Exist. Live. Rejoice, which was set in a Lithuanian hospice, won the Factual category for the University of Westminster. “Death is a difficult subject, but there was no shying away from the realities the film-makers wanted to communicate,” said the judges.

University of Greenwich students scooped the Drama award for the political thriller Philip Knight, which “sparkles with good direction and good ideas, terrific, but heightened, performances, exciting camera work, some unusual locations and classy art department work”.

Laymun emerged from an ‘immensely strong” field to win the Animation award. Set in a Middle Eastern war zone, the Kingston University film offered a “quirky combination of animation styles, together with a thoughtful and imaginative approach to its subject matter”.

“The standard of entries for 2018 has been very high, with several jurors stating, ‘You could broadcast that tomorrow’, about many of the films we watched. This is a huge compliment and a sign of how professional many of the entries were,” said Julie Ardrey, the chair of the London Student Awards.

The 2018 RTS London Student Awards were hosted by TV presenter Ria Hebden at ITV Studios in central London.

 

RTS London student winners

 

Animation

Laymun - Catherine Prowse and Hannah Quinn, Kingston University

 

Comedy and Entertainment

Potty the Plant - Aedden Sussex and Taliah Lamont, Middlesex University

 

Drama

Philip Knight - Billie Mouat, George Willmore, Georgia Corrigan, Christopher Hailes, Horia Dragoi and Bethany Cornelius, University of Greenwich

 

Factual

Exist. Live. Rejoice - Deividas Auksciunas, Yiming Yuan, Tom Whitehouse. Sam Charlesworth and Lily Pietersen, University of Westminster

 

Short Feature

Mm-hmm - Martha Halliday and Hannah McNally, Kingston University

 

Craft Skills – Camera

Without Christina - Sofia Mellander, Regent’s University London

 

Craft Skills – Editing

1st Old Boys - Natalie Sutton. Dylan Cargill, Thomas Hamblin, Ben Groves and Sassan Salamian, University of Westminster

 

Craft Skills – Production Design

Delirium - Emily Welfare, Harry Mead, Barbara Jaji, Jessica Waters, Kaira Krobo-Edusei and Aanat Huthman, University of Hertfordshire

 

Craft Skills – Sound

Suonno - Filippo Locatelli, Julia Jedrezejewska, Luca Natali, Leo Merati and Robin Whalley, Middlesex University

 

Craft Skills – Writing

Punchline - Simon James, Bryan Fitzsimons, Daniel Tempel-Merzougi and Mairi Maxwell, Middlesex University