BUDDING film makers from a Warrington high school have scooped a national award for their language video after wowing celebrity judges Sir Trevor MacDonald and Eddy Izzard.
A team made up of seven students from Penketh High School beat off competition from hundreds of entries to win the prestigious Languages and Film Talents Award
(LAFTAS), the first of its kind celebrating foreign languages in films.
Led by assistant head teacher Jacqui Jenkinson, the group produced their video “MLF” highlighting the importance of languages in jobs, especially if you are in charge of a country!
The film showed how communication becomes difficult if you only speak one language.
For winning, the students jetted off to Munich to experience life in another language.
They will be attending a special ceremony on September 25 when they will also compete against three other winners for the People’s Choice Award, the winner of which is decided by a public vote.
Ms Jenkinson said: “A huge amount of work has gone into making all this happen but it has certainly been worthwhile. The students came up with the concept and made the whole thing happen and it was a pleasure to see them use their creative talents with such enthusiasm. I would like to congratulate our students and everyone who has been involved in this project.”
LAFTAs celebrate the linguistic talent of Britain’s young film-makers as part of a drive to inspire 13-21 year olds to understand and promote the benefits of learning languages through film.
Chairman of the judging panel, Sir Trevor MacDonald, said: “The LAFTAs show that there is a huge amount of young film talent out there and it’s great to see this being put to good use, as the benefits of having a language can’t be underestimated. I’m delighted to be involved in judging the first ever LAFTA awards and wish all the finalists the best of luck for the last stage of the competition.”
Minister for Schools Jim Knight, added: “This is a fantastic achievement for the pupils of Penketh High who have shown that the next generation of British film-makers may well make their mark on other countries. Learning a language is one of the most fulfilling and beneficial skills a young person can develop. That’s why we’re investing over £50m a year to ensure all young people have the opportunity to learn a language.”
Viewers can log on to www.multilingualvacancies.com/videos.php to view the short-listed videos and vote for their favourites.
