2024 Into Film Awards reveal gong nominations

Winners to be announced at a live ceremony in the afternoon of June 25^th at ODEON Luxe, Leicester Square…

Education charity, Into Film, has revealed the nominees for the 2024 Into Film Awards, with 21 films nominated across 7 filmmaking categories showcasing the phenomenal breadth and depth of young filmmaking talent across the UK. Plus, Into Film launches the public vote for Audience Choice Award, this category alone is voted for by the public, all other categories are voted for by a film industry panel. The Awards also honour those who support and facilitate young people’s filmmaking in our new Filmmaking Champion award and celebrate 4 incredible young people for their outstanding potential in our Ones to Watch category.

This year’s Awards received hundreds of entries from every corner of the UK, with stories ranging from light-hearted comedies, to thought-provoking documentaries, and with topics such as climate change, mental health, and our ever-increasing reliance on technology also a focus, our nominated films speak to the issues that young people are most concerned about today, as well their filmmaking prowess.

Indeed, the new Time for Action category asked young people to create a film that raises awareness of issues important to them and explores the changes they would like to make in the world, whether big or small; personal or society wide.

Our nominees are invited to attend the Into Film Awards ceremony at ODEON Luxe Leicester Square in London on Tuesday 25 June 2024, where a host of filmmaking talent will be on hand to present the various awards. We’re also delighted that actor, writer and director Susan Wokoma will join us to host this year’s ceremony.

Each year, the Into Film Awards are made possible through sponsorship from the UK Screen Industry Into Film is supported by the BFI, awarding National Lottery funding. www.intofilm/awards

The 2024 Into Film Awards nominees are:

Best Animation – 11 and Under (Sponsored by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, UK)

• Ein Dyfodol – Made by Gwennan, aged 11 – Aberystwyth, Wales
• Benjamin’s Magical Kitchen Birds – Made by Benjamin, aged 8 – London, England
• Where Your Rubbish Goes – Made by Ibrahim, aged 11 – Surrey, England

Best Animation – 12 and Over (Sponsored by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, UK)

• Frog Flight – Made by Caireen Ferguson, aged 19 – Ballynahinch, Northern Ireland
• Unlucky Jim – Made by Ben Mullan, aged 18 – Bedford, England
• Branwen, Daughter of Llyr – Made by the whole of Year 8 from Pen y Dre High School – Merthyr, Wales

Best Documentary (Sponsored by IMDb)

• Puppet Backup – Made by Maxwell, aged 17, from Barton Peveril Sixth Form College – Eastleigh, England
• Disconnected – Made by Safina, aged 17, from South Essex College – Southend-on-Sea, England
• The Adventures of Barry in Bradford – Made by Haris, Muhammad, Fatiha, Habeebah, all aged 10, from Feversham Primary Academy – Bradford, England

Best Film – 11 and Under (Sponsored by Amazon MGM Studios)

• Wand-erful Mischief – Made by Aaron, Lucas, Liam, and Cameron, all aged 11, from St Bernard’s Primary School – Glasgow, Scotland
• Unseen – Made by twenty young people aged 9-11 from Whitehall Primary School – London, England
• Dyslexia and Me – Made by children from St. Luke’s Church of England Primary School – Rugby, England

Best Film – 12-15 (Sponsored by Paramount Pictures)

• The Language of Cymraeg – Made by 16 young people aged 11-14 from Ysgol Bro Dinefwr – Carmarthenshire, Wales
• Saving Yourself (And the World) – Made by Indi, aged 14 – Waterlooville, England
• Cereal Killers – Made by 19 young people from St Colmcille’s High School – Crossgar, Northern Ireland

Best Film – 16-19 (Sponsored by Warner Bros. Discovery)

• STOP – Made by Laquarn McQueen, aged 18, from Big Creative Academy Campus – London, England
• Battery – Made by 15 young people aged 16-19 from TAPE Community Music and Film and Ysgol Y Gogarth – Llandudno, Wales
• Birthday – Made by 10 young people aged 16-18 from 104 Projects – London, England

Time for Action (Sponsored by Swatch)

• Just Ignore It – Made by 11 young people aged 11-18 from My Pockets and Youth Aspire Connect – Hull, England
• Headphones – Made by Phoebe Young, aged 18 – Brighton, England
• Thinking Green – Made by 18 young people from Burnham Market Primary School – Norfolk, England

Filmmaking Champion (Sponsored by Lucasfilm Ltd.)

• Paul Press from The Offshoot Foundation – East Anglia, England
  Paul started his film business, Offshoot Films, in 2007, which eventually grew into The Offshoot Foundation in 2015, which delivers film education and training to young people across the UK. Paul often works with disadvantaged young people from communities that might be struggling economically, or may be rural and have poor transport links, which would otherwise deprive them of reaching their full potential.

• Scottish Youth Film Foundation – Glasgow, Scotland
  The Scottish Youth Film Foundation evolved from the Scottish Youth Film Festival, which has been running since 2015. Over the past decade, they have been dedicated to making film more access to young people across Scotland, helping hundreds of individuals to be able to make their own films and tell their own stories. Their mission statement is to improve the life outcomes of young Scots through film.

• Cardiff Youth Service – Cardiff, Wales
  Cardiff Youth Service are part of Cardiff Council’s Education department, and work with young people aged 11-25 to develop personal, social and educational development through a variety of opportunities, including filmmaking projects. They work with young people in a variety of settings, offering targeted support for those identified as vulnerable. They recognise that young people are able to express themselves through creativity, and have seen how filmmaking can allow young people to learn new skills, build relationships and improve their confidence.

Ones To Watch – (Sponsored by EON Productions)

Paul Press – Filmmaking Champion nominee 2024

• Ben Mullan (aged 18) – Bedford, England
  Ben is a stop motion animator, with an ambition of working for Aardman Animations. Ben believes in the human element of filmmaking, noting that the hand-crafted nature of stop motion animation makes it both more fascinating and impactful. He aims to create original animations to generate discussions in an accessible way, and use the medium to tackle issues faced by young people today.
  “Into Film has played a huge part in encouraging me to keep making animations. Being nominated as ‘One to Watch’ makes all the hours spent animating worthwhile and inspires me to keep developing my stop motion skills.” – Ben Mullan
• Riku (aged 13) – London, England
  Riku is interested in filming and editing, and also has a passion for transport, leading them to regularly create and post professional and polished transport-related videos on YouTube. Riku hopes to grow their YouTube platform to the point where transport companies approach them with filming opportunities. Impressively, Riku also became a published author at the age of 10, and has since gone on to complete their second novel, called Music to My Ears, which is now the longest fiction book published by a child in the world.
  “I would like to see more film production companies taking an example from Into Film, and opening up the profession to children, not only to participate as actors, but also as film crew.” – Riku
• Evelyn Scott (aged 19) – Epsom, England
  Evelyn Scott is a filmmaker whose work showcases not only technical prowess but a unique artistic perspective. Having begun filmmaking back in high school, Evelyn went on to make award-winning film I Paint Flowers So They Will Not Die during her Foundation year at university, and won a place on a BFI Academy Filmmaking course. She is currently a member of UCL’s Film Society, and her background studying History of Art lends an unmistakable artistic flair to her work.

“My main ambition is to be part of a film that changes the way people see the world – much like the many films which have done so for me.” – Evelyn Scott

• Tom Boyd-Hall (aged 18) – Amersham, England
  Tom is interested in directing, and believes that filmmaking should be provocative and challenging. Whether it’s black comedy, horror or scathing satire, he believes film should make you feel uncomfortable – or at the very least, feel something. Tom believes that, with easy access to smart-devices and apps, the filmmakers of today are more dedicated and talented than ever, but is concerned that opportunities are dwindling. And so, as a filmmaker he’s keen to champion more opportunities for young people, regardless of who they are, or where they come from.
  “In twenty years time, I want to be directing films that push audience members to the absolute limit of what they think they can handle as spectators, while still retaining some much needed humanity and emotion… cinema has so much to offer, so much unbridled potential, that I feel as though making anything pedestrian or safe is an absolute waste!” – Tom Boyd-Hall