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York students nominated for national Royal Television Society Award

York students nominated for national Royal Television Society Award

Posted on 16 April 2014

A group of talented student filmmakers from the University of York’s Department of Film, Theatre and Television have been nominated for a national award from the Royal Television Society (RTS).

Diogo Guerner, James Homer and Sunniva Kvamme, all studying towards a BSc in Film and Television Production, have been nominated for an award in the highly competitive Undergraduate Fiction category at the national RTS Student Television Awards 2013.

Following success as winners at the Yorkshire Region Student Awards ceremony in November 2013, in which they fought off strong competition from 15 other entries in the fiction category, this further nomination is a high accolade from the RTS, who recognise the best in student television from across the UK.

Chaired by Patrick Younge, Founder and Director of WeCreate Associates Ltd and former Chief Creative Officer for BBC Productions, the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Awards are judged in four categories: Fiction, Entertainment, Factual and Animation, with two to three nominees in each category.

Nominated for his short film Snapshot, Diogo Guerner is now a third year student studying towards a BSc in Film and Television Production, and directed the nominated film in his second year. He said: “It was a great honour to receive the prize for best fiction film at the RTS Yorkshire Television Awards last year, and I’m really proud and excited to have Snapshot representing the University of York at the RTS national competition.”

John Mateer, who leads York’s BSc in Film and Television Production, said: “We are very proud of Diogo Guerner. This is a very highly competitive award scheme with regional winners competing for a spot in the nationals; it is not guaranteed so simply being nominated is a huge accomplishment for Diogo and the department. We designed the BSc Film and Television Production course with the goal of enabling our students to become world-class filmmakers and television programme creators and our students are certainly rising to the challenge.”

Judges at the regional awards said Snapshot stood out because it is “a simple story so effectively told with assurance and real skill, with the quality of the script matched by the quality of the camera work”. They also commented on the great use of special effects and overall standard of direction.

The University of York’s Department of Theatre, Film and Television has seen great success since its establishment in 2007/8. In particular, the BSc in Film and TV Production, launched in 2010/11, has seen an unprecedented three national finalists in the RTS Awards in its first two years of eligibility.

The department offers some of the best professional production facilities in the UK, boasting a media complex of two theatres, two television studios, a large sound stage, production labs, extensive post-production facilities and a digital cinema, as well as rehearsal and dressing rooms.

Professor Andrew Higson, Head of the Department of Theatre, Film and Television, said: “This is a tremendous achievement by our talented filmmakers and our warmest congratulations go to Diogo Guerner and his team. Their nomination is testament to hard work, skills and creativity, and to the excellent support and guidance they receive from our staff. Our student filmmakers have also undoubtedly benefitted from access to some of the best professional production facilities of any university in the country.”

The winners will be announced at a ceremony on Friday 16th May at the BFI Southbank in London.