The Student Film Festival London is delighted to announce its full list of winners, which was unveiled during the festival's closing night Award Ceremony, held at the Apollo Piccadilly on Sunday 5th February 2012.

The eventual winners emerged victorious after completing a journey which saw them selected for screening at the festival from 350 international submissions, and shortlisted for nomination from among over 80 films shown at the festival.

The Award Ceremony was hosted by the actress Jayne Wisener, and kicked off with a special performance from The Cabinet of Living Cinema and Whirlygig Cinema. It later featured appearances by festival judges Jan Harlan, Trudy Bellinger, Otis Bell, Gary Tarn, Alexander Williams, Tim Robey and Jerry Deeney, who presented the Awards for their categories.

We would like to extend our congratulations to all the winners and nominees, and also to all those who screened at the festival. Despite the snow a FULL HOUSE of filmmakers, judges, partners, media and film enthusiasts joined us for a glitzy fête of international talent. We can say with confidence that the future of film looks bright.

Here are the deserving Award Winners (put your hands together!)

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BEST SHORT FICTION:

Best Short Fiction, sponsored by Genesis Cinema, went to Germany’s Oliver Duerr for Beef.
The film explains how to cook a perfect German beefsteak in just 19 minutes. Oliver also took home the Best Director Award courtesy of WEXO.

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BEST FEATURE FICTION AND BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY AWARD:

Meanwhile Best Feature Fiction went to Somewhere West by David Marek, sponsored by Sony.
David holds an MFA in Film Production from the University of Colorado. He created a road-film spanning some of the United States’ most revelatory landscapes from the perspective of Ian, a terminally ill young man who decides to forego treatment in favour of final solitude on the road. The film also won The Best Cinematography Award (Adam Benn being the talented cinematographer), sponsored by SAE Institute.

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BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY AND AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD:

Action Against Hunger sponsored the Best Short Documentary for Abuelas, by Afarin Eghbal of the National Film and Television School. The film follows a Buenos Aires grandmother who anticipates the arrival of her grandchild for 30 agonizing years. Abuelas also won the Audience Choice Award, sponsored by the Met Film School.

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DOCUMENTARY FEATURE AWARD AND HARLAN ACHIEVEMENT AWARD:

Tren Paraguay by Mauricio Rial Banti and Gabriela Cueto took both the Documentary Feature Award sponsored by BRITDOC Foundation, as well as the Harlan Achievement Award for Most Promising Newcomer. The film deals with a passenger train that used to cross the Argentina-Paraguay border – a desolate place revealing many secrets. Banti and Cueto are both graduates of the Universidad del Cine in Argentina.

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ANIMATED SHORT AWARD:

The Animated Short Award went to Playing Ghost by Bianca Ansems of the National Film and Television School. Arts Thread and Prime Cuts jointly sponsored the film. It used stop-motion puppets, shot frame by frame with three puppets over seven sets, using Canon 40D and Dragon Stopmotion software.

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MUSIC VIDEO AWARD:

Crossroads Films’ Music Video Award winner was I am Cereals – Galaxy by the Austrians Mirjam Baker and Michael Kren.

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BEST SOUNDTRACK CATEGORY:

Outgoing sponsored the Best Soundtrack category. It went to Fiachra Ó Longáin and Zulfikar Filandra for Concrete Walls. Michael Higgins shot the film on location on the grounds of the dilapidated Pigeon House in Dublin. The Film follows the story of a strange loner dealing with a dark secret.

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16mm FILM AWARD:

Fujifilm sponsored the 16mm Film Award, which went to Ophir Ben Shimon for A Man Asleep. The film is about a groom whose car hits a child on his wedding day, raising crucial questions of identity in the aftermath.

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ONLINE POPULARITY AWARD:

The Online Popularity Award went to Norwegian filmmaker Arthur Arnesen for Two Doors, produced by the MET Film School.

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THE BEST CHINESE NEWCOMER AWARD:

The Best Chinese Newcomer Award went to Song and Moon by Wu Na, of the Guandong University of Foreign Studies. Na’s film uses an ethnological perspective to capture the daily life of the Dong ethnic minority in a remote village of Guizhou province, southwest China.

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BEST ACTING AWARD:

And finally, the Best Acting Award went to Renate Grosser in Ice Flowers. Grosser hails from the University of Television Film Munich.

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Big congratulations to the 2012 winners – we are so proud of you all. See you at SFFLondon 2013!
- The Festival Team