Who shall we watch for as the next generation of filmmakers graduate?

Film students at the University of Lincoln attended their 2024 graduation screening at the Everyman Cinema with the short film Off-Track winning every award.

This was the second annual screening of the graduation films through the venue which hosted actors, students, lecturers and parents alike.

It did not take long before Everyman’s halls were packed with excited faces. One of those belonged to Alex Morningstar, whose last name seemed fitting as the star of two of the films showing.

Alex’s mother, Verity Oliver was evidently proud, saying there was “so much potential in the room” that night.

The air was an electric mix of nervous popcorn and excitement, because the night was not just a screening, but an awards opportunity as well.

Of course, the awards were not the focus of the evening – after all, the night was a celebration of everyone’s hard work – but they were definitely in the peripherals.

The film awards up for grabs were for Best Screenplay, Best Post-Production and Best Cinematography.

There was also a Best Film Production Student award being offered.

For Best Cinematography, the award included access to PixiPixel filming equipment, worth thousands of pounds.

Student Blake Metcalfe said: “In my opinion, everyone deserves to be nominated.”

Although it was true that every student’s film received a well-deserved applause, only one would end up winning all the awards.

The films showing were Off-Track, The Egg, Father’s Day, No Days Off for Death, Julie Burroughs, Questioning, and Vanishing Act.

Another film, On Tilt, was initially planned to be screened, but unfortunately was cancelled due to technical issues.

There was a varied collection of themes, ranging from the morbid with real pig eyeballs to the tender with imperfect father-and-son relationships.

After the films, students waited in their velvet seats in anticipation of the awards to come. One of those was Oliver Townsend.

Oliver, 23, has been a go-to student for cinematography at the University of Lincoln.

He went on to win the cinematography award for his work in Off-Track, which was the “Oppenheimer” of the evening, making a clean sweep of all of the film awards.

The Lincoln-based cinematographer told me: “Winning the award meant the world. I am just so grateful I got to come to this university at this time because I couldn’t have done it without everyone here.”

Oliver said: “Everyone on the course is no nice and collaborative and I’ve learnt so much from them, the tutors too of course, I couldn’t have asked for better cine lecturers than Jack [Shelbourne] and Zeta [Spyraki]. I’m just really appreciative for my time at the uni and I think this was the perfect way to cap it off”

That night, there were whispers that Oliver might win the Best Film Production Student award as well, although this went to Darren Wong.

The 21-year-old editor of Off-Track arrived at the Everyman Cinema with a casual shirt and joggers. He had spent a long day travelling and an even longer day working.

Darren said: “I held up my phone to film the Best Student award, having my sure guess as to who it was, so imagine my surprise when I heard my name called out!”

Darren went on stage to accept his award where lecturer Jack Shelboure jokingly said he though Darren would be in the editing suite – a place the international student has spent much of his time in.

He accepted his award and there were chuckles in the audience as he admitted he felt underdressed.

Darren later told me: “I am very thankful to all the lovely people in the course who supported me throughout my three years here – I couldn’t have made the best of it, if it wasn’t for all of them.

Like many students, Darren went home “slighly tipsy” that night and said he felt “touched from all the people who congratulated me after the ceremony”.

Darren, who is orignally from Hong Kong plans to work in the UK but has not decided on a city to settle in yet.

Meanwhile, Oliver also has big plans in store. He told me that: “Next up is the Looking China project, which is all I’ve been focussing on for now, where I’ll be shooting and editing a short football documentary in Bejing which I’m really looking forward to.

“Then when I get back, I’ll start planning the project with the PixiPixel equipment, which will be amazing.”

Overall, it was an exciting evening which marked the start of exciting futures for all talent involved.

Every graduating student ought to be proud. We would do well to watch for their names in the rolling credits of future films.

By Kara Joubert.