A black-and-white poetic tribute to London was announced as the winner of the inaugural FOURWALLS Short Film Competition during a screening last night as part of the London Short Film Festival. The winning film was judged by a panel made up of industry-leading figures, including; Michael Winterbottom, Amanda Levete, Sir Stuart Lipton, Polly Stenham, John Akomfrah OBE, Dominic Minghella and Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE. The competition was developed by David Lammy MP in order to collect the views and perspectives on housing in London by the people that live there.
Judge John Akomfrah OBE said of the winning film: “This film is gentle, lyrical and evocative. A piece of real integrity made all the more richer by the fact that it seems to echo sentiments and aspirations from the ‘inside’. A loving elegy on the city from voices rarely heard.”
The film competition was created to widen the debate on housing in London and engage a broad spectrum of Londoners on the issue. The project appealed to people across London to create short videos about their experiences and perspectives on living in the capital. The top three films won cash prizes of up to £1,000 and all the shortlisted filmmakers received £100 vouchers for Raindance filmmaking courses.
The second and third place films addressed gentrification and all-female living respectively. The latter, ‘The Girl Room’, looked at how girls in their 20s in London were living under such different circumstances to their mothers 30 years ago. The other shortlisted films focussed on issues such as squatting and housing size, as well as the regeneration of areas such as Cody Dock in East London.
