NFTS Clinches Grierson Hat-Trick with All3Media Best Student Documentary Win
Last week, National Film and Television School graduates took home the All3Media Best Student Documentary Award at the prestigious 2025 Grierson Awards for the third consecutive year. This Grierson Award win marks 11 in total for the NFTS since the award category started in 2011.
Congratulations to the filmmaking team behind Welcome Home Freckles, directed and produced by recent Directing Documentary MA graduate Huiju Park, and created with a talented crew of NFTS alumni!
Three of the four nominations for this award were made up of NFTS films: Hooked, Two Days On The Interstate and Welcome Home Freckles.
The Grierson Jury said of Welcome Home Freckles: “The jurors lauded this film for its brave and deeply personal exploration of generational trauma told with remarkable emotional depth and sophistication. Beautifully shot and expertly edited, it combines powerful storytelling, exquisite cinematography, and subtle sound design to create an intimate and moving portrait of family, pain, and hope. Honest, restrained, and profoundly affecting, it stands out as an accomplished and mature piece of filmmaking.”
The 53rd Grierson Awards Ceremony took place on Tuesday 18th November, and was hosted by award-winning musical comedian, actor and presenter Rachel Parris (The Mash Report). Industry leading filmmakers, producers and executives gathered to support and platform the best of British documentary making, including this year’s BBC Grierson Trustees’ Award recipient, documentary editor Rupert Houseman (Chernobyl 86), and Best Documentary Presenter Award recipient Blindboy Boatclub (Blindboy: The Land of Slaves & Scholars).
Learn More: Welcome Home Freckles
After four years apart, a daughter returns to Daegu, South Korea, to confront the unresolved family conflicts and deep-rooted domestic violence that plagued her childhood. She discovers the generational cycle of abuse and realises that only she can break it.
- Winning NFTS Crew
Director/Producer/Motion Graphics and Titles Designer - Huiju Park
Camera - Benjamin Kodboel
Production Manager - Nathan Hendren
Sound Recordist - Jules Barral
Editor/Online Editor- Clare Maleeny
Sound Designer/Dubbing Mixer - Levi Giger
Composer - Edoardo Vella
Colourist - Cameron Ward
Other notable wins include the Channel 4 Best Popular Culture Documentary for Grand Theft Hamlet, and the Envy Best Single Documentary – Domestic, won by Witches.
Applications will open in January 2026 for the January 2027 cohort of our Directing Documentary MFA.
Learn more about this course, and how the NFTS can help you make award-winning documentaries here: nfts.co.uk/directing-documentary