THE best in emerging Scottish screen industries talent were tonight recognised by BAFTA in Scotland at a glittering awards ceremony held at Oran Mor in Glasgow.
The 4th annual New Talent Awards, sponsored by Channel 4 and Creative Scotland, recognised the future shining stars of Scotland’s moving image industries.
Hosted by Scottish author and broadcaster Muriel Gray, the awards ceremony honoured eleven individuals from across Scotland, including students from Edinburgh College of Art, The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Queen Margaret University.
Anna Ginsberg made an animated music video for indie band The Bombay Bicycle Club
The night belonged to best friends Ainslie Henderson and Anna Ginsburg, who went head-to-head in the Best Animation category.
Ainslie scooped the award for It’s About Spending Time Together, a film made in response to a voice recording about his earliest childhood memory, whilst Anna won the award for Best New Work.
Sponsored by Channel 4, the Best New Work category is the final, most sought-after award of the night and spotlights one work from the nine screen categories in competition.
The four minute stop-motion animation accompanied the song How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep?
Anna’s winning piece, a four minute stop-frame animation, was commissioned by Island Records to promote Bombay Bicycle Club’s single How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep?, and has notched up more than 500,000 hits on YouTube.
Ian Mackenzie from Channel 4 said, “Channel 4 are delighted to be supporting the award for Best New Work in this year’s BAFTA in Scotland New Talent Awards. The level of quality in the work put forward from all categories was highly impressive.
“The winning work, Anna Ginsburg’s How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep; was an excellent example of understanding and execution within the constraints of a music video; as well as being a beautiful piece of animation that delighted all of the jurors.”
Anna spent six months working on the video
 Award-winner Ainslie, who appeared in the first series of the BBC talent show Fame Academy said, “This is the first time I’ve ever won anything. It feels amazing, especially as I made the film for my family and never intended it to be shown publicly.
“To be awarded by BAFTA in Scotland and to be amongst such amazing talent, some of them friends, is just brilliant. What an incredible night.”
Other awards went to: Lynn Murray in the Best Actor / Actress category for her role as Melanie in Falling for Fitzgerald; Hakon Palsson for Best Director of Photography for No More Shall We Part; Agata Jagodzinska for Best Writer for Secret Confessions; Johanna Erholtz for Best Editor (sponsored by Edit123) for The Taxidermist; Rabbit Punch by Neil Hartop for Best Short Fiction; and Gareth Griffiths for Best Original Music (sponsored by PRS for Music) for An Interrupted Story.
The BAFTA in Scotland New Talent Awards are open to new work made by students and first-time practitioners and highlight the bright future of Scottish film, television and games.
Jude MacLaverty, Director of BAFTA in Scotland said, “BAFTA in Scotland is committed to rewarding excellence, honouring new talent, and promoting the Scottish moving image industries to the wider public. The New Talent Awards recognise the best of emerging Scottish screen talent and we are thrilled to shine the spotlight on our winners tonight and to support their exceptional achievements.”
This year nominees came from all corners of the globe, including Poland, Yemen, Iceland and Germany, giving a distinctly international flavour to the awards. Jude added, “It’s great to see such a vibrant international community within Scotland’s moving images industries. There is a real feeling that Scotland is the place to be at the moment, which is why so many students and young people are flocking here to study and forge a career.”
Forty industry professionals across a wide range of disciplines sat on the Jury for each of the 11 categories in competition this year. Jurors included the award-winning John Mckay, Kate Dickie, Paul Leonard-Morgan, Oliver Cheesman and Michelle Friel.
