Young filmmakers from Sparks Film School Farnham are celebrating another year of success with not one, but two big wins at the Children’s International Film Festival of Wales!
Head of Sparks Film School Guildford & Farnham Matt Toogood with two young film students at the CIFFOW 2024 award ceremony
Film productions by young film crews from Sparks Film School Farnham were featured as part of the CIFFOW screening programme and also received two awards in two separate categories.
The films were selected for screening at the festival, which celebrates the work of young filmmakers from all over the world, where they were watched by audiences of all ages at Bedwelty House and Park, with the festival culminating in a fantastic awards ceremony.
Young filmmakers from Sparks Film School Farnham took home two impressive awards in highly competitive categories
Their film Ministry of Murder won both the Best Actress award (a special congratulations goes to young actress and filmmaker Rose for her amazing performance) and also the Best Film by a Film School award.
Both categories were highly competitive, with a number of impressive entries from talented young filmmakers further afield. To win both of these awards speaks to the quality of the work from the cast and crew and it is great to see the talent and creativity recognised by the judges at CIFFOW.
Two of the filmmakers celebrate with their award trophy
We spoke to Matt Toogood, Head of Sparks Film School Farnham, who told us, “It was great to be at CIFFOW and to win the two awards was fabulous! Rose came away with the best actress for her age category, well deserved for her performance in Ministry of Murder. Then to win Best of the Festival: School Film was incredible!’
”So much effort went into the film by all the filmmakers and this award does so much to highlight the creative efforts and wonderful energy that young people have.
It gives me great confidence witnessing the creativity and imagination of young people today and the skills they use to bring their ideas to life! We can’t wait for next year’s festival and to see the films all the filmmakers at Sparks Film School Farnham make in the meantime.”
About CIFFOW
The Children’s International Film Festival of Wales celebrates the best and brightest in International film programmes for children, students, and professional filmmakers from across the world. This includes short films, feature films, animations, and films that inspires younger generations.
The CIFFOW festival showcases films made by youth and professionals in animation, live-action, and documentary, while local filmmakers have a special category to aid in supporting local talent. The festival not only features amazing films, but a wonderful Red Carpet awards night to celebrate the films that have been selected and nominated for the 2024 Festival.
The festival promotes visual storytelling for children of all ages and welcomes individuals, schools, media academies, colleges, and professional film makers to submit their films.
The festival welcomes stories from all genres including: Action, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Comedy Horror, Mystery, Thriller, Crime, and the absolute best in age-appropriate films. The selection panel and judges look for creative uniqueness, and the best in fiction and non-fiction.
For more information, see http://www.childrensfilmfestivalofwales.com/ .
Watch Ministry of Murder
Watch Sparks Film School Farnham’s winning film Ministry of Murder below.
The film was also selected for the Sparks Film School Film of The Month award in August 2024. See what the Film of the Month panel had to say about the film here >>
Ministry of Murder, by film students at Sparks Film School Guildford & Farnham
About Sparks Film Schools
Sparks Film Schools help young filmmakers to realise their ambitions, to develop their skills and creativity, and to shine.
From our 30+ film schools around the UK, we work with young filmmakers aged between 5-18.
We offer filmmaking and animation classes, along with courses during school holidays, after school club programmes and special events.
We love to welcome aspiring young filmmakers to free trial sessions.
Find your nearest Sparks Film School here >>
