Press Release
Date: Tuesday 06 December 2011 (NR/10/11)
"A new generation of film-makers" in the spotlight
Local students have scooped top film awards at the annual Foyle Film Festival CCEA Moving Image Arts Awards Showcase, sponsored by City of Derry Crystal.
From an intense psychological thriller to a comic animation featuring a rabbit at war with an insurmountable carrot, students continued to stretch their creative abilities again this year.
A total of 22 films produced by A-level students for their summer 2011 Moving Image Arts course were screened by Cinemagic at the QFT in Belfast and by the Foyle Film Festival at the Orchard Cinema in Derry/Londonderry on 1st and 2nd December.
Ingrid Arthurs, Subject Officer for Moving Image Arts at CCEA, commented:
CCEA's Moving Image Arts course offers students a unique and exciting opportunity to express their ideas creatively and it is fantastic that we are able to showcase their achievement in such a public forum, where these ideas can be shared and appreciated by a wider audience. Moving Image Arts at GCSE level has just completed its first award this summer and the number of schools offering the course increases each year. We are really looking forward to seeing the overall standard of work rise even further as the subject continues to grow.
Speaking after the awards Bernard McCloskey, Head of Education at Northern Ireland Screen, and a member of the judging panel, commented:
The judges were really impressed by the high standard this year. Yet again, Moving Image Arts students have created a wide range of films that display creativity, ingenuity and a real understanding of the art of filmmaking. I want to congratulate all the students and their teachers for the hard work they have displayed up to this point.
Martin Melarkey, Chief Examiner for Moving Image Arts, added:
A key objective of Moving Image Arts is to support the emergence of a new generation of filmmakers. From the outstanding talent and imagination on display in these short films, it certainly seems as if this ambition is being fulfilled.
All CCEA's Moving Image Arts winners show off their awards. Their films were screened by
Cinemagic at the Queens Film Theatre and by Foyle Film Festival at the Orchard Cinema, Derry/L'Derry.
Talented film-maker Ronnie McQuillan, pictured with Bernard McCloskey, Head of Education with Northern Ireland Screen, and a representative from Cinemagic, was the winner in the A2 Film category. He scooped top prize for his sensitive drama, entitled 'Angelika'. Ronnie is no stranger to CCEA's Moving Image Arts awards showcase, having achieved first place last year in the AS Film category.
Shortly after the CCEA Moving Image Arts awards, Ronnie went on to pick up the Cinemagic Young Film-Maker of the Year Award for Best Film in the 18-25 age. A fantastic achievement!
Ronnie will also be making an appearance at CCEA's Celebrating Excellence awards ceremony later this month at Lisburn Civic Centre to pick up his Top Candidate A-level award for Moving Image Arts.
Additional Information
CCEA Moving Image Arts Award Winners
Category 1: AS film
Winner: Tom Getty (Down High School) for his dark supernatural thriller, ‘The Divine Insanity’.
Category 2: Best A2 Film
Winner: Ronnie McQuillan (Hazelwood Integrated College) for his sensitive drama, ‘Angelika’.
Category 3: Best AS Animated Film
Winner: Finbarr Martin (Caludon Castle, Coventry), for his stop-motion animated film ‘Drezwick’s’, featuring a sinister seller of enchanted sweets.
Category 3: Best A2 Animated Film
Winner: Conor McCormick (Malone College), for his Flash animated comedy ‘Operation Carrot’.
Background to MIA
Introduced in 2004, Moving Image Arts is an applied CCEA A-Level course which offers a hands-on and creative approach to the teaching of the moving image. Now also available at GCSE level, MIA gives students the opportunity to produce their own creative film portfolios, offering a wide range of opportunities to develop creativity, digital literacy and enterprise skills.
Over 80 schools are currently teaching the course at A-Level, including 20 schools from outside Northern Ireland. So far 30 schools are now offering the new course at GCSE.
Media enquiries to Ruth Maguire on (028) 9026 1216, Mobile 07796947993. E mail rhmaguire@ccea.org.uk
ENDS
Note to Editors
CCEA is the Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment.
CCEA places learners and those who have a concern for their educational and personal development at the forefront of its thinking. CCEA's mission is:
"To enable the full potential of all learners to be achieved and recognised"
What we do
CCEA is a unique educational body in the UK , bringing together the three areas of curriculum, examinations and assessment.
Advising Government – on what should be taught in Northern Ireland ’s schools and colleges.
Monitoring Standards – ensuring that the qualifications and examinations offered by awarding bodies in Northern Ireland are of an appropriate quality and standard.
Awarding Qualifications
– as Northern Ireland’s leading awarding body we offer a diverse range of qualifications, such as GCSEs, including the new GCSE Double Award specifications in vocational subjects, GCE A and AS levels, Entry Level Qualifications, and Graded Objectives in Modern Languages.
- CCEA also offers a range of Awards and Certificates in Education, Training and Skills (ACETS) targeted at learners who want to get
the knowledge, understanding and skills needed
to hit the ground running in the world of work.
