EIFF Puts Young Edinburgh Filmmakers In Limelight

Submitted by edg on Wed, 16 Jun '10 11.21am

Young filmmakers from Edinburgh will be enjoying their moment in the limelight at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, which gets under way today.

Edinburgh schools were invited to submit dramas, documentaries and animations as part of a competition organised by Pilton Video and EIFF. Over 140 films were submitted by 38 city schools, including primary, secondary, nursery and special schools.

The winning films were chosen by a youth jury of talented young people discovered by Pilton Video and are having public screenings on Saturday 19 June at 10am and noon at Cineworld in Fountainbridge.

The public screenings follow two filmmakers' screenings of 40 shortlisted films where awards will be made.

Councillor Marilyne MacLaren, Convener of Education, Children and Families, said: “This was a fantastic project for the young people to stretch their creative skills, come up with new ideas and use their imaginations to the full.”

Joel Venet, Co-ordinator at Pilton Video, said: “The screenings will give the students film's centre place in the Film Festival, and their hard work, imagination and film making skills are now properly celebrated before their teachers, families and friends."

Pilton Video was set up in 1982 and is sponsored by the City of Edinburgh Council. The main aim of the local project is to encourage young people to make powerful and original films.