Schools Film competition launched

The Edinburgh Schools Film Competition is now live!

Screen Education Edinburgh and the Edinburgh International Film Festival today opened entries for short films to the Edinburgh Schools Film Competition. Open to all nursery, primary, secondary and special schools in Edinburgh the Competition will see films being selected to share the Festival programme with the leading filmmakers from around the world. Work is viewed and selected by a Young People’s Jury who also coordinate and present the award ceremony during the Festival in June.

The project is a partnership between Screen Education Edinburgh, EIFF and City of Edinburgh Council Children and Families Department. In 2012 over 150 films were entered by 38 city schools, which included Primary, Secondary, Special Schools and one Nursery. The ten Young Jurors selected the final 40 films which were shown during EIFF, with awards given to sixteen of these.

Nicola Kettlewood, Education & Learning Events Manager at EIFF said:- “This has become one of my highlights of the Festival; it’s fantastic to have hundreds of Edinburgh school children, from nursery to secondary pupils, so excited to see their work screening as part of the Festival. To have these programmes selected and presented by our youth juries is hugely important and it is great to see these young people develop in confidence through the project.”

James McKenzie, Project Manager at Screen Education Edinburgh said: ‘This is a magnificent opportunity for Edinburgh’s young filmmakers to have their works screened at one of the oldest and most prestigious festivals in the world. Last year’s event and awards ceremony was one of the highlights of the SEE calendar. On the day of the awards ceremony there was a real sense of tension and excitement, as our young jury members read out the winning entries’.

Linda Lees, Manager Arts & learning at City of Edinburgh Council added:- “The Edinburgh Schools Film Competition is an opportunity for young filmmakers to screen their work alongside the very best International directors. We are delighted to be working in partnership with the Edinburgh International Film Festival, and look forward to the screenings in June.”

Submission deadline

The deadline for submitting films is 5pm, Friday 12th April for all Nursery, Special, Primary and Secondary schools, whilst, by agreement, the deadline for Higher Media and Higher Art & Design students is 5pm, Friday 26th April.

Application forms can be downloaded from the EIFF website: www.edfilmfest.org.uk/learning

The 2013 Edinburgh International Film Festival takes place 19-30 June.