Students scoop film awards at DVMISSION

Two student teams are celebrating after winning awards at this years DVMISSION 48-Hour Film Challenge.

The films, ‘The Motherland Chronicles’ and 'The Suffragette City Chronicles' were created by student teams from MA Film Production, along with students from a range of other courses including performance, prosthetics and SFX design.

We caught up with the Directors of the teams, Fabio Cordero (The Motherland Chronicles), and Stefania Dall'Armi (The Suffragette City Chronicles) to find out more about their productions, how it felt to win, and what they are planning next.

Hi Fabio and Stef, congratulations on your wins! Tell us a bit about the films you entered into the awards:

Stef: Our two-minute film starts with three scientists waking up in a different world. We soon discover they are all robots, or at least one of them is as she needs to be rebooted at a certain point. While walking around the place looking for some clues, Android 2 finds the body of an alien. By examining the body she discovers a tattoo which she also has. When she touches it the alien suddenly wakes up.

I like to leave my films with open endings where everyone can fill in their interpretations. My own interpretation of this one is very close to feminists' ideas of sisterhood, race and diversity. The two women in this film are from different planets - one is a robot and the other an alien - although they have the same tattoo that binds them together and ultimately gives them power. 

Fabio: As the festival's theme was space opera, we immediately began to consider iconic futuristic movies when we read the brief details provided by the festival. We began our creative process by constructing from the line of dialogue, "Don't lean on me man, you can't afford the ticket," and worked our way outward from there. What may the ticket be? To escape from the planet, we chose to use a token that may be swapped for a journey. The lengthy hours of brainstorming we put in started to take shape by Friday night, when we finally had a nearly meaningful story to which everyone could contribute. This concept was motivated by movies like The Old Guard (2020) and Elysium (2013). 

How did it feel to receive awards for your films?

Stef: Our team won the award for Best Sound Design. Personally, it was my first experience at a film festival, so it was very special. It was great to share the prize with my friends Callum, Helena and Andrei. Since we met at the beginning of the course year, we have been working together on several projects uni and non-uni related, and it was great to walk on a stage with them to receive an award for our film.

Fabio: Raquel Fuertes, a member of our team, received the best actress award, she said "I was really surprised—and happy—to be chosen as this festival's best actress amidst such a large number of submissions. Working on this project was difficult, especially with the limited time available, but it was a wonderful experience that taught me I can do well while working under pressure. Receiving this award undoubtedly boosted my confidence and has given me the will to continue working on these projects and submit them to more film festivals.”

What’s coming up next for you?

Fabio: Going forward, we intend to continue working together and take advantage of the chances that are offered, while also independently developing our final master's project and using all of our talents to produce high-quality movies with deep narratives.

Stef: As we enter the last trimester of our Masters' Degree, we'll be soon very busy researching and working on our Final Masters Projects.

Roy Hanney, Course Leader for BA (Hons) Media Production said - "DVMISSION is a great opportunity to build confidence as filmmakers it's also a fantastic introduction to the world of festivals and industry networking, these two teams really stepped up to the challenge and delivered some high-quality films, I am sure we will be seeing more of them in the future"

Donna Peberdy, Course Leader for MA Film Production, said ‘What the students have been able to produce in 48 hours is hugely impressive and evidences excellent collaboration, creativity and professionalism. DVMISSION is a great initiative, and these awards will no doubt be the first of many for our talented filmmakers.’

The Motherland Chronicles (Crew and cast)
Fabio Cordero
Diana Vitória
Enio Pais
Sara Rocha
Raquel Fuertes
Emilie Rode

The Suffragette City Chronicles
Stefania Dall'Armi
Helena Kubesova
Callum Tomalin
Grant Drain
Andrei Solomon
Helena Kubesova
Luis Del Rio Fernandez
Lauren Neely
Callum Preville
Jake Jones