Finding new stars of the screen: Tonbridge launches third Short Films Competition
Tonbridge School’s Short Films Competition will shortly be launching for the third consecutive year.
The competition is open to the whole school, with boys encouraged to submit an original short work in seven categories: Drama, Documentary, Comedy, Music/Poetry, Animation, Social Justice and Horror.
It is being run by Oscar-winning documentary-maker and former Tonbridge pupil Vikram Jayanti (Sc 1968-72), pictured, two of whose films have won Academy Awards.
The competition is part of the School’s ongoing ‘Filmic Storytelling’ project, which Vikram has also been leading, alongside Tonbridge teachers Jonathan Reinhardt and Nick Waywell from the English Department, and Paul Huxley from Digital Creativity.
Winners will receive prizes specially selected to help develop their film-making talents. The 2020 prizes included Osmo Pocket cameras and state-of-the-art video projectors, and last year the prizes were all high-end video drones.
In 2020, during lockdown, the School’s first Short Films Awards concluded with an Oscars-style, online event, with a number of stars from the film and television world presenting awards to Tonbridge boys.
Those who took part included Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl, and the forthcoming Wheel of Time); Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey), another Old Tonbridgian; Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman, Killing Eve); Al Petrie (Sex Education, Star Wars); Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech, Les Miserables), and Lily Cole (environmental activist and supermodel).
Full details of the 2022 competition, including deadlines, prizes and all categories, will be announced soon.
The winning films for both the 2020 and the 2021 Competition can be viewed online, via the links.
Short Films Competition 2020, the inaugural event.
The 2021 Competition.
Tonbridge’s Headmaster, James Priory, added: “I’m hugely grateful to Vikram for his work in helping us to discover, and encourage, the creative talent that we have at Tonbridge.”
