Organisers of the Showcomotion Young People’s Film Festival are reporting record numbers for their tenth anniversary festival. 7728 people came to the festival in 2008, an increase of 36% from 2007. The festival ran this year from 26 June – 10 July at the Showroom Cinema in Sheffield.

Festival Director, Kathy Loizou said: ‘I’m delighted that we are celebrating our tenth anniversary festival with record attendances. In 2007 the festival expanded from 10 to 15 days so we could programme more screenings and I’m pleased to say that the expansion was successful and has led to a growth in audience numbers.’

‘Mark Walsh, the Supervising Animator on the Disney•Pixar film Ratatouille, was a special guest of the festival. At our Special 10th Anniversary Talk, Mark spoke about the work of Pixar Animation Studios.
The festival’s Opening Night Gala kicked off in style with the premiere of Kung Fu Panda. This much anticipated animation was screened in Sheffield on the same night as the London premiere. Then in the following 15 days, we screened a total of 175 films from around the world including 97 films made by young people. There were 13 features and 162 shorts from 22 countries.’

SHOWCOMOTION CHILDREN’S MEDIA CONFERENCE
From 2-4 July, Sheffield hosted the Showcomotion Children’s Media Conference, which is the UK’s premier event for the children's media and entertainment industries. 384 delegates attended and Ed Vaizey MP, Shadow Minister for Culture and Broadcasting gave the Opening Keynote Speech.

Participants included Claire Armitstead, Literary Editor, The Guardian; Michael Cairns, MD Disney Channel UK; Charles Cecil, MD Revolution Software; Andrew Chitty MD Illumina Digital; Richard Deverell, Controller BBC Children’s; Boel Ferguson, MD UK and Nordic, Jetix Europe; Richard Hollis, Head of UK Licensing, BBC Worldwide; Sophie Patrikios, Director of Lego Consumer Services; Emma Tennant, Controller ITV3 and CITV.

THE STEEL CITY GLOBE AWARDS 2008
Blue Peter presenter and Strictly Come Dancing star, Gethin Jones, and top TV comedian Lenny Henry surprised young filmmakers from Sheffield schools when they appeared by video link to congratulate the winners at the Steel City Globe Awards evening. The event held during Showcomotion at the Showroom Cinema attracted 250 films made by over 800 pupils across the city and the awards were presented by the Lord Mayor. Youngsters had been making the 2 minute films throughout the year and their efforts were celebrated and rewarded at the ‘Oscars’ style ceremony. The winners of the 5 categories were Royd Nursery Infant, Deepcar St Johns Junior, Arbourthorne Primary, Greenlands Junior and Birley Community College.

THE UNICEF UK AWARDS
Showcomotion has the honour of hosting the prestigious UNICEF UK Awards. Andy Gallant, UNICEF Youth Voice Advisor, came to Sheffield to award the certificates and said:

‘Showcomotion celebrates the incredible talent of young film-makers across the UK. The entries for the UNICEF UK Awards were showcased over an action-packed afternoon, with a range of films covering genres from drama to sci-fi. The young film-makers included 15-year-olds solo-producing animations to a group of 12-14 year-olds group producing their own trilogy with a whole team of actors, and the competition was so tough that in the end two joint winners were selected.’

The winners are:
UNICEF UK YOUNG FILM MAKER AWARD
The UNICEF UK Young Film Maker Award is for young film makers up to and including 18 years old. The Joint Winners are Past-Caring by Zoe Kyriakou (age 14), Usman Zaman (age 13) & Aiden Troughton (age 12) and Wrecked by Oscar Forshaw Swift (age 17). Special Mentions go to Cube Xtra Movie: Friendship made by Sheffield based Iman Hussain & Jodie Hobson (age 14) and Flash-Back by Cèlia Rozalén & Emili Taroncher (age 16)

UNICEF UK SHORT FILM AWARD
The UNICEF UK Short Film Award is for professional film makers. The winner in this section is Doggie by Simone Van Dusseldorp and Special Mentions go to Felix by Andreas Utta and Goldfish by Joe Wein.

UNICEF UK AUDIENCE AWARD
The UNICEF UK Audience Award is for the best film from both categories voted by the audience. The winner is Doggie and Special Mentions go to Goldfish and Past-Caring.

-ENDS-
For further information contact Kathy Loizou, Showcomotion Director kathy@showroom.org.uk
+ 44 (0) 114 276 3534


EDITOR’S NOTES
Showcomotion is at the Showroom Cinema, Paternoster Row, Sheffield S1 2BX Box Office: 0114 275 7727 www.showcomotion.org.uk and www.showcomotionconference.com.

The tenth Showcomotion Young People’s Film Festival ran from 26 June to 10 July at the Showroom Cinema in Sheffield. Showcomotion is the largest and longest-established kids’ film fest in Great Britain.

The fifth Showcomotion Children’s Media Conference ran from 2-4 July at the Showroom Cinema in Sheffield. It’s the UK’s premier meeting place for delegates in the children's media and entertainment industries.

The Steel City Globe Awards is an initiative organised by Sheffield Children & Young People’s Service ICT & Literary Advisors, Sheffield City Learning Centres and Showcomotion to promote Literacy and ICT work in schools.
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