Barton Peveril Student Film Enters International Film Festival

Barton Peveril Sixth Form College students Anas Sfagsi has had his short film, Odd One Out, entered into the Sharjah International Film Festival. The festival takes place between 10th and 15th October in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

The film was entered into the festival by IntoFilms, an organisation that supports aspiring young filmmakers and who awarded Sfagsi’s film their Best Short of April 2021 Award earlier this year.

At the festival, Sfagsi, who previously attended St. George Catholic College, will participate in the opening ceremony, a screening of his film, a tour of Sharjah, and an awarding ceremony.

Anas Sfagsi spoke about his success:

This was honestly unbelievable, the fact that IntoFilm themselves entered it in the festival showed that they believed in the project. 

‘We made the project online over zoom in about a week during a British Film Institute (BFI) Workshop. There were four of us making the film with all of us dabbling in different areas but I focused on Directing and Editing. The crew included Phoebe Coggins, Louise Cade and Daisy Dean and this project would be impossible without them and their skill.

‘I am looking forward to going to the festival and it is going to be a massively different experience, which is exciting.’

This is not Sfagsi’s only success this year. Sfagsi and fellow Barton Peveril student Joshua Films were awarded the Young Filmmakers Fund from Neck of the Woods Films, for their documentary SO14. The pair attended an awards ceremony at Solent University on Wednesday 20th July 2022.

Speaking on her students’ successes, Barton Peveril Director of Media, Film and Technology, Samantha James, said:

‘Anas Sfagsi and Josh Fields have consistently pushed themselves to make ambitious and creative projects whilst studying Media Production at college. I’m so proud that they pitched for and were awarded the Young Filmmaker’s Fund from Neck of the Wood Films this year. This supported them in producing and screening their insightful documentary SO14, a short film about community in Southampton. What a fantastic achievement.’