anniversary, all our visiting speakers will be Farnham Alumni. The powerhouse directing duo who met right here in these very walls, treated us to a phenominal selection of work, anecdotes, candid reflections and hysterical films. They will be rejoining us soon for some film tutorials with our current students. Can't say we don't spoil our students.
Eugenia Hamilton's graduation film 'Malevolence': A hard hitting glance at drink spiking and sexual assault, continues to impress with screening left right and center. It was a Finalist at Women's Film Festival, and semi-finalist at Femifilm. Great stuff, Eugenia!
Recent Graduate Alicia Frøy Johnsen's 2nd year film 'Sensory' is still making the rounds on the international film festival circuit. It was a finalist in the 'Lets start a Revolution' category, after also being screened at the International Film Schools festival in Uruguay, and Animation Volda in Norway. Nice places to visit...
The unforgettable Kieran Firth Bernard has won yet another award! His graduation film 'Cloud Boy' took the Micro Autobiography Award at Discover Film Awards, which looks like quite a fancy affair. His film was selected from over 3000 submissions. Well done Kieran!
Matilde Senos' graduation film 'Juni and Evy' is a madcap masterpiece, so it is little wonder that is has been selected for Linea D'ombra's Unifest Competition, and for Portugal's National Animation Award! Get yourselves to portugal and treat yourself to this film on the big screen... There's probably less rain too. Good luck Matilde!
Our very own Lewis Wilkinson's garduation film 'A Man For Our Time': an animated documentary about Lo-fi pop pioneer Martin Newell, has been touring the UK with Doc'N Roll Film Festival. This kicked off in London, where Lewis joined a panel of filmmakers on stage to answer questions about his process.
The one and only Markus Øvre, formerly of this parish, has gone an won some big, heavy glass. Apparently they are Royal Television Society Awards. Markus was awarded Best Undergraduate Animation, as well as the Craft Skills Award for Production Design for his graduation film "In Harmony", made right here, in these very walls. Enormous congratulations are in order... try not to drop those ones, Markus!
Current third year Imogen Graham has had her 2nd year film "Kevin" screened all over the world, picking up an award as it goes. So far it has shown in Rome, Portugal, Russia, Moldova and New York. Well done Imogen... and Kevin: apparently it is "essentially his award". How very humble.
Alumnus Leto Meade graduated from Farnham a few years ago before embarking on an MA at National Film and Television School. His Graduation Film "Death of the Gods" is set to premiere at London International Animation Festival. Good luck Leto!
Greta Semionovaite is currently hard at work in pre-production on her graduation film, with the rest of our 3rd year troops. Meanwhile both of her 2nd year films, "The Only Shot" and "Trash Can't" are busy travelling their way about the globe - even getting our Greta invited to go and hang out with film festival types at a film festival shaped affair. We have a feeling they won't be coming home just yet...
Alumnus and Tutor Gagandeep Kalirai presented her BAFTA listed film "Cha" at this year's Encounters Film Festival. It was also awarded the FANtastiche Prize at Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film, as well as Best Animation at the Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival.
Congratulations are in order for our very own Faris Rahman, whose second year film 'Dogfight' has been selected for screening at World Impact Film Festival... Round of a-paws paw-lease.
August is usually a quiet month (at least to start with) so it is fantastic to be able to share with you news on ex UCA alumni Daniel Aguirre Hansell about his current project to restore a previously lost Errol LeCain film 'Sailor and the Devil' from 1967.
Daniel has recently been covered in and article in the prestigious Animation Magazine. Read all about it, as they used to say before the internet arrived...
Absolutely sterling work Dan.
After almost two years of no graduation ceremony (must find out why that was) the last couple of years of stunning new animation directors finally got the send off they deserved up in the South Bank at the heart of London's social scene. It's reminded us of how much we miss them when they leave but also how filled we are with hope at the sheer avalanche of talent hitting the slopes. Go well good people, you deserve all of this.
Congratulations to recent alumni Bella Bernard and Sam Medhanye on their recent beautifully designed and animated spot for Koveli Travel. It not only makes us proud of the outstanding work and collaboration, it also reminds us we've not been on holiday for far too long.
Great news for Luicija Vaisiunaite and the beginnings of her festival run in being selected to be part of the Paus Premieres and LIFT OFF Film Festivals for her grad film 2009 January 19th. It's a beautifully observed study of music with an underlying threatening venir (I won't spoil it for you).
Huge congratulations to Markus Øvre for his recent RTS Awards win for his 2021 graduation film 'In Harmony'. It is a beautiful and surreal story on the search for belonging told through music, timing and a curious cast of oddly shaped folk. Well done Markus, richly deserved. Toot toot indeed!
Fresh from overseeing Nexus Studio's first Netflix comissioned feature 'The House' amongst many other amazing projects and amidst a deluge of accolades (including a recent BAFTA), Natalie Busuttil, Studio Manager at Nexus talked to us about how studios are run, routes into the industry and some incredibly valuable advice on promoting yourself.
Both her and Nexus are truly wonderful and it was a real delight to see behind the curtain. Thanks Nat!
Fifteen years. That’s an awfully long time.
It’s an amount of time that, when one does a job so consistently well, so conscientiously and thoroughly, when one brings to the table empathy, thoughtfulness, humour and a serious amount of protein bars it is a huge shock to hear that that time has to end.
Jon, we are so spoilt for having had you. We are simply bursting with pride to see you move on to head up the MPC training programme. 6-foot-something is an enormous hole that will take time to fill.
We have the pleasure of being reminded that our students aren’t just talented in their field of filmmaking but they are also incredibly passionate about the craft. Case in point is Daniel Aguirre Hansell, a recent graduate of this parish, who has rediscovered a Richard Williams' long lost short film 'Sailor and the Devil' (1967). The negative material was recovered by Dan and the son of Errol Le Cain with the British Film Institute.
We will keep you updated of any progress but a wonderful short film that Dan made charts the project as it stands.
It is so nice to see students from many moons ago pop up in our feeds as it is with the wonderful Duncan Senkumba and a beautiful interview with Shout Out Colorado.
Duncan’s grad film from 2017, “Masso Awwo” still sticks in our minds for its colour and energy. He has gone on to cross over regularly between the moving image and illustration so check out his work here.
Yet again, Alicia Johnsen scores big but this time it is with her ResCon film “You Should Take a Walk” which is currently screening and in the international competition at Max3Min festival.
Additionally, "Sensory", her previous film, got BBFC certified through Depict! and can now be screened in UK cinemas! Alicia is just one of those determined talented people that you should be keeping an eye on. Get ready world.
Many times in the year our tutors take a moment to remember how lucky we are to be working amongst such incredible filmmakers and it is at times like these, when we proudly announce that UCA Alumni, ex RCA grad and award winning stop motion director Dann Parry has become the new tutor technician for the course, that we do so again.
Lucky students, lucky us.
Hmmm… this is going to be a tricky post.
We had the incredible pleasure of inviting back [redacted], a UCA Alumni who now works at [redacted], a rather well known technology company based in the US to give us a talk on the essence of movement in animation showing us enlightening examples from areas as diverse as Pina Bausch performances and app menus - movement with meaning. Enormously mind expanding.
However the company he now works for frowns on external talks so we aren’t allowed to give the details. It was absolutely wonderful, thank you so much [redacted] it was such a pleasure to have you back.
Every two years, February comes with the prelude to the British Animation Awards and we were incredibly proud to have not one but two recent UCA Alumni nominated for Best Under Graduate film.
We are just bursting with pride and send so many congratulations to Milda Kargaudaite for her nomination for “To Be A Goat” and Celine Ufenast for her nomination for “@Scroll_Alice”
Multi award winning Stop Motion Director Dann Parry took the 2nd Years on a truly entertaining and industrious series of puppet building workshops. There was such charming creativity making tiny beautiful characters. We still keep finding them hidden in the bookshelves of the studios and that’s how we want it!
At the tail end of January (pun intended) we had the amazing opportunity to have these extraordinary life-models in for Life Drawing. Across a couple of sessions were armadillos (they roll), meerkats (they sniff), Owls (they are just super cool), Toby the seven-stone-tortoise and of course this python (and a few more things).
Can you imagine the health and safety forms? Hattie can.
Alicia Johnsen’s 2nd Year film, ‘Sensory’ has been picked up by the wonderful Monstra Lisbon Animation Festival. It is an assured and powerful film, beautifully animated and deserving for a wider audience. The trailer for the film is here - go see!
Kieran Firth Bernard’s graduation film “Cloud Boy: An Autistic Journey” continues its festival accolade run with Best Animated Film category at the Malta Film Festival Selection. It has also been selected for the Marvels of Media Awards for autistic media-makers (their first program of its kind) at their venue - the Museum of the Moving Image in New York! Huge congratulations Kieran. Keep it coming!
The end of January saw an amazing run of Visiting Lecturers drop gold-bombs onto the students with the physical return to college and in-person presentations. THIS is what it’s all about.
First was Tim Hope, showing off an HD re-issue of the astounding ‘Wolfman’ as well as talking through his commercial journey. Then came Martyn Pick, purveyor of sublime doctored live action and utter artistry about his process. Finally was the return of Anthony Farquhar Smith who broke down the stunning Sushi scene (video courtesy of Andy Biddle who began the shot!) from Isle of Dogs as well as taking us through some of his commercial projects with Not To Scale.
It was a truly wonderful run of talent and we are so grateful of them having visited.
Current second year student Imogen Graham has had the fantastic news that her debut film, 'Kevin' has been selected for screening at The Paus Premieres Festival. She will be joining fellow class of '23 -to-be, Finn Morgan Roberts for a trip to Rome to see their work showcased. Rome. That's in an actual other country. Film Festivals are back people! So get yourself to Italy, and fill your eyeballs and earholes with animationy goodness!
Ross Stringer, formerly of this parish, and more recently studying in National Film and Television School territory, directed the trailer for the most recent London International Animation Festival. We'd have congratulated him properly, but he was busy consoling the rest of the alphabet, who were heartbroken to not have been featured.
Current third year Milly Campbell's debut film 'Ice Ceiling' has been picked up for multiple international film festival screenings, and was a Shortlisted at Link International Film Festival. Well done Milly! There's certainly no ceiling in your way... of any temperature.
Recent graduate Lauren Hammersley continues her film festival success with her graduation Film 'Twitch'. Her first year film is also still popping up on the festival circuit, having screened at 23 international film festivals. Phew.
Current second year Finn Morgan-Roberts is set to have his debut film 'Lonely Souls' screened internationally at the Paus Premieres Film Festival. Not bad for his first film, eh? What's even more astounding is he only finished making it last week! Hot off the press. Straight out of the Rostrum. We eagerly await his next film idea. Well done Finn, amazing achievment.
Our very own Ciara Kerr and Ross Stringer both jetted off to This is England Film Festival in France where their Graduation films 'Right Now, I Am' and 'Trunk Calls' (respectively) were showcased. Yes, thats right... France. Bonne Chance!
Kieran Firth Bernard's graduation film 'Cloud Boy' continues its international film festival success with multiple awards nominations at Film In Focus, Romania. And the nominations are: ...Best Student Film, Best Documentary and Best Animation. Good luck Kieran!
Excellent news as not one but two of our recent graduates' films have made the bill at this year's Manchester Animation Festival. "In Harmony" by Markus Ouvre and "Behind the Jugular" by Zoe Armit will both be screened for competition. Good luck you two!
Current third year Kerry Howlett has had her 2nd year film "Osiris's Gift" shortlisted at the Cinematic Young Filmmaker Competition in Belfast, Ireland. She's hard at work on pre-roduction for her graduation film and we look forward to seeing what she has in store for us next... watch this space.
Stop everything. "Sundae Afternoon" has been screened at 19 international film festivals and won 3 awards! This film was directed by Lauren Hammersley and made by fellow farnham animators Becky-Lulu Dartnell, Milo Bonnard and Cameron Carr in their first year no less. An incredible achievment for a first year film! Celebratory Ice creams all round.
2020 graduate Ciar Kerr has been off to Berlin with her grad film "Right Now, I Am" which is still doing the festival rounds. She is currently studying for her MA at National Film and Television School, and we look forward to seeing what her next film! Well done Ciara.
The wonderful and talented Celine Ufenast's graduation film "Scroll Alice" has been awarded Best Student Animation at BAFTA qualifying Bolton Film Festival. This follows a win at Munich Film Awards for Best Experimental Film. You can watch her talking all kinds of sense about animation here.
It should come as no surprise that current student Sally Gamble has had her debut film 'Mama Nature' selected for no less than 10 international film festivals! As she starts her third year, we can't wait to see what she has in store for her graduation film. Well done Sally! An amazing achievement.
Mere weeks out the gate and recent Graduate, Zoe Armit has already had her beautifully devastating graduation film 'Behind the Jugular' selected for Soundscreen Film Festival. A documentary in which an ex-slaughterhouse worker recounts his experiences: once seen never forgotten. Great news Zoe, a fantastic achievement!
The one and only Kieran Firth-Bernard is busy taking the world by storm with his graduation film 'Cloud Boy'. It has been selected for screening at Swedish International Film Festival, Prague International Indie Film Festival, New York Long Island Film Festival and the Bright Future Independent Film Festival in Gothenburg. Well done Kieran!
Lauren Hammersley's graduation film 'Twitch' has already been selected for Lift Off Global Network Sessions 2021, she hasn't even graduated yet!
Current second year/soon to be third year Khalidah Mclarty's debut film, 'Hands to Hold' has been selected for Animart Festival in Greece. A fantastic achievement for a first film, we look forward to what she has in store for her graduation project.
9 of our Animation graduates collaborated on the UEFA Euro trailer: 'Good Times Start Here' for ITV, starring national treasure Ian Wright. Our very own Hannah Fey, Bella Bernard, Gabriella Ditton, Hannah Privett, Milda Kargaudaite, Phoebe Morrison, Ciara Kerr, Jak Samual Nicholas, and Elmaz Ekrem teamed up with UCA Games Art graduate Freddie Littlewood to create the ad with a break-neck turnaroud of just 2 weeks. Phew. You can catch it in full here.
Exciting news for the team here at Farnham: Gagandeep Kalirai: Alumnus, NFTS Graduate, 2017 BAFTA Scholar and 2021 Best Animation Winner at ITFS, and Josh Saunders: RCA Graduate and Royal Television Society award winning animator and illustrator: They'd be nice to have around while your making a film, right? We thought so too, so we gave them a job. They have joined the team ahead of next term, and we can't wait to let their brains and know-how loose on our students!
Current 2nd Year, Alicia Johnsen has had her debut film "Sensory" selected for the INDIs Film Festival. We are all looking forward to what she has in store for us with her next film. Our spider sense is tingling.
Marrianne Lang graduated in 2020 with the delightfully disturbing 'Tinker, Tailor'. The film has been selected for screening at FLICKFAIR and was a semi-finalist at the Horror Movie Awards. Don't watch it if you have a delicate constitution - it's like pulling teeth.
Current 3rd Year Izzy Argent has two films touring around the world. Her Debut Film 'The Cut' has been screend at Lift Off Global Sessions, BAM Film Festival and Scout film festival to name a few. Her second film 'Beautiful Bondage' has also been shown at the First-Time Filmmaker Sessions and the INDIs Film Festival. Her graduation film is on it's way, and we can't wait for the world to see it. Well done Izzy. Amazing achievemnents!
"So Hot Right Now" is an upcoming, original series with guests discussing topics covering climate change and ocean activism. It has been created by three farnham animation graduates from different graduating years and all of them women: Gabriella Ditton, Phoebe Morrison and Hannah Faye. The stars really have aligned on this one. It's a good time to be a woman in animation, and that's about time. Well done ladies, we can't wait to see it!
Some of our current third years collaborated on a PSA for the NHS, to spread a positive message in light of the ongoing pandemic. "Dumb Ways to Spread" has already recieved more than 40000 views on YouTube! Harvey Aurbach-Dunn, Cameron Carr, Jack Hilder, Kieran Firth-Bernard and Chise Tuna all contributed their animation know-how. "For me the best part was collaborating" explained Harvey, "there was a type of symbiosis... where our attitudes and perspectives really seemed to compliment eachother". There is more info (and some nice pictures) about the project here.
Of this merry bunch, Cameron Carr has secured an Artist in Residency post at Chawton, (Jane Austen's House). He hasn't even graduated yet! Well done Cam!
Ciara Kerr's unstoppable graduation film 'Right Now, I Am' continues an epic international film festival run. This month it was screened at Atlanta Film Festival, where Ciara joined a panel of filmmakers to talk about their work: "I got to chat to these guys and watch their films, I'm super honoured to have mine screened alongside theirs". It's well deserved Ciara.
Alemsah Firat graduated last year with the utterly spellbinding, 'Weight of Consciousness', made with an oil-on-glass technique. Since then the film has been screened in 9 international film festivals, and has been awarded two international awards for Best Animation. We expect the awards weigh more than conscious thought, but are waiting for Alemsah to get back to us on that. Updates to follow.
Spring has officially sprung. New-born lambs bound through rolling hills, and baby ducklings waddle up the river bank . Apparently its also a good month for goats. Our very own Milda Kargaudaite's graduate film 'To Be A Goat' has been nominated for a Royal Television Society Award! With pub gardens opeining up, this is cause for something sparkling!
Phoebe Morrison's graduation film 'Senescence' is still taking the world by storm. It has been selected for screening at this year's ANIFILM over in Czech Republic. Well done Phoebe!
The phenomenal Gagandeep Kalirai (formely of this parish), has been longlisted for the Best British Short Animation BAFTA for her NFTS graduation film 'Cha'. These days, she can be spotted back among the church pews, divulging her know-how to our current first years. They are truly a lucky lot, and we wish her all the gold-faced statues in the world.
Two of our recent graduates have had their films selected for competition at the Tricky Women Film Festival this year. Milda Kargaudaite's 'To Be A Goat', and Phoebe Morisson's 'Senescence' will be screened as part of Tricky Womens' 20 year anniversary celebration of female voices in animation. We like this. We like this a lot.
We do like to spoil our students, and the year so far has seen a host of incredible visiting lecturers. The incomparable Joanna Quinn: world renowned, Emmy and BAFTA winning animator whose distinctive drawing style and sense of humour are a joy to behold. Edwin Rostron: award winning animator, artist, writer, tutor at the Royal College of Art, CalArts visiting artist and editor of Edge of Frame experimental animation blog. Our very own Michelle Brand: multi award winning, geometric shape loving, all round good human and Stewart Powers: also Farnham alum, currently Motion Graphics Lead at Chelsea Football Club, but we don't hold that against him.
Again, a little late onto the news sheet but towards the end of last year saw the supremely interesting and always informative Fantasy/Animation Podcast release an episode discussing the founder of the Farnham Animation course, Bob Godfrey's seminal TV series from 1974 Roobarb (and Custard) with Farnham's very own Dr Birgitta Hosea. The podcast always delivers fascinating insights to animated films and TV series but this was extra special to hear about how influential and underrated Godfrey was and is.
Farnham Animation is unique in also housing Godfrey's collection of animated works (a few hundred boxes of them!) carefully curated by Dr Hosea herself.
The podcast is highly recommended for a long walk or doing the ironing, especially the rendition of the theme tune at the end.
Enormous congratulations to 2nd yr Millie Campbell whose frankly dark and terrifying Ice Ceiling has been selected by First Kiss Theatre's February Film Festival. I would suggest any ablutophobes out there to watch this from behind the safety of a cushion.
Yes, you may want to Google that.
Technically this fell at the end of January but due to an administrative confusion (basically lockdown has meant we are no longer aware of what day/week/month it is) it now falls into February.
Huge congratulations to 2nd Year Sally Gamble for her recent film, Mama Nature, which has been selected for two festivals and recently won Best Animated Micro Short at Vesuvius International Monthly Film Fest.
Such a gratifying and well deserved moment for Sally. You totally rock.
January is the month where the 2nd years hand in their first proper forays into filmmaking with the Short Film Unit. This is the first time that they have full control of the filmmaking process from pitching through to production and, as always, this year's 2nd years have just exploded with talent.
So many filmmakers begining to mature their voices and discover that the process of creating a film is both demanding but yet also incredibly rewarding.
Well done all of you. Your next film awaits.
It may be a bit odd to blow a trumpet for filmmakers on other courses but enormous congratulations to Ollie Magee, recent graduate from the RCA whose superb Nod.Wink.Horse. landed online recently.
The reason? Well, none other than our recent graduate Ciara Kerr, a stunning filmmaker in her own right, assisted with animation on the film whilst finishing her graduation year in 2020. It's so wonderful to see how our students enter into the world of animation in so many different ways and how supportive the community is. This is the reason why we do it.
More news from current 3rd year Tilly Wallace whose 2nd year film Mind (FULL) was an award nominee at the BFI Future Film Festival 2021. Her graduation film is shaping up to be a beautifully painted journey which we can't wait to see and share.
Oh January. What a quiet month with never anything happening in the world. Snow occassionally falls, children play on the streets and... what? A world wide pandemic? What do you mean? Holy moly, you're not joking! We really should watch the news more.
Well that's not stopped the powerhouses of students continually managing to create such unique work with such incredible skills.
Case in point current 3rd year Milo Bonnard with his extraordinary stop motion talent and singular filmmaking voice. His 2nd year film 'Fyodor' (completed in lock down using wonderful problem solving skills, a lot of masking tape and no little patience) at the Canadian Digital Juice Festival. It's a lovely tender, tragic story of love and class set in an apartment lobby.
As well as this was a 30 second short he made with Jáchym Bousek in his first year has been selected five times. Rock on Milo, the world is simply waiting for you to take it over.
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.
We've been thrilled to see the current 1st years' Drawing for Animation (DfA) exhibition in the Spinal Corridor Gallery. An incredibly rich offering of observational drawing, sequential imagery and stylistic exploration. Huge congratulations to the year.
We've said it so many times but one of the reasons we do this job is having the honour of seeing people develop such strong independent voices. This was never any truer when looking through the depth and range of work handed in by the current 2nd Years last week. So many different styles, so many different approaches, such talent. No pressure for your next films guys.
Time moves on unstoppably and nothing can stand in its way. This month has seen us say goodbye to Stuart Hilton as he cycles away into the sunset of 20 years at the UCA towards a dawn of a brand new life at the LCC. We wish him more than the best, so much that a tiny paragraph like this cannot contain the words. Toot toot.
The work of Sinead Stoddart continues to travel across the world entering festivals at an unstoppable rate. Her graduation film from 2018 'Tone Death' has been nominated for Best Student Film at the Blodstained Indie Film Festival in Japan.
There are some big congratulations loaded into the celebration dispatch unit here at Farnham Animation HQ; it turns out that not only did we have some of our excellent grad films screened at the gorgeous Manchester Animation Festival but Megan Earls only went and won the Best Student Film award for her beautiful and raw film Borderline which tackles the subject of the abortion laws in Northern Ireland in a powerful and poetic way.
Most excellent to see that Vicky Carr has won Peoples Choice Award at Screentest: The National Student Film Festival for her creepy and adorable 2nd year short film Spin - and this only moments after having it screened at the Farnham Film Festival. Spin is clearly out of control etc...
Director, UCA grad and UCA tutor-tech, Elly Ekrem, was part of a four people panel including three other practising animation directors and producers as part of the How to Get Ahead in Animation talk run by the Royal Television Society in London. The entire talk can actually be viewed here!
Not only has BAFTA nominated, Studio AKA director, Farnham Animation UCA and RCA graduate Marcus Armitage (that’s a lot of pre-name qualifiers) had his talent rightly acknowledged over the last few years, as of November this year he has been inducted into the One Club For Creativity, part of the Young Guns 17 awards. He joins 28 other industry recognised directors, designers, illustrators and creatives. Quite rightly too.
Both Animation and Illustration students had the utter treat of listening to visiting Lecturer Lizzy Hobbs talk us through her process and even gave us a brief tour of her downstairs bathroom (it is and has been her studio for the last 13 years). Not only are her films vibrant explorations of process but also stunning examples of animation and technique. As she says “find out what the material wants you to say”. And there were badges too. Thank you Lizzy.
A healthy squadron of Farnham Animation students made their way up to to the Manchester Animation Festival last week to sample the northern culture and marvel at the affordable drinks. There is also evidence that they watched some films too.
When they were young, some of our current 2nd years made a group film. They were just 1st years at the time and since then that curious little film has found its way to Screentest: The National Student Film Festival in London. The film is called Aliens Abroad and was made by Sian Taylor(Director), Cole Payce, Patrick Lowney and Augustina Bartkute all of whom are now grown ups.
The New York International Children's Film Festival, an Oscar qualifying event and North America's largest film festival for kids and teens will include Taylor Freshwater’s 2019 graduation film CROSSOVER in next year's Festival. Each year NYICFF presents over 100 films to an audience of over 25,000 families in the greater New York area and they want Taylor to go over to NY for some screening fun in March and maybe shoot a few hoops....
Let’s give a big hand to Phoebe Morrison currently in her 3rd year as her grittily beautiful 2nd year film Handmade has gained a screening at Animateka film festival in Slovenia. A little trip over to Ljubljana could be in order for this splendid festival taking place early December. Take a scarf. And gloves.
Congratulations are in order now that Emma Monk has her super fresh graduation short film Invisible shown at Underwire Festival 2019 this month as part of the Little Truths screening.
Underwire has become a BAFTA recognised festival and is working with some of the best independent cinemas in London, including Barbican, BFI Southbank, Prince Charles Cinema, The Castle Cinema and Curzon Cinemas. Nice one Emma!
We are very excited to release the news that 2 of our new graduates will have their films screened at Manchester Animation Festival in October. Crossover by Taylor Freshwater and Borderline by Megan Earls are a couple of striking and original films and this is their first screening out beyond the Farnham state line. We’re sure both films will cross over many borders now that they’re off the leash….
It’s very splendid to see that Milo Bonnard who is only just starting his 2nd year adventures here at UCA Farnham has already got his excellent little short film Contemporary Trash into Stoptrik Stop-Motion animation festival in Slovenia. In fact he’s off to have a nose around over there for a few days to start the networking process!
Kicking off the new academic year in style our Keynote speaker, Candy Guard, took the animation department through her journey as a writer and director including how her, essentially self-taught, short films from the 80's developed to become the calling card for her numerous TV series' and illustrations. She stuck around at the end for some more personal chats and (obvs) some selfies.
We think it may be ok to now reveal the great news that no less than THREE of this year’s National Film and Television School intake will be a Farnham Graduate!!! Mim Fox who graduated last year will be joined by this years graduates Sophie Bird and Leto Meade. A fabulous well done to them and it’s great that they’ll be joining Gagandeep Kalarai who’s deep into the production of her final film over there in the wilds of Beaconsfield.
Though a traditionally quiet time on the festival circuit it's nice to see that recent graduate Nitisha Meshram has her graduate film Maa screening at the WOW Film Festival over there is sunny Tunisia. Her film is also in the semi-final round at the FilmAid Film Festival in Kenya; the admirable aim of this festival is to inform, inspire and empower refugees and other marginalised populations throughout the world.
Tommy Cui graduated just moments ago and his new film is just too young to be walking into festivals yet but his fabulous 2nd year short film Within a Drop has gained another screening, this time through UK Monthly Film Festival. We're confident his new one will get busy on the festival circuit when it's on solids....
It’s gowns and clapping and pride and joy and whooping and clapping and mums and dads and clapping and water and tassels and hats and sweat and clapping and makeup and dresses and socks and clapping and hair. Yes it’s Love Island season finale but also its the Graduation Ceremony!! A beautiful thing to witness if you’re ever passing the Royal Festival Hall on a hot June day in June.
This year we have not only our cherished awards to give to the most deserving student filmmakers but we also have 3 genuinely quite heavy and very shiny and see-through Animation Industry Awards to hand over. Picasso Pictures, Animade and Slurpy Studios have each picked their favourite films in several categories and we nervously polished them until we found out who won. Leto Meade and and Agata Leniartek were multiple winners on the night as was Taylor Freshwater and is that Megan Earls with more Champagne?
The Show is up and all shiny and ready to view. It’s like the night before Christmas and everything is calm before the edgy wine begins to flow and the smuggled half bottles of spirits in your mum’s handbag and dad’s big cardy start to lubricate the private view chat situation….
He’s not even out of the door yet but brand new graduate Jack McEntire has already been offered work on a commercial over at his dream home Blue Zoo! Check out his sweet little chesnuts as they fall to earth in his graduation film Conkered. His work can be seen here too.
Megan Earls now has a fresh new grad film under her belt but while that film is only days old and has yet to learn to walk, her 2nd year film Women and Power, with a voice over by Mary Beard herself, has now run off to London and has ended up at Hackney Shorts Festival for a fun evening out.
Well, graduates are graduating as we type and it’s great to see that Leto Meade, currently grabbing his coat as he departs, has had his excellent 2nd year film Losing The Sponge selected to screen at yet another excellent festival - now it's the 16TH International Festival for Short Film, Animation & Music Video over in Vienna as part of Vienna Shorts Festival.
It’s with a heavy heart and some quality grooming that we say a fond farewell to Shashi Khalon of this parish (handsome bespectacled gent in the middle) as he moves on to pastures new over near the Shard of London - not sure what pastures he found over there in the city but he assures us he will benefit from an attractive and lucrative new package. Ever since he won the Good Egg award when he was a shiny fresh animation student here he’s been a valuable force in our technical universe and we’re going to miss that smiling face and dazzling aroma. Bless you Shashi!
News-wise May traditionally goes a bit quiet whilst everyone puts the finishing touches to their final films. Meanwhile off campus and in the real world it’s great to see that last year’s graduates Anna Molnar and Marta De Lemos are both working together at local animation and video production house Shoot You. Here’s a couple of images from Anna and Marta's ace films.
The big fun news is that Lauren Sandercock of our current 2nd year is going to Cannes Film Festival this year with her short film Match. It recently screened at the Animation Nights New York festival and has since been added to the list at the Marché du Film alongide Ben Couzens' film Nudge.
Great to see Cat Kennedy get her short film What Remains into the 60 Second International Film Festival. Upon further investigation it turns out that the festival actually lasts much longer than 60 seconds so there’s more time to view Cat’s splendid film and maybe even a few others...
Nice to hear that Vicky Carr's short film Party Time has been travelling about a bit and has now been selected by Filmfort Festival where it will be screened in good old Boise, Idaho if you’re passing by.
Time for a celebratory pop and crisps as Ciara Kerr has her first film Down The Pub travelling lengthways across the Atlantic pond to screen in ANNY: Animation Nights NY alongside Ben Couzens’ short film Nudge and Lauren Sandercock’s sparky Match.
Our experience-hungry 3rd years have been out and about on visits to various London animation studios this week; here they are holding aloft a real life Hey Duggee facsimile at Studio AKA over there in Clerkenwell. The wonderful Grant Orchard popped in for a quick quiz and it was frankly adorable to be hosted by a couple of directors who also happen to be ace Farnham alumni Kristian Andrews and Marcus Armitage seen here clinging to each other for dear life.
London animation studios Nexus, Jellyfish, The Line and Passion all hosted our 3rd year animation exploration team but with notably less crowd-surfing involvement than might be experienced at other studios such as StudioAKA.
Check out 2018 graduate Matt Whitmore walking away from White Elephant Film Festival with no less than THREE awards!!! Jo Bartlett, the organiser of the White Elephant Film Festival helped present Matt with this significant haul; 2019 Tri Counties Winner – Best Animation, Best Documentary and Best Over All Entry. A trip to the B&Q shelving aisle is probably in order…
Most excellent to see several of our 2nd year films getting a screening at the White Elephant Film Festival, part of the Camberley International Festival. Onysha Lamers has her Short Film In my Shoes playing alongside films from Ross Stringer, Kat Kennedy and Lauren Sandercock - delicious images to follow. Current 3rd year Jordan Brunton and 2018 graduate Matt Whitmore also get their films screened as part of the substantial Farnham contingent!
Massive congratulations to Senior Lecturer Stuart Hilton who composed all the music to Jonathan Hodgson’s BAFTA winning short animation film Rough House. The film is set in Liverpool around 1979 and features various styles of music to create an authentic and gritty post-punk, new wave sound that helps set the scene for a funny and emotional story of young friends navigating their way into adult life.
Nice to see 2nd year student Phoebe Morrison’s short film entitled Pieceful Bodies has a first screening all the way over in Mumbai at the Dadasheb Phalke International Film Festival, DPIFF. If you’re passing by why not drop in for a minute and see it!
It’s always a pleasure to catch up with Mim Fox who graduated last year with her film Look For Me which examines her own experience of autism and the prejudices around it’s perception. Animation Dingle 2019 which takes place in the west of Eire have now taken her films 3 years in a row!
We have all just been knocked out by a lecture visit from bona fide animation legend and friend of the course, Caroline Leaf. It was amazing to see the artwork for some of these works up close, especially the scratched 70mm and 35mm frames from key works such as Two Sisters.
The Webisode Film Festival 2019 taking place in downtown Houston, Texas, USA will play host to some of our 2nd year films this year. Megan Howlett’s short film Painting By Notes will screen there along with Ciara Kerr’s adorable film Down The Pub. See you there…the pub, not Texas, although…
Congratulations to Ciara Kerr who is our first 2nd year to get a festival screening from the Short Film project! Her film Down The Pub is barely even dry and yet off it flies, unaccompanied, all the way to The Webisode Film Festival 2019 taking place in downtown Houston, Texas, USA.
Animation directing duo and 2016 graduates Remus and Kiki were in this month to show and tell all they’ve been learning in the world of commercial directing. It was a brilliant and completely hilarious talk full of daft stories and illuminating insights - and it was only their first ever lecture! We think they should do this for a living…
Some really nice news just in - our 2nd years have been producing some lovely work and it's great to see Ben Couzens' gaining a screening for his short film called Nudge (pictured above) at the wonderful Dorking Film Festival 2019 this March.
Our thoughts are with Caleb Adekanmbi, his family and his friends at UCA and beyond. There are no words - he was a truly decent, kind and talented young man. He has gone too soon.
First day back and we rushed headlong into a fabulous talk from BAFTA award winning storyboard artist and animator Peter Western. Peter is a legendary figure in the animation industry and was key animator on the groundbreaking Who Framed Roger Rabbit? It was great to see how important that film still is amongst the next generation of animators sat enthralled in the big lecture theatre. Peter is here pictured with his treasure - he’s the real person on the right.
High quality update from Hattie Croucher as her award winning film Blue Light from 2017 has now gained a screening at InSHort Film Festival in Lagos, Nigeria. As she says herself, ‘Especially pleased with this one as it marks 6 continents down. Just one more to go….tough crowd in Antarctica.’ We feel confident that Hattie’s filmmaking skills can enflame even an Antarctican’s frigid soul.
We’re very chuffed to see our very own Megan Earls up on stage at LIAF last week. Her amazing 2nd year film Women and Power was featured in the British Showcase at the Barbican and she had the slightly nerve-racking pleasure of having to spontaneously improvise a short film synopsis - quite brilliantly as it happens. Here she is in the line up of actual filmmakers - she's over on the right with white shoes.
Here’s a selection of lifedrawings from a busy and fabulous bunch of 3rd years who have spent some quality ink and charcoal time with the singular marvel that is Pete Western. Big shout out to Laura our excellent regular life model - you might not be able to tell from the drawings but she actually lives on a barge in a central London! IKR...
Senior lecturer Stuart Hilton composed the soundtrack for BAFTA winning filmmaker Jonathan Hodgson’s brand new film Rough House which has just won the Best British Film Award at LIAF. As a lecturer, filmmaker, director he can also sometimes to be found wearing his ‘composer’ or even a ‘punk rock drummer’ hat. He has also been known to do silly voices and can even be contacted for light removals.
Here’s a little glimpse of some of the extraordinary work we saw last week in our 3rd year Crits. Such a lot of good work around it’s going to make the degree show veeeeeery interesting indeed. And possibly veeeery long!! We liiiiiiiiike. We were totally spoiled (spoilt?) for fabulous imagery - many more to follow soon...
This week we had the pleasure of animation director Bexie Bush’s company for a full day. Bexie is an alumnus of our course and of the NFTS and has won many awards for her film directing work. She talked us through her extraordinary new stop motion documentary project, The Rumour Mill. She’s a singular inspiration and rest assured, we’ll be doing everything we can to get her to return super soon - and regularly….
Very excellent to see alumni and tutor Ellie Ekrem who is also a director at Nerd Productions getting a shout out at the BaddassGal takeover - quote: ‘a talented young director with a great vision and a wonderful heart to go with it. Her work is outstanding and has been recognised by some of the industry's most prestigious institutions.’ So yeah, what they said….
Nice to hear from Rebecca Ransom who graduated last year and has since found work in her dream job working in a motion graphic studio in London. This is not actually her pictured above relaxing after hearing about the job, it is in fact a still from her 2018 graduate film.
It's also always pleasing to hear more from Matt Whitmore who graduated this year too - his film Christine@11 (pictured 14 items below!) is still travelling far and wide and has clocked up 9 festivals worldwide so far. He’s also in the process of starting up his own studio so watch this space for more info on that…
Nice to see current 3rd year student Leto Meade continuing his tour of the Earth with his 2nd year films, Water Moves and Losing The Sponge. He recently found himself in Istanbul at KisaKes Short Film Festival and was amused by this pic of himself on stage ‘looking like I know what I’m talking about’. It’s a good trick if you can pull it off…
Here’s a quick update about 2017 graduate Michelle Brand currently at the RCA. Her excellent Graduation film Not The Same River, Not The Same Man has been screening around the world including London International Animation Festival, Multivision Animation Festival, Palm Springs International Animation Festival, ReAnimania Internation Animation Film and Comics Art Festival, Roma Cinema Docs, Athens Animfest, Supertoon Animation Festival and the Southampton International Film Festival where it was nominated for Best Sound Design and Achievement in Art. Above is a little glimpse of her current RCA work Synchronicity which had its premier screening at Encounters this year.
Here’s a splendid bunch of our 3rd year students relaxing in the Forbidden City in Beijing after a short 6 hour stroll around the grounds - Evie Gaffney, Sophie Bird, Megan Earls and Jordan Brunton were our China Girls for a week showing their work and seeing some sights and sitting on benches for as long as possible.
This week we had the ever animated Jim Le Fevre dancing his way through an amazing array of his wonderful and expansive work including everything from games and installations to pottery and laser cut towers and yet more besides. Jim is a regular sessional lecturer here and it was again great to see what else he can do besides give expert tutorial advice.
Leto Meade of our 3rd year has just returned from Anim’Est International Animation Festival in Romania after winning Special Mention for his excellent and beautifully strange 2nd year film Losing the Sponge. No, it’s not necessarily about cake though now that’s it’s started winning things we’re thinking it could be time to invest in some celebratory sweet confections…
We’re SUPER proud to be able to announce that Megan Earls’ 2nd year film Women and Power has been selected to screen at the mighty London International Animation Festival this year. The film is already doing some good business for Megan having already screened at the London Feminist Film Festival and Underwire this year.
Most excellent to hear that Joe Headd’s 2nd year short film Fragile will be headding off to Portugal to be screened at Cinanima 2018. It’s been selected for the International Grand Panorama from a total of no less than 1500 submissions! Check the font on that laurel!
Four of our fabulous 3rd years are off to China for a 10 day cultural trip accompanied by animation artist and reader Birgitta Hosea. Megan Earls, Jordan Brunton, Evie Gaffney and Sophie Bird are the China girls who will be showing their work and engaging with our friends in the east of our planet.
Congratulations to Jordan Brunton as her 2nd year film Disconnected will screen at Youki International Youth Media Festival in Austria this year. It will screen in competition as part of the Lost Love programme. Gain some love by getting over there and cheering loudly during her film.
Such a joy to welcome back the marvellous Merlin Crossingham, Creative Director at Aardman Animation and long time friend of the course. He gave us yet another talk filled with solid gold advice for our students and some privileged access to behind the scenes Early Man feature production material - not only that, he was accompanied by the stars of the film - the ACTUAL PUPPETS!!!!!
Here’s a fun little of glimpse of current 3rd year student Megan Earls on stage at The London Feminist Film Festival 2018 discussing her 2nd year film Women and Power, an short adaptation taken from Mary Beard’s well known book of that name.
Great to see that Underwire Festival 2018 will be showing works by several of our students this year. Marta Lemos’ grad film Dear England will show alongside Uncomfortable made by Isabella Cintra in her 2nd year. There’s also the extra good news that Megan Earls has her brilliant 2nd year film Women and Power showing there in competition.
Congratulations to Chiara Congeddu and Verdi Pagnano who’s 2018 grad film Eroica will be screening at NY Animation Nights in New York, New York - so good they spelled it twice.
Nice to see the freshly graduated Matthew Whitmore continuing to get his film screened. His emotive graduate film Christine@11 has recently been selected for two international film festivals - Festival de Cine de Elche and Nile's Diaspora International Film Fest.
Great news just in from the freshly graduated and very excellent Miriam Fox! Her 2018 grad film Look For Me has won Judges Choice Award for International Short Film at the Focus on Ability Film Festival in Australia and if you do look for her you’ll find that they’ve only gone and flown her out there for a 2 week jolly! Bonza!
It looks like 2018 graduate Daisy Fairbairn will be journeying to Hong Kong with her film Cage this November as the film screens at the Global University Students Film Festival. Her film illustrates the hideous plight of rare birds captured and smuggled for illegal sale across international markets. The film will also be screening at Short To The Point, May edition.
A prolonged and fabulous congratulation noise is being made for Megan Earls whose 2018 2nd year film Women and Power is being screened at The London Feminist Film Festival 2018. Her film, adapted from Mary Beard’s book of the same name, actually features a voice over by the author.
A big well done to Leto Meade as his poetically esoteric Year 2 film Losing the Sponge will be screened at Anim’est International Animation Festival in Romania in October. Leto will be a guest at the festival for a few days where hopefully the sponge can be located.
Yet more of our new 3rd years are off around the globe accompanying their 2nd year films to festivals. Now its Elly Larkin’s turn who will be off to The Czech Republic for a screening of her film at EKOfest.
It’s great to see 2017 graduate Hattie Croucher continues to gain screenings of her amazing and hard-hitting animated documentary Blue Light. It’s been travelling around and will now be screening at Bolton International Film Festival 2018 this October.
Great news for recent graduates Emily Langdon-Smith, Dan Corbett and Grace Evetts! Both of their animated films Miasma from their 2nd year and their grad film WilderLife (pictured) have been nominated for Best International Animation at Anim!Arte Festival 2018 in Brazil.
We recently had really ace news from Joanne Salmon who graduated in 2016. Joanne is an animator who now works at LoveLove Films and her new film Chin Up has won the MoFilm Many Voices filmmaking competition as featured in Campaign magazine. You can see her inspiring personal story of living with Treacher Collins Syndrome here.
When Leo Murray came to UCA Farnham to study BA(Hons) Animation with us he came with the rare and enviable skills of a qualified tree surgeon. Since then he has clearly expanded his skills considerably to include the design and launch of a giant inflatable protest blimp in the shape of an angry or hungry or possibly hangry Donald Trump baby. With the wind of change behind it it should be clearly visible in the UK's capital city this week. Whaaaaaaaa!!!!!!
So good to see that Hattie Croucher has just won yet another excellent thing with her 2017 graduation film Blue Light. She picked up the Best Music Award at the very fantastic British Animation Film Festival as well as a nomination for Best Film. In her own words ‘It was cool enough screening in Leicester Square, but the lineup was mind-blowing. Seriously humbled.’ Hattie's mind remains blown according to recent reports. No news on the status of the humbleness yet but if we know 'the Hat' like we think we do, it surely remains in full effect.
25 years since he left Farnham Grant Philpott (real person on the left) has just finished Series Producing not one but two fully animated TV Shows one of which features comedy and light entertainment behemoth David Walliams(cut out person on the right).He explains 'I chose to use animation and storyboarded, designed & commissioned the work from Flickerpix in Holywood, Northern Ireland'. David Walliams presents...Return of Alright on the Night airs on ITV1 and is sure to be the distracting comedy mouthful we all deserve right about now.
2016 graduate Stew Powers is still having lots of fun in his proper dream job of Digital Content Video Editor at his beloved and yet somehow godforsaken(according to some tutors) Chelsea FC. Here’s a daft thing he’s been enjoying making for the World Cup of football. Note: The World Cup (or WC) is a huge football competition that is held every fortnight around the globe and features thousands of famous players of all ages on one giant pitch attempting to kick an enormous football into space. This year England look set to win! Though Chelsea could be a close runner-up. More informed football content soon…
The 2018 Animation Graduation Show is up and running now with over 35 films being produced of a typically wide range of genres displaying a myriad of remarkable techniques and processes. All the films are available to view on a big screen as well as online on small screens in our beloved and beautifully transformed Room G02. A short showreel of clips from all the films is available to view now if you go here.
Here are some more lovely images from the 2018 Animation Graduation Show featuring a fab selection of stop-motion puppets, fragments of sets, sketchbooks, stacks of hand-painted, animated frames, showreels of both graduation and 2nd year work alongside stills from the films themselves.
Year 2 student Leto Meade’s beautiful, poetic Short Film Water Moves has been busy swimming around the globe and getting screenings in all over the place including at the 14th Athens Digital Arts Festival, Barcelona Planet Film Festival and many more. Fellow student Julie Lindh wrote the poetic narration.
Matt Whitmore, currently at the business end of production on his Graduation film, has been having lots of success with multiple screenings of his 2nd year film, John. The film is a short documentary about living with Alzheimer’s and has screened already in Pakistan International Film Festival, Linoleum Festival, Hackney Attic Film Festival and will now screen at Beer Town Film Festival in May. Sounds like a place to go...
Well done to 2nd year student Evie Gaffney who has her 2nd year film brilliantly titled Woodland Soup screening at Chalon Tout Court this month. The Festival takes place in Chalon-sur-Saône and you can find out more about the screening here.
As we continued to dodge between snowy blizzards we did somehow managed to sneak a few 3rd years over to the mighty Blue Zoo Studios in London and also dipped down to Jellyfish Picures too. Students were allowed to touch not only the basket of fruit but also the shiny BAFTA which they had been instructed not to bite.
Marta De Lemos has her beautiful 2nd year film Maternae screening at Short Waves Festival 2018 in Poland from 20-25th March. It has also screened in these festivals since it was born: Take 21, Linoleum-Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival , Encounters 2017, FilmYoungFest, Curtas Film Fest and Cardiff International Film Festival!
Good news just in that Raquel Alves Vasco, currently in our 2nd year has her 2nd year film I Miss screening at the Cinemira-Budapest International Children's Film Festival in your actual Budapest. Her film reflects on the sheer greyness of the light in England compared to her native Portugal and right now, that's absolutely fair enough…
Here’s a little extra 2nd year screening update as Jordan Brunton has her bonkers 2nd year film Spoiled Milk screening at Al-Nahj International Film Festival, Iraq of all extraordinary places in the Best Seconds Video competition - see you there people...
It’s always nice to catch up with graduates and it was great recently to hear that 2016 graduate Piper Storer has been working full-time at Notion Digital. It’s a great excuse to show an image from her grad film Alive - you can see it here.
The excellent Edge of Frame Experimental Animation 2018 weekend returns on 2nd - 4th March and will screen work by our very own senior lecturer Stuart Hilton. His film Six Weeks in June will be part of the Particles in Space screening at the Barbican alongside work by seminal filmmakers Len Lye, Robert Breer and more. Sessional lecturer Jess Ashman will also be part of the event and will be speaking at the Bfi Southbank about her work as a black woman artist and experimental animator.
Just when we thought Snow Days were a thing of the past we get a bumper crop! Several Snow Days caused a certain amount of travel disruption mingled with no little excitement. Luckily animators just love to hunker down in the dark and tinker away moving things and drawing things bathed in the warm glow of a lightbox or digital equivalent. Here is a picture of sun and snow at the same time.
Nice to see that 2017 graduate Hattie Croucher is still winning stuff with her excellent animated documentary Blue Light. She picked up the Best Animation award at the Short Movie Club over there in Minsk, Belarus. Take a scarf and chunky underthings should you decide to go there at this time.
Well done to Will Rowson who’s 2016 grad film One Last Dance has been selected for the Cardiff Animation Festival this year. Will’s film is a beautiful and moving animated documentary about living with Alzheimer’s.
Shelley Nichols, once of this parish, has been busy working on a little thing Wes Anderson calls The Isle of Dogs! Yes! Her name along with many other skilled workers will be visible at the end of the film in what some people are already calling ‘the credits’. To celebrate her achievements here is a picture from this much anticipated film.
A big snowy well done to graduate directing team EGADS have been short listed in the British Animation Awards Student Excellence category. The team, Em Langdon Smith, Grace Evetts and Dan Corbett co-directed their graduation film Wilder Life in 2017. The film is a CG extravaganza of flamingo related shenanigans that features almost every colour available in that year.
Peter Millard was just in and we’re not letting him leave. He gave us the most honest and joyful lecture about what led him to make work despite the various forces of life and youth that might have got in the way. Gotten in the way? Who knows? Either way it was a funnier lecture than most cartoons and made us all want to get the paints out and make things. An inspirational force and a singular pleasure to have saying things in a room.
Nice to see that Vann Baker’s first film, Oneirophrenia, will screen at Dirigo International Student Film Festival in Bristol this year. Her short film was made on our 2nd year Short Film unit and will be her first screening! Yey!!!
The Law of The Sea returns to the BFI to be part of the BFI Future Film Festival where it will be collecting its first proper laurel! The film was directed by our very own Elmaz Ekrem along with Dominika Ozynska as part of the Random Acts funding scheme.
Now in its 11th year, this festival is one of the most important and influential of its kind and will be running from 15-18 of February. The film will feature as part of the Modern Life shorts programme and with its focus on young, emerging film makers with a diverse line up of films, its a fantastic achievement for our tip top alumni! Brilliantly the film is also going to be shown throughout Jaunary at the Gulbenkian Art Centre in Canterbury before a selection of features including films such as Murder on the Orient Express, Happy End directed by Michael Haneke and Human Flow directed by Ai Weiwei.
We’ve had the recent pleasure of welcoming multi award winning stop-motion legend Barry Purves back to the big room. Barry is drama itself! it’s what he is and it’s what he does! He brought his boundless enthusiasm and deep knowledge of the subject of storytelling and acting through images into the room in a generous 2 hrs that flew by like a winged god….
BAFTA award winning animator and storyboard artist Peter Western brings his exquisite eye for drawing to the life classes throughout January and working with a super dynamic professional model the students are producing some of the best drawings we’ve seen for a while. Check out the selections above - makes you want to get the charcoals out and get in a room with a naked person….
The British Animation Awards once again return to Farnham for the Public Screenings for the next few weeks. Monday 15th, 22nd and 29th January will feature a selection of some of the best animation going on in the UK. From films to commercials to music promos and other forms its a great opportunity to see this quality work on a big screen.
So Mim Fox of our current 3rd has her 2nd year film Make Up Your Mind travelling to three more festivals including Dingle Animation, Dorking Film Festival and Best Shorts Competition. As she points out in her lengthy and considered reflections on the developing screening situations, “eep!’
Altea Claveras, who graduated last year has been getting busier up there in her home in the North East. Her films have clearly opened doors for her as she is set to begin work soon directing material for ‘a kids TV thing’ in her own words. While she waits for that to start she’s enjoying the glorious Sunderland warmth both socially and meteorologically (see picture…
Great to see that Jess Lester’s beautiful 2016 graduation film will be screening at London International Animation Festival this month in the Best of the Next programme. Selected from 60 graduate showreels and almost 30 countries this is a look at the best student work and first professional films from all around the world.
And hey Look isn’t that Hattie Croucher at LIAF Animated Documentaries Q&A. We don’t think she’s singing, it’s merely passion and wise words as to why animation can be the perfect tool for documenting a story. She was singing a similar song at Aesthetica Short Film Festival recently too.
Always fun to check up on Moth Collective co-founder and alumnus Dan Chester - there he is on the right looking fairly chuffed after having been awarded Best Commissioned Film at the @EmileAwards for their film 'The Last Job On Earth'. Let's get them over here again for cake!
Great to see that Grace Evetts who graduated last year has recently joined Content Creatures, a growing animation studio right in the heart of Surrey. Grace made a beautiful lyric film for the band Coasts recently which looks just like this picture pictured above.
Recent graduate Sinead Stoddart’s film Tone Death is doing some travelling after having been selected for FECEA Festival de Cinema Escolar de Aldorada in Brazil it is now off to NYC in the 21st Islansa International Short Film Festival. Her second year film Munchies is also at Vancouver International Film Festival Canada touring Reel Youth Film Festival.
Great to see that Will Rowson’s graduation film One Last Dance just won 1st Place in Documentary of the Month at 12 Months Film Festival.
Last year, Domniki Papadopoulou directed and wrote a short film called Hoarder (that's him pictured!) for the first year group project. Now in second year her film has found its marvellous way to TAF Festival in Greece, Thessaloniki. Well done the whole team who produced the film with her Jack McEntire, Paul Davies and Karl Keskula
Hattie Croucher and Elmaz Ekrem are amongst several alumni who have been busy visiting and actually featuring at Encounters Festival this year. As Farnham alumni go they don’t get much more mighty than Michael Dudok De Wit director of the extraordinary Red Turtle - here he is photobombing Ellie Ekrem at this years Encounters shortly after his thoughtful, funny and inspiring talk. Hattie also described the talk as ‘absolutely spellbinding’.
Our two completed films for the Random Acts/Channel 4 funding scheme, ‘The Sea’ by Elmaz Ekrem and Dominika Ozynska and ‘Hiveminds’ by Gabriella Ditton, Tom Willis and Ollie Pendle are now on tour around the country as part of ICA’s Playback exhibition and will continue touring throughout 2018. This month the exhibition is swinging through the filmmakers home turf at the Farnham Hockey Gallery.
It’s UN-declared World Space Week this week as if you didn’t know and its great to see the endlessly busy and excellent Elmaz Ekrem getting involved. Ellie is continuing to grow her burgeoning animation career since graduating last year by contributing yet more work for Nerd Productions in London.
Hattie Croucher’s head and her excellent words have been simultaneously appearing on TV screens since cameras and microphones where pointed at her by the good people at That’s Surrey TV. She speaks about her graduation film Blue Light (pictured) and the things she said can be seen here.
Great to see 2nd year work getting around on the festival circuit too! Zuzanna Elhag and Verdi Pagnano’s short film Ice Bear will screen at the SunChild 7th International Environmental Festival this month.
Will Rowson’s 2016 graduation film One Last Dance is still doing business for him as he makes it available to view here. It will be screened at 12 Months Film Festival 2017 and will be in competition there - you can also view and vote for it here. Get your voting slippers on people! https://12mff.com/movie/one-last-dance/
Our very own stop-motion guru and tutor-tech Jess Ashman gets animated in an interview in South London’s Women In Film forum. Jess’ installation animation piece I Don’t Protest, I Just Dance In My Shadow is discussed in the article titled ‘Women and Animation. Find out about Jess’ perspective here.http://www.herfilmproject.com/news/women-and-animation
Here’s the poster we made for the marvellously prolific Marcus Armitage’s lecture this week as part of the Induction Week fun.
Here’s a lovely news catchup for the absurdly talented Hattie Croucher. Her grad film Blue Light has been selected in competition for Manchester Animation Festival 2017 taking place in October. It will also be screening at Encounters Festival in Bristol and BAFTA recognised Aesthetica Festival this year. Not only that but her work has gained her an amazing Artist in Residence gig at Downside Abbey near Bath.
Here’s a new update for graduate Gaggandeep Kalarai who has recently been through the intensive interview process for the Animation MA at the National Film and Television School! The word is she did really well - now its all about waiting for that call. Our fingers are crossed so perfectly that she’s just bound to get a place!
Updates a plenty as new graduate Michelle Brand will be getting her back to school furry pencilcase out and begin settling into the wonderful world of the RCA as she starts her Animation MA there this week. Her Grad film is already on its way to various festivals and it’s well worth checking out her beautiful and thoughtful work here.
And now we bring you yet further fantastic Hattie Croucher news! Her grad film Blue Light has been selected in competition for Manchester Animation Festival 2017 taking place in October. Get down there and vote! Lets bring home some well deserved gongs!!!
Brilliant news for the brilliant Hattie Croucher who graduated this year with her brilliant film Blue Light - her powerful and emotional film will screen at 2 prestigious festivals, Encounters Festival and Aesthetica this year. Not only that but her work has gained her an amazing Artist in Residence gig at Downside Abbey near Bath.
We’re looking forward to welcoming back Farnham Alumnus, RCA graduate and BAFTA nominee Marcus Armitage this month - he’ll be doing some talk, showing some new and old work and maybe even glimpses from his new Bfi commissioned film That Yorkshire Sound made for the Listen To Britain project. While we wait, just for old times sake, here’s a still from his excellent 2012 graduation film The Laughing Policeman
So, the mighty directing team EGADS that made some stunning work here over the last two years have a nice feature on the UCA website about the making of their award winning 2nd year film Miasma. Check that out here. Miasma won best animation at Bundes Film Festival in Germany and for your records the EGADS team consisted of Emily Langdon Smith, Grace Evetts and Dan Corbett alongside the excellent exchange student Sophie Miriam from Stuttgart.
We’re excited to announce that Farnham Alumni Elmaz Ekrem and Dominika Ozynska’s Channel 4/Random Acts film Law of the Sea from 2016 will be screening at Encounters Film Festival 2017 and also Enchanted Cinema. So thats nice…
Graduate Sinead Stoddart did amazingly well with her 2nd year films as a student here and things continue in the same vein as her 2017 grad film has started to gain screenings and nominations. Tone Death (pictured) was a semi-finalist Les films de la Toile and will also be screening at LA Cinefest. Her 2nd year film Munchies has a load more screening too including Exit 6 Film Festival, Cyprus Comicon and Wasteland Film Festival.
Congratulations are in order for Will Rowson who’s beautiful and heartfelt 2016 documentary grad film One Last Dance has been featured in the Student Showcase on Show Me The Animation website and can also been seen at the Shortfil.ms website.
Pepe Gomez’s 2016 graduation film Last King of Grenada continues to do good business for him and his swollen awards cabinet as he won Best Editing at the Macro Project festival and Best Period Piece at The Monkey Bread Tree Film Awards. It will also screen at Little Wing festival so get along and see it somewhere - its likely to be on.
Our 2nd year ADT unit has produced some great work for CATS charity, Cancer Awareness in Teenagers and Young People Society and 3 of the films have been adopted by the society for their social media campaigns!
Its always good to catch up with what Beakus directing duo Remus and Kiki are up to. Its great to see Cartoon Brew featuring their great new TED-Ed film as their Pic of the Day. The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall can be viewed here - treat yourself to some education.
Sinead Stoddart’s is getting plenty of action for each of her 3 stop motion puppet films created whilst a student on our beloved course - her 2nd year ‘ZomCom’ film Munchies gets a fun mention on the Directors Notes website here whilst One Too Many gets shortlisted Senior Rossi Award at Cartoon Club Rimini. Her graduation film Tone Death gets its first laurel as a semi-finalist at LA CineFest.
No big shock here as Brain Shock, Marti Latini’s visceral graduation film gets a first official festival selection at Linoleum Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival 2017.
Great news too for recent graduate Wiktor Adamkiewicz who’s film Painium will screen at its first festival Les Films de la Toile in Paris where it features as a semi-finalist in competition alongside fellow graduate Sinead Stoddart showing her grad film Tone Death. Good luck is making its way to them via the magic of internets.
Really good to hear that Matthew Whitmore has his 2nd year film John screening at its first ever festival. The Hackney Attic Film Festival will show his very personal and heartfelt film about his family’s experience of living with Alzheimers.
The show is go! It’s all up and running and ready for your eyes. We have 31 short films to view along with images, models, sketchbooks and all manner of paraphernalia from all this year’s graduate productions. Witness the wonder from 7th June right through to Sturday 17th June.
The Graduation Show Awards night was an absolute joy. The students were fabulous, the films looked great and the mums, dads and all manner of significant other fams were treated to a delightful evening featuring solid gold effect awards augmented with champagne! The much coveted gongs were given to 8 graduates for their outstanding work in all areas of animated filmmaking and for their invaluable contributions as students to this great animation course of ours. Any excuse for a party.
So the graduation show is going up and there are some pink paint issues to resolve. Pictured here are the Executive Paint Force preparing to let loose their bottled up creative energy and express themselves in the confines of the temporarily transformed and much loved Room G02 - The animation engine room! - no boys allowed apparently - at least not until it has been made safe...
Amongst all the graduation buzz it’s nice to see that our Year 2 students are still busy getting their careers going with more festival screenings to note. Richard Dai’s funny little Short Film project Tubby is on its way to yet another really nice festival this time in the capital; The British Animation Film Festival 2017 takes place in London and the film will be screened in a Cineworld theatre! Sweet! That’s the icing on the cake etc…
Well done to current 2nd year student Marta Lemos who has got her first short film into its first festival! Hopefully the first of many her beautiful, painterly film Maternea will be travelling to Toronto and will screen at Take 21 Festival this month.
More good news for 2016 graduate Pepe Gomez who has won the Best Animation Award at the 2017 Canterbury University Film Festival. Pepe has been super busy gathering various awards around the planet in-between his new teaching duties here with our lovely 1st years. Working with Pepe is Elmaz Ekrem who has also been busy in a slightly different way, partying at the ICA at the launch of Playback Festival. The festival which is a touring showcase of Random Acts films will include Ellie and Dominika’s brilliant The Law of the Sea.
We love catching up with our splendid alumni and Kaori Onishi is this months featured filmmaker. Kaori’s beautiful, lyrical film When I Was Youngwas her graduation film in 2011 and will screen at Tricky Women festival in Austria during March. It's well worth a look.
In other 2nd Year news it's good to see Ian Kidd’s short film Arthur Twee’s Boring Day has barged it’s way into the Open World Animation Festival taking place in Allentown, PA, USA. All being well it won’t be held back at the border for a full cavity search. Also good to know that Rinu Rana will be getting her Bath Time shown at Athens Animfest 2017.
Stay alert people for we have THE genuine, bona fide ‘White Walker’ wandering into our 1st year Digital Skills classes for a couple of weeks of acty fun. Ross Mullen joins us straight off the set of Game of Thrones to show us his acting chops and no little simulated action fun and games to be filmed as reference material for all. Prepare to shake this man's hand - it's a memorable experience as handshakes go!
Will Rowson’s 2016 graduation film One Last Dance has just won the Animated Shorts category at Dorking Film Festival where a total of 9 Farnham films were competing. Also, great to see the film making its way across the Atlantic to The Large Apple for a monthly curated screening and networking event known by those in the know as ANNY: Animation Nights NY. Their blog is worth checking out too.
Great news that current 2nd year student Miriam Fox has seen her fab first film Make Notes fly off to its first festival. It will be screening at the beautifully named Dingle International Film Festival in March 2017 over there in the west of Eire along with our own Pepe Gomez’s graduation blockbuster Last King of Grenada. Star Wars fans might like to know that Dingle is only a hop skip and a jump away from Skellig Michael island where we last saw an ageing Luke Skywalker standing waiting for his favourite lightsabre to be returned. Mim's film will also be screening at Discover Film Awards in April. It’s a great festival taking place at one of the oldest cinemas in London and probably even more importantly there will be an opening night party by the Thames that will need attending…
The endlessly busy Sinead Stoddart of this parish has popped up in interview form right here. Her 2nd year film Munchies has being doing good business for her on the festival circuit ending up recently at Final Girls ‘Women In Horror’ Berlin Film Festival where it caught the eye of We Are Moving Stories, a new online platform broadcasting new voices in drama, documentary and journalism who conducted the interview for their splendid site.
One of our most decorated and celebrated alumni Michael Dudok DeWitt has found himself yet again at the Oscars this time as as a nominee for his extraordinary Studio Ghibli produced animated feature film The Red Turtle.
And here’s Elmaz ‘Ellie’ Ekrem pictured alongside legendary filmmaker Mike Leigh and Utopia director Marc Munden all hanging out at the London Is Open event last week.
The properly outstanding news is that Elmaz Ekrem & Dominika Ożyńska's Random Acts film The Law Of The Sea was just screened alongside Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s Oscar-winning film The Salesman on a massive screen at Trafalgar Square on Sunday. The free open air event is part of The Mayor of London’s London Is Open campaign launched in response to the US Executive Order banning Muslim’s from entering the country.
We were recently visited by the very talented Colossal Crumbs puppet making workshop people. A lively and hilarious day of character creation and manipulation was had and it now seems that anything lying around on the floor could be transformed into a thinking being before you can say ‘upcycle!’
Time to check in on Hattie Croucher who is currently deep into crafting her graduation film and who’s 2nd year film Pandas Have Got To Go has been accepted into 3 festivals in the last month, including LMFF, Fresh Meet International FF and iChill Manila International Film Festival.
This weekend is the 2nd Dorking Film Festival and the Animated Short Film screening consists almost entirely of 2016 Graduate and 2nd year films from UCA Farnham! Oh yes.
Pepe Gomez, Andrew Whittle, Will Rowson, Grace Evetts and the EGADS team, Duncan Senkumba (film pictured), Stew Powers, Jess Lester, Richard Mirosevic-Sergo, and Noriko Ishibe, all feature in this 2017 Dorking take-over...
Always nice to have another reason to show a still from Jess Lester’s graduation film City Lights and the reason this time is that it will be screening at Screentest, National Student Film Festival 2017 soon. Good enough reason any day of the week.
Big news just in alert!!! Stew Powers’ jurassic graduation film Dinosaurs in the Playground has been nominated in the Animation category for the Royal Television Society Student Awards 2017! The awards evening takes place in March in Winchester and is a spangly affair involving suits, ties, frocks and fizz. And, if last year's ceremony is any kind of measure, there WILL be dinosaurs….
Hattie Croucher is no stranger to film festival fun and her 2nd year film Pandas Have Got To Go will now screen at the Miami Independent Film Festival. Hattie is currently deep into production of her 3rd year Grad film and will struggle to find the time to go to Miami for ANY reason at this time - that’s what we told her anyway…
PICTURE COMING SOON!
We’ve just heard the great news that current 2nd year student Miriam Fox has seen her fab first film Make Notes fly off to its first festival. It will be screening at a beautifully named festival over in the west of Eire. Updates and pictures to follow but Star Wars fans might like to know that the festival is only a hop skip and a jump away from Skellig Michael island where we last saw an ageing Luke Skywalker standing, waiting for his favourite lightsabre to be returned…
We had a fantastic, solid gold lecture last week from our new Friend of Farnham, John Knowles, lead animator and writer from the BAFTA winning CG animation specialist studio Blue Zoo in London. We'll be getting him back her soon for more CG japes.
Our very own enterprise guru Lam Olusegun currently in the 2nd year has been spotted on ITV news in an interview situation discussing his plasticine model characters and showing clips of his animations. His ‘Lambs’ are selling like hot kebabs on a Friday night so grab one while you can…
This week we a super excited to be welcoming Ed Barrett back to his spiritual home this time as one of out Keynote Lecturers. Ed is Creative Director at the excellent London animation studio Animade and is an alumnus and long time friend of the course. He is also a dab hand at putting funny eyes on things...
Congratulations to recent graduate Jess Lester as she has her film beautiful, lyrical film City Lights screening at the Premiers Plans Film Festival in the Animated Films competition, which will take place in Angers, France, from January 20th to January 29th 2017. A wintery week by the Loire beckons...
It's only 2017 and 3rd year festival stalwart Sinead Stoddart has been busy picking up more awards for her 2nd year film Munchies. She now has to make room in her awards cabinet for the Regional Filmmakers Award and The Michael Fuller Award both from the Southhampton Film Week. Here she is at City Eye Cinema Festive Films picking up a latte, muffin and gongs.
A festive well done to current 3rd year student Megan Yaxley as she sees her 2nd year film Life Models accepted into the CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI International Film Festival (CSIFF) in India! It will be screened on 25th Dec over there - there's a feeling that the date might be clashing with something...
Last week a delegation representing the British animation industry found itself at Number 10 to celebrate and promote the achievements of the industry and to hopefully maintain pressure on the powers that be to support it. But who was in that delegation? Only several of our illustrious alumni, that’s all! Here’s Adam Bailey(centre) from Cloth Cat in Wales and that’s Aaron Wood(left) from Slurpy Studios and who’s this? Only Marcus Armitage(right) wondering if it was all a joke but happy to be eating the free sausages.
Big congratulations are in order to 3rd year student Michelle Brand who just came back from Germany this week with a prize! - She assures us it was hers and provided photographic evidence which seems authentic enough to us. As she says, ‘I won the Animation category for my age group. It was loads of fun, and it was a great place to meet nice people…’
A couple of days ago a newspaper from Granada contacted recent graduate Pepe Gomez, asking for an interview about his graduation film, The Last King of Grenada. He says ’ It was quite a fun experience, and here is the result, it´s in Spanish, but trust me they say nice things.’ We trust him but you can read it for yourselve here.
Congratulations to current 3rd year Sinead Stoddart (left) seen here sporting her new and rather fetching award from Portsmouth International Film Festival. Her 2nd year film One Too Many won Production Design Award for Animation. One of the film's stars is pictured right and is actually made of colourful wool, the kind of wool we might typically see knitted into a lovely scarf or pair of winter briefs.
Farnham alumnus Liam Harris' new postgraduate film Perched is really starting to get around the festival circuit now and you can hear him chatting about it on Eagle Radio here. The film produced at the NFTS has already picked up Best Animation at this years IOMFF where Liam somehow got to shake one of Mark Kermode's hands! Actual photographic evidence does exist though at a questionable resolution...
We do like to keep up with our recent graduates work and it’s great to see Dann Parry's short RCA film Bound being nominated as Best Student Animation for Shirtpole's London International Film Festival. Multi-award winning Farnham and RCA alumnus Marcus Armitage will be on the jury throwing his opinion about at Encounters Animation Festival this month.
The Sea directed by graduates Elmaz Ekrem and Dominika Ozynska and commisioned by Channel4/Ignition Random Acts finally gets it's first promotional outing as part of the First Acts season of online releases. Great work with an important message that deserves to be seen.
Earlier this month we were super psyched to meet Sam Taylor and Tim McCourt from multi-talented animation studio The Line who came and gave us a hilarious and revealing talk full of energy, fun, fan art and filth. As you can see they arrived in their own bespoke vehicle and carefully crafted street style and attitude.
Michelle Brand’s amazing Journey Never Ends has been selected at 6 festivals so far, two of those include the Aesthetica Short Film Festival and excitingly, the London International Animation Festival too! The other 4 are the Minikino Filmweek in Bali, the Rabbit Heart Poetry Film in Worcester (US), the Festival Internazionale del Cinema d'arte in Italy and the Zebra Poetry Film Festival in Germany. It’s journey indeed continues….
Meanwhile many of our brand new 3rd years films are still out doing the festivals with their splendid 2nd year films! Hattie Crouchers Fruitcake continues beyond its 100th festival screening and Sinead Stoddart gets her film Munchies obscured by even more laurels including the much feared Upstate New York Horror Film Festival.
Good luck to our very own tutor-tech Jessica Ashman shortlisted for Widening The Lens pitching competition at this years Encounters Festival in Bristol - she’ll be pitching her Animate Projects idea and, Farnham fingers crossed, we’ll be hoping for that green light!
One Last Dance - Will Rowson’s recent graduation film will be screening at Manchester Animation Festival this November in the Student Films Panorama. Told from a daughter's perspective the film emotionally explores how it felt as she watched her father slowly forget everything he knew.
We’ve just heard from very happy graduate Stew Powers that after freelancing through the summer he now has a FULL TIME ACTUAL JOB at Livewire Sport - to quote Stew himself ‘It's sport and animation! Literally my perfect job! Thanks for everything, wouldn't have been able to have secured this job without the course’. It's just Stew Powers power...
Nice to see that Pepe Gomez has his graduation film The Last King of Grenada among the September selections for the Ibiza Cineast 2017.
Altea Claveras has her 2nd year film Sleepwalkers out there putting itself about a bit - it will be shown at the 10th Tehran International Animation Festival (TIAF) taking place in March 2017.
Always worth having a look at Remus and Kiki’s work since they graduated last year and became actual directors at Beakus! Have a look at their showreel here for a bit of bonkers character madness.
Law of the Sea
Though nearly everyone is asleep in the sun throughout animation-land at least our own Elmaz Ekrem and Dominika Ozynska’s Channel4/Random Acts film The Law of the Sea will be available to view Wed 17th Aug via Screen South. Meanwhile, here is a picture of something nice until the wind pics up and the chestnut trees start to turn…
Sinéad Stoddart has seen both of her 2nd year films One Too Many and Munchies putting in some mileage on the festival circuit this summer with screenings at Portsmouth International Film Festival, Full Bloom Film Fest, Hot Shorts Film Festival London to name a few. Witness too the scary laurel from the Celluloid Screams selection at Sheffield Horror Film Festival 2016.
Very good to hear that The Last King of Grenada by Pepe Gomez has won it’s first award gaining Best Animation Short Film from Spain at Euro Film Festival Online 2016.
Stew Powers and his ubiquitous Sky High film has now garnered a nomination for Best Animation for Music at Portsmouth International Film Festival. The sky is literally the limit for this film.
Michelle Brand of our soon-to-be 3rd year has been super busy working on an internship for 3 months at HU & Hudson to create educational animation shorts for children. Not only that, she has been commended for her dedication and professionalism in producing all the animation imagery for a company called Videocall as well as working on the short animation film 'Puddle' by Stormhouse Pictures. The above image is from her 2nd year film A Small Voice - because it’s nice. She’s going to need a holiday after this…
Last King
Nice to see that Pepe Gomez’s graduation film The Last King of Grenada has been selected for TMFF - you can read a nice little review of it here
Also great to see Em Langdon-Smith’s 2nd year short film No Place Like Home will be playing at Film Miami Fest.
Here’s a few snaps of Stew Powers getting some more Sky High love this time in the form of Special Mention at Festival De Cannes new talent offshoot, Festival Du Court-Metrage in France.
It’s good to see Sam Palmer’s 2nd year film Flavour of the Month is still melting hearts around the globe - this time at Girona Film Festival where it’s been selected in the official Experimental Section.
Great to hear that Saeho Oh’s graduation film Father and Son has been selected for it’s first festival at the 5th Bangalore Shorts Festival 2016. It then went on to gain a certificate of excellence in the festival.
Even though it’s the summertime and sun is out people are still going to Film Festivals to watch Altea Claveras’ film Sleepwalkers. Now she’s won Best Experimental film at Gold Reel Film Festival and the ‘Fall In Line’ award at Bad Film Fest. The film is also on it’s way to Doc Sunback Film Festival in Kansas.
The red carpet was rolled out once again and the coveted gold effect Farnhamanimation Awards were dished out in a star studded celebration studded with stars. The excellent Jim Le Fevre and Marcus Armitage where our guest award givers from the world of animation and they did it with characteristic aplomb. We could have given awards to everyone for just being them, but there isn't enough gold in Surrey for that. We’re really going to miss this lot. Such a great set of films this year and plenty of proper talent on show. Amazing people to work with over the last few years and to see them put together some genuinely remarkable films is a testament to their creativity, perseverance and cake. Check out the reel here.
So the show is up and it’s looking resplendent in pink and quartz! All our very fine films are available to view in the room and there’s a delicious selection box on the big screen. The cinema is showing all the graduation films in two screenings for a whole week. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you may even gag very slightly. Come along and have your eyes and ears expanded. In a good way.
The big pots of paint are out and the transformation is nearly complete! Barring the entirely wrong grey, evidenced bottom right by tutor Stuart Hilton. Yes, these extraordinary young people with an unstoppable urge to painstakingly make things move a frame at a time are turning into graduates before our very eyes!
Always nice to catch up with long time friend of the course, alumni and multi award winner, Michael Dudok de Wit and it’s great to see his new Studio Ghibli co-produced feature film The Red Turtle has won the Un Certain Regard category award at Cannes no less! Outstanding alumni scoop!
Congratulations to 2nd year student Chloe Peters who knows that Who Nose, her 2nd year short film (see what happened there?) has been selected for the Extremely Short Section of Extremely Short Films (non-competitive) section at the 9th International Animation Festival Fest Anca (29 June - 3 July 2016, Zilina, Slovakia). Not to be sniffed at etc…
And here are some snaps of Ellie, Domi, Gabby, Ollie and Tom(see below for actual names) mingling at the Channel 4 Spring Arts party at the ICA in London. Grayson Perry, Will Self and even the mighty Jon Snow (NOT from GOT!!) all in attendance and all subjected to major mingling mayhem no doubt.
Exciting news that the two films produced by our students for Random Acts this year have been picked up by Channel 4. Elmaz Ekrem and Dominika Ożyńska produced The Sea(pictured right), a poetic documentary about the refugee crisis in Greece while Ollie Pendle, Gabriella Ditton and Tom Willis have made Hiveminds(pictured left), an agitated meditation on the pervasive effects of social media.
Michelle Brand of our extraordinary 2nd year continues to get her film, A Small Voice, travelling the earth for her. Los Angeles CineFest, Barcelona Planet Film Festival and Athens Animfest are now on the growing list. Above is a pic from her latest 2nd year film The Journey Never Stops. Just because.
It’s well worth a late spring 2nd year update as we see Sinead Stoddard’s film One Too Many has reached 17 festivals and counting, Tom Makkinson’s Fandango is being danced at Vafi Festival in Israel, Megan Yaxley has her 13.58 to Falmouth Town traveling way past its stop to NYC Dum-D Festival and Em Langdon-Smith has No Place Like Home selected for Cordoba International Film Fest. Altea Claveras’ Sleepwalkers has yet another festival screening this time at Custom Reels Short Film Awards.
Hats off yet again to Hattie Croucher for her Fruitcake as it wins at CUFF Film Festival! She won Best Sound Design, and was a nominee for best short film. The film has gone on to many more festivals since including Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival, Lisbon International Film Festival, Sydney World Film Festival and TMC London Film Festival.
Our students have been visiting some London animation studios and having a tip top time with the lovely people at The Line, Blue Zoo and Animade. Great to see several ex-Farnham students working at these places including Max Van der Merwe, Francesca Adams and at the helm of the brilliant Animade it’s the one and only Ed Barrett in his magnificent jumper of gold(pictured here in a jumper of gold).
Above is a fine selection of our 2nd and 3rd year students poised to experience the lovely Blue Zoo where they will be allowed to feed the animators and perhaps even pet them.
Hattie Croucher and Sinead Stoddart are off over to the mighty land of Cambridge for the weekend to hopefully land yet another gong, this time at the Cambridge University Film Festival for their 2nd year films Fruitcake(pictured left) and One Too Many(pictured on the other left) respectively. Hattie has been busy gathering various awards for her excellent film and Sinead has her film showing all over the planet too!
Emma Brett-Phare now has her 2nd year film Imprison in the Leeds Young Film Festival and she’s off to see what that northern powerhouse has to offer a young animator. We hear the tea up there is exquisite.
Also, news just in! Yep, It happened! Stu Powers’ Sky High reaches 50 festivals!!! In all likelihood there will have been more added in the time taken to compose these words.
Nice to hear and see that Grace Evetts, currently of our 2nd year, had a recent internship at designers Thornback and Peel where she produced some sweet animated spots for them that are now being using to promote their Easter rabbity designs. Mmmm, Springy....
The 2016 British Animation Awards down at the National Film Theatre last week proved to be a joyous and gongingly fruitful time for Farnham graduates, alumni and associates alike with recent graduate Katie Lenton winning Best Student Film for her graduation film Man Up, Bexie Bush winning the Public Choice award and Dan Chester of the gorgeous Moth Collective who collectively won Best Commissioned Film. Outstanding celebrations demonstrated above by Bexie Bush, Course Leader Lesley Adams and Katie Lenton.
It's prize time again for our ace 2nd Years as both Altea Claveras and Hattie Croucher share Best International Student Experimental Anime Micro Short - or BISEAMS if you're an acronym enthusiast like most of us - at Wendy's Shorts Festival for their films Sleepwalkers and Fruitcake. Em Langdon-Smith also gets in on the act with a win for her film No Place Like Home as does Emma Brett-Phare for Imprison. Time for an extra shelf in the awards cabinet...
Yey! It's the return of the T-Mak! Tom Makinson's 2nd year film Fandango will screen at the Headline International Film Festival along with Hattie Croucher's Fruitcake.
Also, here's a little Remus and Kiki update - they have been busy as new directors at Beakus on Alain De Botton's School of Life project so watch this space for images of that inevitable loveliness.
We're very happy to hear that one of our fairly recent alumni has been busy winning awards too - Lauren Sunderland graduated in 2012 and has been composing music for films amongst other things since then. Her music has won her Best Original Composition: Short Film Score category at the Music and Sound Awards so bend your ears around this.
We haven't heard much news of Stew Powers' 2nd year film Sky High for the last few minutes so with a view to addressing that, we now hear that it has been designated as an Official Jury Selection for the 2016 Delta Moon Student Film Festival, California and will be featured at the main public screening event Friday, March 4th.
Curtain is 7 pm at the Margaret Lesher Theater, Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive,Walnut Creek, CA 94596. We expect you all to be there of course...
Emma Brett-Phare has been getting her 2nd year film Imprison out there and winning things in festival-land picking up this month's Best Student Short at LA CineFest! Her funny little short project called Boing is also showing at Selby International Short Film Festival. Also great to see Emily Whittingham's 2nd year film Straw Man still getting screenings this time at the Global Short Film Awards.
We can now release the excellent news that 5 of our students forming 2 directing teams are in the very closing stages of production on 2 films as part of FUSE Ignition Random Acts in the coming months. Ellie Ekrem and Dominika Ożyńska form one group while the other sees Ollie Pendle and Tom Willis working with Gabriella Ditton.
Channel 4 have the first option to pick up the projects on completion so fingers are crossed for all involved.
Noriko Ishibe, one of our excellent 3rd year students seems to pop up in the news feed quite a bit has revealed that she’s getting well nervous about her Q+A at Cinema Jam in London tonight (Feb 11th) - She reckons her English is ‘a bit mumbly’ but we think her film speaks for itself. Cinema Jam’s associated online magazine Spread will also be interviewing her about the film so keep watching the internet for that.
Since 1995 when she won the much coveted "Under 8's Colouring-In Challenge" at Twickenham Local Library, Harriet Croucher (Hat) had won nothing until this month when her 2nd year film Fruitcake started gathering in the gongs. At barely 1 month old the film has won Best International Student Animated Short at the Texas Ultimate Shorts Film Festival and then gone on to grab Animation of the Month and Documentary of the Month at the 12 Months Film Festival. Time to buy a lotto ticket...
A splendid congratulations is aimed at excellent 2nd year students Emily Langdon-Smith, Dan Corbett, Megan Yaxley, Tom Makinson, Altea Claveras and Sinead Stoddart who all have their films showing at several festivals on the planet already including Texas Ultimate Shorts Film Festival, Los Angeles Cinefest, College Town Film Festival, Roma Cinemadoc, Wendys Shorts Selby International Short Film Festival and several more besides. In our experience, it’s just the beginning of their journey…
Yet more 2nd year success has been visited upon Sinead Stoddart as her film One Too Many is off to New York City and the ANNY: Animation Nights New York - Feb Films screening event. Have a look at that here.
The film was finished in the first few minutes of 2016 and is now in it’s 9th festival - Canterbury University Film Festival in Canterbury of all places.
Congratulations to Michele Brand who’s 2nd year film One Small Voice will play at 140 Character Short Story Festival. It’s worth noting here too that as we go to press Toronto Short Film Festival has requested it.
Excellent to hear that Dann Parry, currently studying at the Royal College of Art has had his Farnham Graduation film Love and Papercuts nominated for the Royal Television Society Southern Award. Regal stuff!
We’re privileged and to be hosting once again the British Animation Awards Public Choice screenings this month. We’re especially excited as this year’s screenings feature work by UCA Farnham award-winning alumni Daniel Greaves, Chris Shepherd, Bexie Bush, Marcus Armitage and Kristian Andrews, tutors, director and composer Robert Bradbrook and Stuart Hilton and perhaps most exciting of all, recent graduates Katie Lenton and Henry Dunbar, who have both been nominated for Best Undergraduate Student Film. It's worth noting that of the total 35 awards nominees no less than 7 have their origins at Farnham. Grab a ticket and get your voting fingers out! Details to follow…
Knockout news for Pepe Gomez as his excellent 2nd year film Knocked Down has won Best Animated Short Film in the Lisbon international film festival, Winter Edition 2015. We’re going to have to invest in a new awards cabinet…
We are very excited about our thrillingly talented current 2nd years who have just launched their joyous first films onto the 2016 festival circuit and are already getting them accepted within days of them being finished. These are films that have only just learned to walk and talk! Hattie Croucher’s Fruitcake(pictured above), Tom Makinson’s Fandango and Altea Claveras’ Sleepwalkers will feature in Festivals as diverse and distant as Belgium Film Festival, Texas Ultimate Shorts and Barcelona Planet Film Festival.
It’s time for another Remus and Kiki update! Yey! So, as the winners of Beakus’ NewD graduate competition last year they’ve produced a lovely spot called Tuft about people with beards, generally blokes, and their one word descriptions of their face hamsters. Feed them carefully here.
We’re proud to see our own award-winning 3rd year Lissea Jordan has popped up in the Farnham Herald sporting her Best Newcomer gong won at Oska Bright Short Film Festival. Now in its seventh year the festival held in Brighton is the only one in the UK run for and by people with learning difficulties.
It’s always great to hear from Pepe Gomez who’s 2nd year films have both been making their way to more festivals; now it’s time for his boxing flick Knocked Down (pictured above) to get down to Portugal for the Lisbon International Film Festival and the Goldensun Short Film Festival sunny Malta. His first film Two Dancers also twerks over to Eppfilms Indie Theatre in Cleveland Ohio.
Also off to Goldensun Festival in Malta is Stew Powers’ 2nd year film Sky High which has now been included in a staggering 40 festivals! We need a Stew-o-meter to keep track of those totals coming in from our glamorous switchboard assistants who man those phones all night long.
It’s happening again!!!! Our current 2nd year’s have just completed an extraordinary collection of great Short Films and the first out of the blocks to get her film into a festival is Altea Claveras with Sleepwalkers which will play at the Delete TV 2016 festival.
Just whilst we’re all in post-seasonal reflective mode, it’s worth a little glimpse of the fantastic life drawings that were produced by our Year 3 Animation BA students over the last few weeks aided by the excellent tuition of the blue be-jacketed Martin Morris aka MAMO.org.uk More to come of this as the 2nd years embark on some of this action…
We are really knocked out to hear that 3 of last years films have been shortlisted for the coveted Best Student Film Award at the 2016 British Animation Awards. Henry Dunbar’s graduation film Pollock and Katie Lenton’s Man Up will play along with Remus Buznea and Kiki Kyriakou’s undergrad film Dateless. Get your voting gloves out people!
A lovely bit of news for Stew 'Super' Powers and his all conquering second year film Sky High as we hear that it has been selected to show at the 4th Mumbai Shorts International Film Festival this December, adding yet another country to his growing list of succesful festival entries. We are seriously going to have to get more stills of this one...
And a massive congratulations to current 3rd year student Lissea Jordan seen here sporting a fab new metal and glass Oska Bright 2016 award for her 2nd year film Pulling The Strings. Start clearing the shelves, the gongs are coming in...
Yes! Sam Palmer’s meltingly wonky 2nd year film Flavour of the Month will be jetting it’s way to the Cans Short Film Festival this month and no doubt she’ll be rubbing shoulders with the glitterati if she can get overself to Luton Library Theatre where it all kicks off. Ices will be available in the foyer - hundreds and thousands will be there.
Get your usual spot on the sofa as Jess Lester’s Couch Potatoes will be right there at the inaugural Manchester Animation Festival this month. Jess’ beautifully observed 2nd year film describes the family dogs’ daily battle for the optimum position from which to watch Gogglebox.
This week we were treated to another absolutely wizard visit from Aardman's superstar stop-motion guru Merlin Crossingham. He gave the students yet more solid gold tips and invaluable insights into getting the most out of their work whether stop-motion, CG, drawn and beyond. While he talked he appeared to be messing about with a small ball of modelling clay which by the end of his presentation had transformed into what can only be described as the small orange legend that is….Morph. Magic.
Here's our poster for Moth Collective's visit last month. Just because.
We’re still buzzing after being treated to a fantastically animated lecture by the multi-talented Jim Le Fevre last week. Jim works across all kinds of animated media from exhibition installations, puzzles, title sequences and commercials to his magical signature phonotropes of all scales. Properly wondrous stuff.
We had a very welcome visit from the beautiful Moth Collective last week which has resulted in a marked increase in inspiration and exciting colour use amongst the students. Coincidentally a series of small holes have appeared in the course cardigan - not sure why that would be...
Have a look at BAFTA nominated Farnham Alumnus and RCA graduate Marcus Armitage chatting about precisely how to become an animator. Marcus’ film My Dad recently won the coveted New Talent Award at Bristol Encounters Festival.
So now Russia plays host to Stu Powers’ 33rd festival inclusion, this time it’s the Zero Plus Festival. Here he is pictured above last week at the Bfi Mini Filmmakers Club showing the kids the magic of markers.
Will Rowson’s film Broken Down will play at London Shows International Film Festival alongside Lissea Jordan's 2nd year film Pulling The Strings (pictured above) that enjoys it's first outing on the festival circuit.
Nice to hear that Broken Down and Celestial Sea both made by Will Rowson in his second year have been selected for Exposure Film Festival in Glasgow and Kinolit Film Festival.
We are very much digging the news that Sabby Surrey’s 2nd year film Dig is off to Eire and the lovely Dublin Animation Film Festival 2015.
Andrew Whittle’s 2nd year films Two Idiots In A Boat and A Lot of Heels (pictured above) have now reached 23 festivals and counting including Future Film Festival 2015, SE10 Film Festival 2015, Student Art Festival 2015, Deep Fried Film Festival 2015, San Antonio Laughs Comedy Film Slam 2015, San Antonio Indie Film Slam, Visionaria, Italy, Standon Calling Festival and beyond….
AND, it’s festival number 30 for Stew Powers and his balloonatic film Sky High - this time it’s in competition at the International Animation Film Festival - Gdansk 2015, Poland. It's still gathering numerous plaudits and festival showings all over the planet including Adelaide Kids Film Festival, Visionaria in Sienna Italy and has also been shortlisted for BKSTS Widescreen, Bradford.
Ellie Ekrem who is now diving into her 3rd year here at UCA Farnham has been busy over the summer assisting our friends at the National Film and Television School on the splendid animated trailer for LIAF 2015. You can see that right here.
Just a quick reminder that Dann Parry and Mitchell Crawford (above) have their box fresh graduation shorts pulled up nice and snug and shown to all grown-ups with tickets this weekend at the Dorking Film Festival. Are you adult enough for this?
We’re feeling alarming levels of excitement building as both of Will Rowson’s 2nd year films, Celestial Sea and Broken Down have been getting very busy on the festival circuit and gathering those nice little laurels all over them. We love laurels. And we love Will.
Well done to recent graduate Alec Sugden currently busy doing his MSc somewhere splendid in the land of Kent. His film Midnight Games is in the New Talent section of Oska Bright Film Festival.
Primanima World Festival of First Animations welcomes ‘Venitas’, Vicky Vaughan’s 2015 graduation film, to the burbs of Budapest this October. As the filmmaker, Vicky gets free digs and as much Gulyás as she can eat! Szeretjük Magyarországon!
After being included in this year’s London Film Festival it’s an official Britsh film fact - Stew Powers’ film Sky High is now listed on the British Council's British Films Online Directory! This alongside doing yet more workshops for the kids based around this very film. He’s a real filmmaker now!
Nice to hear that this Halloween Emily Whittingham’s 2nd year film Spooks will be making its way round the earth to Perth in the downunder of Oz, specifically to Perth’s Northbridge Piazza, an outdoor cinema and exhibition space.
And most excellent to learn that recent graduate Sarah Doyle has herself an internship with Kids Industries. Sarah will be contributing her invaluable porcine animation skills as they develop a new Peppa Pig app.
Great work by Pepe Gomez as his 2nd year film Knocked Down has been travelling and winning things already in various festivals around the world appearing at Kolkata Short International Film Festival on India, iChill Festival in Spain, Wildsound Festival in Toronto. He has also won Best Animation at Short of the Month Online festival.
So if you’re near Dorking in this craziest of Septembers why not pop along and see Dann Parry’s grad film Love and Papercuts at the Dorking Film Festival.
Be sure to take a napkin - it’s a bit of a tear jerker….
Stu Powers just found out that besides his film Sky High making its way to the NIM Festival Nottingham this October he will also entertain and enlighten a group of kids in a workshop presentation about that very film - and who’s paying him? Only the BFI!!! Well done Stu!
Some beautifully illustrated gifts have made it our shores from and by Farnham alumnus and friend of the course Nagisa Kinoshita in Japan. Tutors could clearly barely control the amount of beaming coming off the front, sides and top of their heads...
Noriko Ishibe update! She is very chuffed (and so are we) that her 2nd year 2 film Tea With A Straw has been selected for CutOut Fest's Official Selection-Student film section. Still no sign of cake with a hammer.
We’ve just had great news from recent graduates Callum Harwood and Katie Harris who have their film String Theory showing at its first festival! So get over to Arlington International Film Festival (AIFF) in Massachusetts, America in mid October.
Stu Powers’ powers have clearly increased to the point where he now has engineered an all expenses paid trip to Atlanta Film Festival in the US of Stateside all on the back of his Sky High short film - he will be travelling by balloon.
Good to hear that Anwen Edwards’ raw and provocative graduation film The F-Word has been selected for the 2015 Feminist and Queer International Film Festival taking place in Bucharest, Romania in November. Tell your gran.
More brilliant news for Yasmine Wilson as her excellent grad film Turkish Resistance has been selected for IN.S.A.N.E. Animation Film Festival, Malmö, Sweden, in September 2015 and the legendary KLIK! Animation Film Festival, Amsterdam, in October 2015.
As sunny September brings in the new term here’s some properly major good news! - our very own Kiki Kyriakou who graduated just last year has only gone and won the Beakus NewD 2015 competition to find the best, boldest and bravest animation graduates out there. They found her! The prize includes a paid internship with a view to becoming an ACTUAL BEAKUS DIRECTOR! YES WE’RE SHOUTING!! See her full frontal assault here. As it happens she’s sharing the prize with co-directing partner Remus Buznea who was also shortlisted.
Noriko Ishibe has completed her work with the lovely and splendid Moth Collective and her work can be seen in their Vimeo Staff Pick short film for the New York Times Modern Love column.
And while she’s working Noriko’s film Tea With A Straw continues to travel the world for her and has now ended up in sunny Greece at ANIMASYROS International Animation Festival + Agora in the Student Panorama.
Well done to Dann Parry, freshly ensconced at the RCA has his Farnham graduation film Love and Papercuts in the New Visions segment of the Puppet Place Festival.
Remus and Kiki’s now legendary Dateless film continues to do well and has been popping up in competition at Promofest’s Short of the Year along with appearances at Wallabout Film Festival and Deep Fried Film Festival.
Ever more joy for friendly neighbourhood tutor Andy Joule as his films continue to travel the festival circuit. His 2015 film Salvage was shortlisted in competition at the 3rd Srem International Festival of Documentary, Tourism & Ecology. Serbia and at XXI Cine Eco Environmental Film Festival, Portugal.
Ok so now we really have lost count of how many festivals Stu Powers’ Sky High short film has travelled to
but it really is over 20 now! - this time it’s the 22nd Edition of FICMA in Barcelona and even as I type he just WON A PRIZE which means his film will be shown on the opening night at Atlanta Film Festival!!
Oh go on then a bit more Stu Powers update since the last few minutes - Sky High will now be part of the Official Selection of the 59th London Film Festival!! Seems like a thing.
Our beloved and busy second year student Andrew Whittle(pictured abaove) is getting a good rep with Slurpy Studios where he is currently working, experiencing what he describes as work experience - 2 thumbs up were sent to us to indicate Slurpy's approval. Hopefully they were not his actual thumbs. We have been assured that the above picture is apparently not him after all so please recall the dogs.
Excellent news and congrats to recent graduate George Judd who has won himself a 6 month placement as Animation Trainee at Content Creatures in Surrey's pulsating Leatherhead on the back of a good range skills shown in his graduate work.
Wussywat the Clumsy Cat, the new kids series brought to us by the mighty Baby Cow Productions, now features Shelley Nichols on the credits! Shelley graduated in 2013 and has been working steadily in the engine room ever since.
Current second year Jose Gomez has had the knockout news that his film Knocked Down has been selected for the 4th Kolkata Shorts International Film Festival - and this is just round 1!
Joy of Reading by James Chapman also of our current 2nd year has won honourable mention in the micro film category at Top Shorts Online Film Festival 2015.
Just when you thought Detroit couldn’t get any more scary their Troma Dance Film Festival will be showing Spooks by 2nd year student Emily Whittingham and it’s not even Halloween! Also, The Straw Man, her second 2nd year film (2nd!) has been accepted into Horrible Imaginings Film Festival in San Diego!
Well done to 2nd year student Noriko Ishibe who has had her delightful first film Stolen Shoes(pictured) included in the British Animation Festival. Meanwhile she continues her exciting work at Moth Collective through the summer whilst her latest film Tea With A Straw has been included in the 9th Edition of the River Film Festival in Padova, Italy.
The 2015 Guildford Fringe Festival features the excellent recent graduation films Love and Papercuts by
Dann Parry and Beams by Mitchell Crawford(pictured above).
A big Tebrikler! to Yasemin Wilson for having her film Turkish Resistance selected for 3 festivals already since she graduated just now!! The Biennial Edition of CinéWomen, Doc Sunback Film Festival and IndiEarth Animation Festival will all be showing this little treasure of a film.
Stu Powers has been recently spotted introducing his 2nd year film Sky High at Animafest Zagreb! That’ll be him on the right of the picture enjoying his lanyard - keep an eye out for him at a festival near you…
The Big Art Show takes place this July at the West Mid Showground in Shrewsbury and features a great selection of work from our students. You can find more info about it here.
We’re very proud to hear that 2015 graduate Alec Sugden has his 2nd year short film Midnight Games included in the Oska Bright Film Festival, the 6th International Festival of short films and digital media by people with a learning disability.
Whilst poised to start his MA at the RCA, brand new graduate Dann Parry has found his film Love and Papercuts in the lineup on The Shortest Nights as part of the Short Sighted Cinema UK Summer Tour. The film has some innovative self-help tips for those struggling with an unbearable yearning for love.
Well done to Sam Palmer and Sabby Surrey who have had their 2nd year films Flavour of the Month (left) and Dig (bottom right) selected for the Biennial Edition of CinéWomen 2015 along with Anwen Edwards and her recent graduation film The F Word. Previous publications can be viewed here.
A big hooray is aimed at Emily Whittingham who’s 2nd year film The Straw Man has emerged from a haunting fog to now be selected for its first festival: Doc Sunback Film Festival in Kansas.
The year 2 students have made some really excellent work this year and you can view their 2015 Year 2 Showreel here.
Ellie Ekrem is off to Italy to see her 2nd year film Arms Of The Sea at River Festival in Padua, just round the corner from Venice. She could even consider nipping round another big corner to Ruma in Serbia where it also has been selected for the Mister Vorky festival of 1 minute films.
Congratulations to William Oh who has his 2nd year film about OCD included in the Bangalore Shorts Film Festival in India.
Both of Will Rowson's 2nd year films Broken Down and Celestial Sea (pictured) were included in the Comical Festival which was held at the FirstSite Gallery in Colchester in May 2015.
Glittering prizes everywhere were again in evidence at our annual prize-giving ceremony on private view night. 10 students were awarded the much-coveted, artisanal, gold-style trinkets and additional bubbles for their skills in a range of categories and now including the brand new ‘Good Egg’ award. You can get an overview of the 3rd year work on the 2015 Graduate Showeel.
Congratulations to our utterly lovely and talented graduates this year! The whole team wish them the very best of luck in their future endevours. Nice to see course leader Lesley Adams in a character defining sweatshirt (centre left) bought for her by those very splendid students.
So all that painting and gluing and printing and cleaning has resulted in a brilliant graduation show this year. Great examples of 2D and 3D work were shown along with splendid displays of the huge range of animation techniques used by our students.
She didn’t know until just now but 2nd year student Hannah Brown had her short film Squeak! included at the Athens ANIMFEST. This year the festival showed many films from UCA Farnham’s excellent 2nd year output.
He's missed a bit.
People get ready! Yes it’s paint and hammers and all things pointy and painty in the wonderful business we call ‘show’. The 3rd years here pictured can be seen wielding assorted DIY items to help bring the studio to life. Course Leader Lesley Adams prepares herself mentally.
So Sam Palmer’s sweet and melty Flavour of the Month has fittingly been awarded Best Experimental Short at SE10 Festival over in Greenwich. There’s probably a joke about foyers and intervals and ice creams but it’s late and the freezer is empty.
Great news for Emily Whittingham too! - her 2nd Year short film Squabblin’ Spooks got into ANIMAZE the Montreal International Animation Festival 2015.
Noriko Ishibe is almost as happy as we are to see her latest 2nd year film, Stolen Shoes (pictured) has been selected for the ANIMASIVO official selection in Mexico. Have a look around the festival here. Noriko’s film is in the 'UNIVERSITARIO INTERNACIONAL’ section. To cap a great month for her it looks like she’ll be busy with Moth Collective again this summer.
Not only has 2nd year student Andrew Whittle been getting his films into nigh on 20 festivals so far, he has also started to monetise the acheivement as he has now won the Filmmakers Choice Award and $200 prize at Toronto Student Film Festival.
Our Camelot by 2nd year team Ollie Pendle and Tom Willis has been chosen to be part of the official selection for Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation - starting with San Diego Comicon. Their film features the sonorous voice of David Cann in fine form. Quite a coup to catch Cann...
Will Rowson has both of his 2nd tear films Broken Down and Celestial Sea cued up ready to play on TV in the US as part of Novella Showcase. Will also has himself a summer job lined up at Animation Software developers IKinema along with fellow 2nd year student Atbin Ebrahimpour. Above we picture an image from a short ident he made a few months ago.
Sabby Surrey has recently heard the splendid news that her 2nd year film Dig will play at River Film Festival in the US along with several other of our students work.
Nice to see God Sent Bees... by 2014 graduate Simon Davies making it into the InHouse Festival in London this month. Save the Bees people!
2nd year student Stu Powers, as predicted and celebrated, has his film in yet another festival, now it’s the International Eurofilm Festival. Intercontinental!
Ellie Ekrem, currently poised on the cusp of 3rd year, admits to being 'very excited’ (with happy face emoticon) about getting her film Arms of the Sea (pictured) into the Student Art Festival, Orlando Florida. Will Rowson’s film Broken Down also got in there.
Nice to hear news from Matt Brookes one of our 2013 graduates who will be starting an MA in Digital Design at De Montford University.
Spanish dog bloggers seem to have taken a shine to 1st year student Megan Yaxley’s post of her group short film Harley and Isla. Have a look here at that. Woof!
Very proud to hear that our very own Dann Parry, currently finishing his Graduation film Love and Papercuts(pictured), has got himself a place on the world renowned MA Animation course at the RCA. Well done to Dann(not pictured above) and an exactly similar well done! goes to Jennifer Haugan who graduated from here in 2013 and will join Dann over there in Battersea.
Super good news for Holly Brookman and her delightfully refreshing 2nd year short film Tea which will show at the 9th Edition of the River Film Festival in Padova, Italy June 2015. Maybe it’s time to open a packet of digestives. Or Hobnobs(other all-butter, oaty tea-snacks are available).
And a big, scary, congratulations kind of noise is aimed squarely at Emily Whittingham who now has her 2nd year film Squabbling’ Spooks showing at Animaze - Montreal International Animation Festival 2015.
Stu Powers’ short film Sky High has featured heavily in our news section of late and things are set to continue this way as his film will now play at the excellent Animafest Zagreb 2015 - World Festival of Animated Film. He’ll be on his way to beautiful Croatia to gain experience of introducing his film to a live audience in the Films For Children Competition program. Good luck to Stu!
We like to catch up with Bexie Bush once of this parish who’s NFTS graduation film Make Do And Mend this week won prizes at 2 festivals, Paris ECU Festival and the Oscar-qualifying Aspen Shortsfest 2015. Splendid work.
So we’re back after an egg-shaped period of time, the sun is vaguely having a go and the blossom is littering the pavements with dangerous pink slime. Hooray! First up is a snap of of our super keen 2nd and 3rd years who have been out and about being nice to people at various animation studios and post production houses in London. Here they are playing nicely outside Soho’s famous Framestore. There are those who say there is too much coffee in Soho - Atbin (front.centre) in no way agrees.
Good to hear that Man Up by recent graduate Katie Lenton continues to travel the world as indeed does she at the moment. After her RTS nomination and excellent work with the NFTS she now has her film in one of the most famous animation festivals of all - Animafest Zagreb 2015.
Visiting lecturer and alumnus Jonathan Topf recently warned us that this might happen and it really did! He’s over there on the right with a fake hand and wearing DJ AND BOWTIE after receiving a BAFTA as part of the now legendary UsTwo team that brought the world the gorgeous and mesmerising mobile game Monument Valley.
Crazy splendid news from the lovely people at Athens Animfest 2015 who have selected no less than 16 films from amongst our current 2nd years, 3rd years and last year’s graduates. Well done and good luck as they’re all in competition in the Student Film category!
And whilst we’re talking competitions why not pop over to here http://www.viewster.com/movie/1293-19361-000/two-dancers/ where Jose Gomez’s short film Two Dancers is twerking it out at the Viewster Online Film Festival. It’s a voting thing so get your special thumb out!
Great to see that Remus and Kiki’s Dateless got 2nd place at Boomtown Film Festival in the Student category https://www.facebook.com/boomtownfestival . The film has been travelling about a lot and was recently seen at the Animex Awards along with several of our student’s films. Scroll down for more on this March news...
Our very own sessional lecturer and alumnus Rebecca Manley has published an excellent and illuminating article via Directors UK entitled ‘What Is An Animation Director?’ You can read it here http://www.directors.uk.com/about-us/news/what-animation-director
There's more Holland Animation Film Festival 2015 fun for 3 more of our 2nd years as Noriko Ishibe, Jwala Adhikari, Jose Gomez and Louie Batten(pictured) have their films featured amongst a shortlist of 50 in the HAFFtube selection online, the best of which gets to be a guest of the festival! You can see them here: https://www.youtube.com/user/HAFFTube.
There’s a daft amount of good news flying about at the moment mostly in the 2nd year world but now we have some superb extra special news that 2 graduates and 2 current third years have their films in the official selection at Holland Animation Film Festival 2015. Shelley Nichols' provocative Dirty Minds and Jazzy Ive’s mysterious Barometz will play alongside Mitchell Crawford’s and Naomi Cant’s 2nd year films Club Drunk and Karolina respectively. Prachtig!
Well done to Sabbryanne Surrey has her 2nd year short film Dig included in the Three Cities Festival in the US along with Sam Palmer’s Flavour of the Month.
It’s worth noting that Stu Powers’ short film Sky High has now got into a stratospheric 6 film festivals and most likely counting….ping! there goes my inbox again and yep, Stew’s film is now in the IAFF "Golden Kuker-Sofia” 2015 in Bulgaria. Keep watching the skies etc.....
And just because we’re so proud of them and also because we dressed up nicely here’s a few more RTS evening snaps - note Remus’ scary glass mask that he now insists upon wearing. Their award-winning film Dateless continues to thrive on the festival circuit and is now in competition at The 19th Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival 2015 (SICAF2015)
Yes!! Back of the net! Remus and Kiki win the RTS award with their now seminal short film Dateless. The crowd loved it and the magnanimous nominees graciously agreed that it was the worthy winner. A splendid evening was had.
So off we went with Remus Buznea and Kiki Kyriakou (young people) to the Royal Television Awards with fingers crossed and no selfie stick! Nominated for the Best Student Animation award with their film Dateless the air crackled with anticipation. Would they win it? Could they win it?
We are very excited to welcome the very splendid actor David Cann into one of our lovely sound booths for a voice over session with Ollie Pendle(left) and Tom Willis(other left), a directing duo from our current 2nd year. Ollie battled face-biting spiders to even get here whilst co-director Tom treated David to fresh tea in a bid to offset frightening tales of potential arachnid attacks in the Surrey area.
We are super delighted to hear that our very own Dan Parry currently working on his final film has got himself an interview at the RCA to study for an MA in Animation. Fingers are crossed and arms are folded nicely. The above still is from the rushes for his current project Love and Papercuts which features origami of an adult nature. Jennifer Haugan who graduated in 2013 also has herself an interview so good luck to them both!
Here is current 2nd year student Noriko Ishibe (in a scarf) pictured alongside Farnham alumnus Marcus Armitage at the BAFTA awards last month. Noriko was an assistant animator on Marcus’ BAFTA nominated film My Dad.
Whilst the Year 3 students are deep into production of their Final Films the 2nd year students continue to do outstandingly well with their Short Films. Animex International Festival of Animation and Computer Games has shown Stu Powers’ Sky High and Sam Palmer’s Flavour of the Month.
Noriko Ishibe (pictured) and Jose Gomez both have their 2nd year short films included in the Viewster Online Film Fest. That festival lives in space just about here https://filmfreeway.com/festival/VOFF
Screetest: The National Student Film Festival has accepted a fabulous collection of films from our 2nd Years including Another Drink Please by Jess Lester along with Sam Palmer’s Flavour of the Month, Alex Bass’ Butterflies (above) and Emily Whittingham’s Squabbling’ Spooks. http://www.screentestfest.org.uk/
Well done to Ellie Ekrem who has her 2nd year film journeying it’s way over to Padua in Italy very soon as part of the River Film Festival whilst Stu Powers has his film Sky High floating over to the 2015 Chester International Film Festival where it features in the Animation Showcase taking place in, of all places, Chester. http://www.festival.chesterfilmfans.co.uk/?page_id=227
We also hear tell of excellent recent graduate Shelley Nichols doing a talk as part of Animation Day, part of the 8th BFI Future Film Festival 2015.
Remus Buznea and Kiki Kyriakou are fast developing legendary status here at Animation HQ and as if it’s not enough to be nominated for an RTS award, they now find themselves featured in the Farnham Herald! Papp them now whilst they’re still within touching distance…
Senior lecturer Andy Joule has won a prize at St.Andrew’s Green Film Festival in Scotland with his latest film Salvage. The film features in the online photography magazine Zone Zero along with another of his short films ‘ellipsis’. Go here to see http://zonezero.com/temporality/250-andy-joules-projects
We’ve just had the most amazing lecture from the very fabulous and generous legend of a man that is Pete Saunders of puppet master builders Mackinnon & Saunders. He brought in some of the most exquisite stop motion puppets from numerous legendary animated films and let us all play with them! See!
Our year 2 students this year have absolutely knocked it out of the park as they say with a third of the year group getting their splendid short films into various festivals around the world. Andrew Whittle (monkey with hat) actually managed to get his films into 9 festivals! And counting….
And here they are, those fabulous year 2 people who got their films into all those festivals - Jose Gomez, Alex Bass, Stew Powers, Andrew Whittle(no hat), Ellie Ekrem, Noriko Ishibe, Jess Lester, Sam Palmer and Emily Whittingham.
Well done to year 2 student Sam Palmer who will make her festival debut with a deliciously melty short film called Flavour of the Month. Her film is showing at Animex International 2015 in Feb, at the Three Cities Festival in the US and now hot off the internet NoworNever International Film Festival in sunny Gran Canaria, Spain.
Mitchell Crawford has his excellent 2nd year film Club Drunk featured as a 'Short of the Month’ at the eponymous website here http://www.shortofthemonth.com/film/club-drunk/ while it also features at AVIFF Art Film Festival in Cannes.
Farnham alumni Sharon Lui and Veselina Dashinova both contributed animation to a feature documentary screened on BBC4 last week called Kiss The Water - The Art of Fly Fishing.
News just in! Table Manners, the excellent puppet film directed by our own sessional lecturer and alumnus Rebecca Manley has been voted Video of the Day on the VOTD.tv website.
Scatterbrain by Chris MacFarlane continues to bounce about the festival circuit in new and interesting ways. And now he’s won a prize with a re-edited version at Stuttgart Filmwinter Festival 2015. Chris’ maverick work took a while to find an audience but his hilariously wonky vision now tantalises festival goers all over the Eurozone in places such as London, Barcelona, Kosovo and at least 3 festivals in Germany.
If you find yourself dreaming of summertime in Shrewsbury during these damp and snowy days why not make that dream an inch closer to reality by noting that a selection of our student’s films will feature at the Big Art Show in that very town. Summer is coming...
Ok, so now we’re getting absurdly excited as Dateless by Remus Buznea and Kiki Kyriakou and Man Up by Katie Lenton have both been nominated for the coveted Royal Television Society award. Get the frocks and suits out people!
Marcus Armitage who graduated in 2012 continues to do really well in his post Farnham career as he has now been nominated for a BAFTA award for his film My Dad.
Great to see that current third year students Shashi Kahlon and Callum Harwood have proved themselves to be very employable as they have been working together on a project with the producers of ITV’s This Morning. We hear it’s something to do with baking a CG cake whatever that might be...
We are very proud to learn that 3 short films produced right here at UCA Farnham have been bought for the nation by the BFI. Britain and Betty, both by Bexie Bush and Dinner Is Served by Shelley Nichols were made right here in the years we came to know affectionately as 2011 and 2014.
Our own Andy Joule is in the Farnham Herald again this time for all the right reasons as his film Four and Five scoops an award at the inaugural Without Words Film Festival in France.
Well Christmas is utterly concluded and we're all back at the coalface with tiny hammers and feeling feverish. However it seems like another Christmas has come early as the mighty Smith & Foulkes from Nexus Productions visit us this Friday 16th with tales of endeavour and fortitude on the fearsome and beguiling pack-ice that is animation. Wrap up warm!
A big and scary well done to current 2nd year student Emily Whittingham(pictured left) who has already started getting her work out there and has had her first short film, all about local spooks, accepted in KisaKes Short Film Festival, Istanbul. She also wins the now coveted bottle of 'Champagne de Stoke’ - you may know this popular celebration drink as just fizzy ‘pop’ but in some quarters it’s regarded as so much more...
Andrew Whittle of our current 2nd year has been busy again working for ITV on yet another project for This Morning whilst his short film is off travelling the world of animation festivals such as Montevideo in Uruguay and Festival International de Cine Pobre in Cuba and even getting on the last remaining TV in Michigan!
Stu Powers too has his short film included in the Spike and Mike Festival of Animation which tours the US in all weathers throughout this year that everyone is already calling 2015! Welcome!
As a special treat this Christmas why not try to enjoy this imported seasonal rarity from the Farnham Animation yuletide celebration harmony team. Here's wishing widespread peace upon your particular planet.
Massive congrats to our alumnus chum Marcus Armitage who has just won Best British Film at the London International Film Festival for his RCA film My Dad. It will also feature at the London Short Film Festival in January Go here for more info http://www.liaf.org.uk/2014/11/liaf-2014-and-the-winner-is/
More congratulations go to alumnus and friend of the course Bexie Bush whose NFTS grad film just keeps winning stuff from Palm Springs to Puchon and now to Croydon.
Andy Joule of this parish continues to collect silverware for his big cupboard as he has now received a Jury 2nd Prize at the Without Words Film Festival in France for his experimental short film 'four & five’.
We’ve been seeing some fantastic life drawing from our students under the excellent tuition of the man in the blue jacket, Martin Morris. Once again, people that thought they couldn’t really draw producing some memorably gorgeous work.
We had the absolute privilege of hosting stop motion bona fide legend Barry Purves for this month’s lecture and it was packed with solid gold goodness. Inspirational passion and deep knowledge of the subject expertly spun together into a lecture that was over too soon.
Exciting times afoot for current 3rd year student Dann Parry who’s 2nd year film A Boy and his Monster has been sought out to feature in the Freakatorium event at the 2014 Greenhorn Short Film Festival taking place in London this month.
Congratulations to 2012 graduate Joanna Brooks who is now off to Bristol for 3 months as she has gained a coveted place on Aardman/NFTS’s excellent Character Animation course.
Further congrats to another 2012er Matt Brooks who’s film SPD&Me will play at this year's Young Cuts Film Festival in Montreal, Canada.
Remus Buznea and Kiki Kyriakou’s outstanding 2nd year film Dateless continues to garner praise and festival action this time in LA with the return of Animation Libation’s International Short Film Festival and also at the regular Cinefamily Animation Breakdown event. http://www.cinefamily.org/films/animation-breakdown/
And with a salty tear in our collective eye we bid a fond farewell for now to the mighty Will Bishop-Stevens, stop-motion glowing angel(pictured) and actual filmmaker type tutor tech who has himself a properly big job in London to get a grip of. Good luck to you sir!
We had an absolutely superb talk from recent NFTS graduates and Farnham alumni Bexie Bush and Rebecca Archer last month and we just found the photos lurking in a camera! Great visit. Great people.
Now is the time to come and visit our course here at UCA Farnham. Follow the link below and and book your place on one of our Autumn Open Days. These are informal events where you can find out everything you need to know about studying with us or any course at UCA. Our Open Days run on the following dates:
Wednesday 29 October 2014
Saturday 15 November 2014
Wednesday 3 December 2014
Click here to book your visit http://www.ucreative.ac.uk/opendays See you soon! #UCAopendays
We are absurdly excited to be hosting stop-motion animation legend Barry Purves for our next Animation Keynote Lecture. Barry has won over sixty major international awards, including Grand Prix, Best Director, Best Film, and OSCAR and BAFTA nominations.
Sessional lecturer Robert Bradbrook has his gorgeous new film Dead Air premier at the London Film Festival this month. All the music for the film was composed by our very own Stuart Hilton, senior lecturer of this parish - this time with his music hat on. And trousers.
We had the distinct pleasure of hosting award winning NFTS and Farnham alumni Rebecca Archer and Bexie Bush as our first animation keynote lecturers of the season. Their funny and illuminating tales of directing and animating both together and individually were a joyous and invaluable insight.
Big congratulations to Bexie Bush on winning a Silver Medal at Manhattan Short 2014 - add to the growing list of world-wide awards and nominations for her utterly beautiful and moving NFTS film Mend and Make Do.
Excellent to learn that Laughing Policeman by Marcus Armitage has been bought by the BFI on behalf of the nation! Marcus graduated from UCA Farnham with this film in 2012 and then went on to study at the RCA.
One of the course team’s big favourite films of recent years is Scatterbrain from the maverick talent that is Chris MacFarlane. It’s a rarely screened gem but it is showing at Witney Film Festival this month. If you’re going there it’s very near a place called Ducklington. It’ll be worth the trip.
Katie Lenton who graduated last year with her excellent mixed media film Man Up is keeping busy making short films of her own whilst becoming an invaluable all round animator, puppeteer and set builder on one of this years NFTS productions. She’s in there waving from an unusually tiny room.
And in a regular item catching up with how our recent graduates are faring out there it's good to hear that 2014 graduate Laurence Vincent is making his way as an After Effects animator and compositor in London whilst over in Bristol, Aardman have taken on 2012 graduate Joanna Brooks who got a place on their Aardman/NFTS Character Animation course.
Also good to hear that Jennifer Haugan’s film Orpheus continues to travel the world having recently been to 12th Mumia Festival in Brazil, Conway Film Fest in Arkansas, USA and shortly back home to Underwire Film Festival.
Congratulations to our 2014 graduates Henry Dunbar, Will Davies(film still above), Billy Lubach, Katie Lenton and Harry Peters, Ollie Cole and Luke Howell all of whom have work featuring in the Make Believe exhibition at the James Hockey Gallery right here in Farnham. The exhibition showcases the excellent work produced by our graduates in 2014 and runs from 15th Sept - 17th Oct.
Let's raise a glass to Mitchel Crawford who's excellent and frankly woozy film Club Drunk will participate in the international student competition of the 9th ANI'MEST International Animation Film Festival in Bucharest, Romania in October. Go here for more info on that. www.animest.ro.
With a coveted Vimeo 'Staff Pick' under their collective belt already Remus Buznea and Kiki Kyriakou's 2nd year film Dateless is now up on CartoonBrew TV and there's a nice article about them here: http://www.cartoonbrew.com/brewtv/dateless-102668.html
Remus and Kiki's outstanding 2nd year film Dateless continues to do well and can be seen in competition for the audience award at this year's Anim'est International Animation Festival in Bucharest, Romania this October.
A fluffy Farnham hug goes to Dan Parry who's 2nd year film The Boy and his Monster will feature in the 'Fear and Loathing' screening at the 20th Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival in Bristol. God Sent Bees... by Simon Davies and Dinner is Served by Shelley Nichols will also play in the 'Pleasure and Pain' screening. Ointments, condiments, gravy, liniments and balms are optional.
It's nice to hear from one of our Maltese friends, Joseph Caruana who graduated in 2011 with his excellent short film The New and The Other and is now main Visual Creative at Stickee, a European digital creative agency with it's HQ now in Malta.
Our very own Andy Joule continues to produce work that is very busy on the festival circuit - His experimental film work continues to travel the world stopping off in film festivals from Hungary, Greece and Russia to Mexico and Argentina. His music video for 'Me Fish Bring' by William D. Drake has been selected for screening at the Festival Internacional Del Cortometraje FIC 2014 in Buenos Aires this September and features the fine animated work of two UCA Farnham graduates Rebecca Barbuscia and Nikki Valid. The video features the pixillated faces of the band as well as a timelapsed still-life of decomposing mackerel - a shot that took 10 days to film - in the height of summer. Challenging pungency. Andy is almost completely recovered but the set is still aflame to this day.
And just look at this feast of lovely graduates! Our deeply splendid 3rd years pictured at the Royal Festival Hall saying farewell to their student years and hello to being people with an actual BA(Hons) after their names. Nick Ives pictured bottom right has NEVER looked like this before. Fascinating. Yey!
Brilliantly, Dateless, the excellent 2nd year film by Remus Buznea and Kiki Kyriakou has been selected for the CartoonBrew 5th Student Animation Festival showing this July. Well done to them as this is a very difficult festival to be selected for and the standard is very high indeed as you can see right here: http://www.cartoonbrew.com/student/official-selections-for-our-5th-stude...
Pollock by Henry Dunbar, Dateless by Remus Buznea and Kiki Kyriakou, Moth Trouble(pictured) by Billy Lubach and Man Up by Katie Lenton will all feature at Fresh from Farnham at the Guildford Fringe festival in July. Well done to these students who also feature on this years DVD of selected work from Farnham Animation.
We do like to keep up to date with our students’ developing careers and we’re happy to see that Joel Air, graduate from 2011 has recently completed his Masters degree in character animation and now works at Framestore in London.
More good news of recent graduates as Erika Moutinho - after 3 months work experience as an assistant editor on the BBC's Musketeers series she is now working at a post-production house called Molinare in Soho as a trainee edit assistant on a new HBO show called Strike Back.
Jazzy Ive got into the top ten with her entry for the Global Animation Contest with Animation Libation Studios. The sting she made can be seen here.
http://www.animationlibationstudios.com/#!showcase/c1b6f
Our Animation BA Degree Show looks really amazing this year and it has a great sense of what this course is really about. There's still time to come and sample the showreels, see the films and get a glimpse of even more beautiful, funny and fascinating behind the scenes material in their static show.
Glittering prizes and much merriment was again evident at our annual, dazzlingly ultra-slick USCARS(sic) ceremony on private view night where students are awarded the coveted golden effect gongs for skills displayed in a range of categories. Congratulations to all our frankly lovely and talented graduates this year! We wish them the very best of luck in their future endevours.
Congratulations and celebrations are close now as the 3rd years prepare to graduate. The students have spilled sweat, tears, blood and paint to put up their stunning looking degree show this week. It's a fine thing to behold and features a typically exciting range of diverse approaches to this lovable medium. Come one and all and feast upon the many flavoured beast that is Farnham Animation!
As a little teaser before the show here is a link to the 2014 Graduate Showreel. http://farnhamanimation.com/page/showreels/2014graduateshowreel Well done to all this years graduates!
You can also see a selection of work from our 2nd years here: http://farnhamanimation.com/page/showreels/2014-2ndyear-showreel
The legendary Animafest Festival in Zagreb this year features a retrospective of key animation works from the Royal College of Art including Pendulum, a hypnotic cameraless mantra film made by Senior Lecturer Stuart Hilton of this parish.
Also of this parish, Andy Joule has his recent film showing at the 10th Festival Miden, Kalamata in Greece July 2014.
Morgan Twiston-Davies' second year film Mop Loves Bucket will be showing in Les Nuits Coquines competition at Cinema le Festival in Bègles, France. Thrillingly described as a Sexy Animated Film Festival, Morgan's dirty little film should slip in nicely etc...
A little something we missed - Film Club director and Farnham alumni Yui Hamagashira was part of the team that won the Best Commercial at this year's BAA's. Yui brought her bold and distinctive style to the design of the ad for the charity Mindful.org
Will Bishop-Stephens' new film Two Films About Loneliness is starting to get busy at festivals and has earned him special mention at the excellent Oberhausen Short Film Festival this month. Will lives in the very core of the stop-motion studios here at Farnham just along from the sound studios where our own Joe Sudlow produced the sound.
Well done to current 2nd year students Victoria Vaughan and Yasemin Wilson who have had their films selected for the Anca in Wonderland section of the 7th International Animation Festival, Žilina, Slovakia in June. Yasemin's film How To Cut An Avocado (pictured) is a helpful instructional film about strategies for guarding against the all too common occurrence of kitchen bloodbaths.
DOTYK (pictured) by Rebecca Barbuscia, Nicky Valid, Kamil Kopys and Subaru Yamazaki continues do well in festivals receiving Special Mention at Animfest, Athens. Amazingly, in 2014 alone, 37 of our students from both 2nd and 3rd year have had films selected for screening at eight film Festivals including Animafest Athens, Melbourne International Animation Festival. Holland Animation Festival and London Short Film Festival. Well done to all!!
Cells Happen (pictured) by Shelley Nicholls and Shaker by Billy Lubach, both current third years have had their excellent 2nd year films included in competition at the Melbourne International Animation Festival. Outstanding work by both! Recent graduate Lukas Hawes also has his excellent film Tion showing too.
More festival madness as recent graduate Matt Brookes has his film SPD and Me included in the West Virginia Mountaineer Short Film Festival 2014! His film has no mountains or even mountaineering equipment in it but that's not held it back in this instance.
Beloved animation team member Will Bishop-Stephens has just released his new film Two Films About Loneliness co-directed with Christopher Eales. Will has created a stop motion split screen film about the search for companionship and acceptance in the age of the wonderful Internet. Excellent comic Tim Key voices one of the characters.
Fab news for current first year Andrew Whittle as he was selected by producers at ITV's This Morning to work his animation magic on a segment of the show called Movie Mansions. They've come back for even more pixie dust from tv's own Mr. Whittle. Stay tuned.
Veselina Dashinova, alumnus and visiting lecturer has been busy working on a film for a Belgian theatre company 4hoog. It's a stop motion film for kids shot on location in Ghent and uses gorgeous analogue effects with lighting and dry ice.
Most excellent to hear that current 3rd year student Craig Dolan has managed to win himself a proper, paid internship at MTV Europe for a whole year! Competition was intense for this post and there are those that say he had to beat off stiff competition to get there - we think it more likely they just found his brand of maverick inventiveness and willingness to learn nigh on irresistible.
A large and special well done goes to Luke Howell, currently still in his 3rd Year, who has already secured a job with Ikinema, specialists in developing cutting edge software for Maya users.
We are sending our most fabulous congratulations of all to Farnham alumni Bexie Bush and Rebecca Archer who both graduated from The NFTS last week with 2 superb and beautiful films. We are so proud of these two excellent and superb women who will surely go on to great things. Pop! Pop! Fizzzzz.....
Extra congratulations go to Bexie on her very special award for Best Student at the NFTS. Here she is receiving her reportedly substantial award stood alongside the extraordinary legend that is Ken Loach!!!! That's KEN LOACH people! And BEXIE BUSH! Remember those names...
Nice to see alumnus Grace Suarez up on stage at the NFT as part of the crew of the beautifully crafted NFTS graduation film Port Nasty by Robert Zywietz.
As the relative warmth of March tenderly squeezes more joy into our brains we celebrate alumnus success at the 2014 BAA's as Tony 'No beard' Farquhar-Smith wins the professional Sting award. We also note with pride that one of the awards this year has been created by our very own alumnus and visiting tutor Rebecca Manley.
Undergraduates Jwala Adhikari and Jazzy Ive have both had films included in the Official Selection at the Holland Animation Film Festival 2014: competition for European student films. Jwala is currently in 2nd year and Jazzy in her final year of study and the films are Mobile and Dead Meat (pictured above) respectively.
A still from Jwala Adhikari's 2nd year film Mobile which has been selected for the Holland Animation Film Festival 2014.
Big congratulations to recent student David Woof as his bi-eponymous 2nd year film Woof Woof was screened at the Très Court International Film Festival in France, the film was then bought by the festival with the aim of showing it in schools throughout France!
In more French news recent graduate Liam Harris who is now studying at the NFTS was invited to the 31st Annual Environmental Film Festival in France along with his 2nd year film Fourth Assessment Report (pictured). Yep, it's Harris in Paris! http://fife-english.iledefrance.fr/all-selection/fourth-assessment-report
As promised, super hot internet sensation Cyriak Harris was prized from the very deep countryside of a cab ride away to the slightly less deep countryside of the big lecture theatre to illustrate in very hilarious diagram form the inside of his mind in relation to the outside of it and showed us some of the miraculous animated constructions he's produced whilst using that very same mind. Also fingers. And cows.
This month as part of our keynote animation lecture series we have had some truly superb visitors who have shared with us some priceless insights and experiences from the strange world of animating things. Darren Walsh frightened and amused with his Angry Kid masks, blue rabbits, meerkats and a big sausage. Spicy.
February was very special as we were once again host to a series of 3 screenings of the 2014 British Animation Awards. An amazing range of excellent and innovative work was seen in the packed theatre and audiences had the opportunity to vote for their favourite work using the power of people with paper and pencils.
The students LOVE cartoons...
It's hard enough getting films into festivals when you're a graduate but current students Shelley Nichols from 3rd year and Remus Buznea and Naomi Cant from 2nd year are already in competition at the St.Albans Film Festival alongside recent graduates Jonathan Dean, John Goodhead and Jennifer Haugan. Well done to all and good luck with that cash prize!!
Naomi Cant's film Karoline (pictured above) is one of 6 from our current and recent students featuring at the St.Albans Film Festival next month. A big shiny well done to all!
This week we welcome back the mighty Darren Walsh who returns to give a lecture about his many and various hugely successful animated productions over the years. He's the inventor of the hilarious Angry Kid series that used his innovative stop-motion techniques and he is also the head Meercat wrangler that brought us those now legendary commercials - seemples!
This month we were treated to a fascinating lecture from animation treasure Caroline Leaf. Caroline spoke about her creative process and about making films and creating memorable images. She brought along several remarkable items from her studio including a selection of strips of the original Imax 70mm film from her seminal 'cameraless' work Two Sisters. Each frame of the film was scratched into the layers of emulsion on the surface to elicit the rich green, yellow, white and black imagery (pictured). A proper treat for all. There's a great article about Caroline's visit here: http://www.ucreative.ac.uk/Iconic-filmmaker-gives-guest-lecture-to-UCA-a...
A nice UCA article here about Farnham Animation students strong showing at the London Short Film Festival this year. The article highlights the work of Jonathan Dean, Billy Lubach and the team that brought us DOTYK. You can read the article here: http://www.ucreative.ac.uk/news/2014/january/London-Short-Film-Festival-...
Skwigly online animation magazine features a great piece about acting for animation written by our very own in house treasure Andy Joule: Read his piece here: http://www.skwigly.co.uk/acting-for-animation-character-performance/
More good news this time for current 3rd year student Katie Lenton who's excellent 2nd year stop-motion film Our Hamartia is off on a 2 year tour of Europe, the U.S and Asia as part of a new screening programme called STOP and GO: Made From Scratch. Katie's work gets a special feature here: http://www.ucreative.ac.uk/news/2014/january/Global-tour-for-Farnhams-Li...
Excitingly, Lukas Hawes' distinctive and darkly comic graduation film Interval has made it to the final shortlist of 8 for the Animation Award at this years' Watersprite: The Cambridge International Student Film Festival.
Marcus Armitage continues to gain deserved recognition for his graduate film The Laughing Policeman which has been selected as a finalist for the Student Excellence Award at the British Animation Awards. The BAA awards night is 7th March so pop it in your modern filofax. http://www.ucreative.ac.uk/UCA-Alumnus-Nominated-for-British-Animation-A...
Marcus also features in a nice little article in Cartoon Brew this month: http://www.cartoonbrew.com/cartoon-brew-pick/the-laughing-policeman-by-marcus-armitage-95264.html
2014 gets off to a blistering start with 3 films included in the London Short Film Festival. Pictured above is Billy Lubach's second year film Shaker which not only features distinctive drawn animation but also a rather fine musical composition by Billy himself - not sure if dancing will be permitted in the aisles but we'll look into it before the show.
We're all very happy to hear that the collaborative graduation film DOTYK (pictured) by international directing team Rebecca Barbuscia, Nicky Valid, Kamil Kopys and Subaru Yamazaki is included in this years London Short Film Festival as is Jonathan Dean's graduation film Wombmates which continues to stay busy on the festival circuit.
Congratulations to graduate John Goodhead who's film Manhood (pictured above) must surely have helped to prize open the door on his new position as Junior Designer at Clay Interactive located in London's fearsomely hip and hairy Hoxton. Get ready to grow that tash John! Also bring pants.
A selection of Farnham films will be screened at The Big Art Show www.thebigartshow.co.uk which is taking place in July 2014 in leafy Shrewsbury, Shropshire - storms permitting.