National Film And Television School Celebrates Graduates At Cannes 2024
The 77th edition of the Festival de Cannes has come to a close and The National Film and Television School (NFTS) is still on cloud nine after a fabulous 12 days celebrating our graduates as their outstanding films premiere at one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world.
L-R Ashionye Ogene (producer), Marcin Mazurek (composer), Alexander Faingold (sound designer and dubbing mixer), James Davis, Anna Moore (co-screenwriters), Mansi Maheshwari (director)
On Thursday 23 May, graduate animation Bunnyhood had its World Premiere at La Cinef. The team including producer Ashionye Ogene, writers James Davis and Anna Moore, sound designer Alex Faingold and composer Marcin Mazurek all cheered from the audience as director Mansi Maheshwari took to the stage to accept the third prize. NFTS animations have now won more prizes at La Cinef than any other film school!
Mansi (left) with other La Cinef winners
Directed, co-written and co-produced by Mahdi Fleifel with sound design by Steve Bond, To a Land Unknown premiered as part of Directors’ Fortnight and received an emotional standing ovation at the screening on Wednesday 22 May.
Sister Midnight also screened in Directors’ Fortnight with cinematography by Sverre Sørdal. Featuring stop motion animation directed by Honor Price, produced by Thijme Grol, cinematography by Rob O’Kelly, editing by Napoleon Stratogiannakis, assistant editing by Natalia Gozdzik and puppet maintenance by Ellen Beaufoy, the film also received an extended standing ovation for the filmmakers.
Sister Midnight team ©️Susy Lagrange
In Un Certain Regard On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, co-produced by Gabriel Gauchet, won Best Director and Norah (co-producer R Paul Miller) made history by becoming the first Saudi film to screen on the official calendar at the festival. In the same category, Santosh (writer/director Sandhya Suri, co-producer James Bowsher, editing assistant Tomasz Kowalski) also premiered.
Sandhya Suri at the Santosh photo call in Cannes
The National Film and Television School is immensely proud of our graduates and their achievements on the world stage at Cannes this year. We can’t wait for more people to watch and enjoy their exceptional work!