2007 bursary students win prestigious awards

Two of the UK-based film students supported in 2007 by the One World Student Bursaries have recently won awards for the films they made in the developing world.

Maria Eduarda Andrade, who studied at Goldsmiths College, won the 2007 Student Television Award for the best factual film by a postgraduate. The awards, organised by the Royal Television Society, recognise the best in student filmmaking among undergraduates and postgraduates, and focus on three genres: factual, non-factual, and animation. Maria won for her film 'Just like mom', which studied the lives of three generations of women in Brazil. Click here to watch a clip from 'Just like mom'.

The jury had this to say about Maria's film: "[This was] a raw, vivid film that took you on a journey deep into the lives and troubles of three generations of one family in Brazil.  You never knew what was coming next, it had so many twists and surprises, but at its heart this film has a compassion for the women prepared to let us in on their darkest moments.  Clearly a powerful bond of trust had been formed between the film-maker and her damaged but dignified subjects."

Another prestigious award went to Purnima Raghunath, formerly of Brunel University, who made the film 'City of Widows' (below), a documentary about the widows living in the holy Indian city of Vrindavan. She won the short film competition organised by the Satyajit Ray Foundation, which is for films that reflect upon the lives of people from South Asia, either in their own country or the Diaspora. Click here to read more at the Satyajit Ray Foundation website.

As it happens, this is not the first time a bursary recipient has won this award - in 2004, Sandhya Suri won the award for her short film 'Safar', which was later developed into the feature length documentary 'I for India'. Read more about Sandhya's film here.

Click here to watch a clip from 'City of Widows'.

Click here to read more about the 2007 bursary scheme