discover.film reveals winners of the 2021 Craghoppers’ Student Short Film Prize
June 17, 2021
discover.film has announced the winners of the 2021 Craghoppers’ Student Short Film Prize. Part of the Discover Film Awards, The Craghoppers’ Student Film Prize was established to recognise the very best and outstanding talent from around the world, shining a light on filmmakers whose debut films have a strong, distinct vision, compelling narrative and the potential to entertain and engage global film watchers.
This year’s winning films have been selected from over 1000 submissions made by students at film schools from more than 50 countries. An esteemed judging panel of forty industry experts have selected winners for Best International and Best UK Craghoppers’ Student Prize.
Astrid Thorvaldsen takes Best UK Student Award for her ambitious dark fantasy ‘Who Goes There?’. Astrid, a Norwegian living in the UK, attended the National Film and Television School (NFTS) in London. The 26-year-old filmmaker made her Western gothic horror set in Minnesota as her graduation film in 2020. The winner of the Craghoppers‘ International Student Award is Marie Mc Court for ‘I was still there when you left’. Marie’s gritty and emotional drama focuses on a 7-year-old girl witnessing the Grenfell Tower fire. The Franco-Danish filmmaker attended the Institut des Arts de Diffusion (IAD) in Belgium and this is also her graduation film.
“We are delighted with the panel’s decision” says Jaine Green, Head of Content at discover.film. “I’m particularly pleased to see two women take the top spots, it’s an encouraging sign that there’s an abundance of female talent about to make their mark. It’s always an absolute pleasure working with Craghoppers to help support filmmakers as they start their careers and I’m sure these two very worthy winners will both continue to do great things’.
Both winners will be awarded with a £1000 cash prize and, as importantly, qualify for the prestigious Craghoppers’ Film Prize the winners which will be announced at a red-carpet ceremony in London at the 10th Discover Film Awards in October which is one of the largest and most celebrated short film festivals in the world. The award comes with a £20,000 cash prize, one of the largest for short film in the world. The winning films will screen during the Discover Film Awards and also be available on the discover.film platform where they can be accessed in more than 190 countries with an estimated reach of over half a billion viewers.
British filmmaker Tom Oxenham was highly commended for his fantasy comedy ‘Man-Spider’.
Joanne Black, Director of Product and MD of Group Retail for The Regatta Group, said, “The standard of entry for the student awards has been mind blowing. Though it was a real challenge to choose between such talent, Astrid and Marie did just have the edge and we are delighted that they have won. And we couldn’t not commend Tom Oxenham for “Man-Spider” where he was able to answer the question on everyone’s lips… what happened to the spider that bit Peter Parker! This has really set the vibe for October … bring on the festival!”