The FOCUS Award: Past Years
The FOCUS Award happens every other year, and began in 2020. You can find out about our past winners and mentors below.
The FOCUS Award 2022:
We ran this award for the second time in 2022. The shortlisted entrants, who all received access to a mentorship conversation, were:
Dinah by Pierre Niyongira
I Didn’t Dare to Speak by Aileen Ye
L’appel du vide by Annabelle Angeline
The Cave by Rong You
THE HIP HOP MENTALITY: A UK HIP HOP DOCUMENTARY by Montel Vernege
And the winner was:
I Didn’t Dare to Speak by Aileen Ye
The shortlisted entrants received free tickets to the EVCOM Clarion Awards ceremony and had excerpts from their film screened to all our guests. They received mentorship conversations with top corporate film companies, and our winner was enrolled on a year long mentorship programme! Thank you to Gorilla Gorilla!, The Edge Picture Company and Media Zoo for providing these mentorship opportunities. Thank you to Gorilla Gorilla! for sponsoring.
Hear about Aileen’s experience: “It was great to be given the opportunity to practically develop all my skillsets professionally and creatively. With the shadowing opportunities, getting to be on set, and speaking to people who worked in different departments and getting their advice, it was an unbelievable whirlwind of fun, wisdom, and motivation. I’m very grateful for this mentorship as it was beyond what I expected.”
The FOCUS Award (15-18) 2022:
We ran this award for the first time in 2022, to offer work experience to school and sixth form aspiring filmmakers. The shortlisted entrants were:
daydream by Alison Chang
RED by Kunza Khan
And the winner was:
daydream by Alison Chang
The winner received access to work experience with corporate film companies Pukka Films, Verity London and TFI Lodestar.
The FOCUS Award 2020:
We ran this award for the first time in 2020. The shortlisted entrants, who all received access to a mentorship conversation, were:
56 Black Men by Esther Rennae Walker
Conscious by Loren Alleyne
Happy Birthday by Jigyasa Anand
Magpie by Hamza Pool
STRANDED IN NIGERIA – THE ROAD TO ENUGU by Godgift Chidinma Emesi
And the winner was:
Magpie by Hamza Pool
“With the FOCUS Award, EVCOM have set up an amazing opportunity for filmmakers to have their voice heard. Since being the recipient of last years FOCUS, many great opportunities have opened up for me as a direct result of the award,” says Hamza, 2020 Winner!
The shortlisted entrants received free tickets to the virtual November awards ceremony and had excerpts from their film screened to all our guests! They received mentorship conversations with top corporate film companies, and our winner was enrolled on a year long mentorship programme! Thank you to Gorilla Gorilla!, The Edge Picture Company and Plastic Pictures for providing these mentorship opportunities. Thank you to The Edge Picture Company for sponsoring this award.
