Sixty Second Film Festival 2023

13th June 2023

The annual Sixty Second Film Festival took place on Saturday 10 June; a beautiful summer evening that was perfect for an open air screening on Meads, against the backdrop of Musa. The competion is open to all pupils and aims to encourage an exploration of cinematography and creativity whilst also developing skills such as editing. Pupils had to choose from a list of ten titles, which they were free to interpret how they wished, with four prizes on offer.

The film festival was attended by pupils, staff and parents, with film producer Merlin Merton judging. Merlin started off as a freelance producer on music videos, picking up two UKMVA nominations in one year. He then founded Blue Shadows Films in November 2013 to develop and produce daring stories into features, such as 10,000 Saints (2015), which premiered at Sundance, and Butterfly Kisses (2017), winner of the Crystal Bear at Berlin.

Watch the winning Junior and Senior Films below

Adjudication

Merlin gave an insight into his work as a film producer, explaining how he began making one-minute films at his boarding school, and speaking passionately about the rewarding possibilities of life in a creative industry. He offered detailed feedback to each of the film makers, framed by constructive targets and then brought the adjudication to an end with awards for:

Best Editing: Winston
Best Junior Film: Demyan
Best Cinematography: Gerald
Best Senior Film: Gerald