The glamorous gala screening and film challenge awards ceremony marked the end of the 48-hour DVMISSION film challenge 2022.
This is the last blog post of the series From then till now, dedicated to the 17th edition of the 48-hour DVMISSION film challenge awards night. For me as a writer, it was extremely interesting and useful to make you aware of the history and the significance of the challenge, and its influence on the development of the film culture in Europe.
The focus is on the awards and the special event held on 26th February in The Wedgewood Rooms. It was a thematical event based on the chosen theme for this year`s challenge – Hammer House of Horror. The evening included a variety of short films made the weekend before, participants in costumes, lots of fun, and there was a very supportive atmosphere felt during the event. The night ended with an after-party and a lot of dancing accompanied by the music of the DJ – Frankenstein Jones.
The first things I noticed on arrival were the red carpet, the well-placed scary décor and spider webs. The photographers who greeted the guests made every single person feel like a celebrity when entering the Wedgewood Rooms. There were psycho killers welcoming people at the door, zombies dressed in white paint suits roaming between the tables, jump scaring the guests, all led by a vampire who turned out to be a great singer as well as a comedian. Thanks to the amazing decoration, music, and actors we were fully immersed in the scary atmosphere of this year’s 48-hour challenge’s hammer horror theme.
Everything up to the smallest detail was extremely well thought out by the organisers – from the frightening decorations, the roaming zombies, the spectacular performance by Martha Smith on the keyboard playing Johann Sebastian Bach’s famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor accompanied by the imitation of the sound of choaking a person made with the help of a plastic bag.
We had an amazing view of the award ceremony. With the awards once again being tailored to the horror theme of this year’s challenge and handcrafted by James Waterfield of Lawn of the Dead. The statues, known as the Pompey Oscars, included spectacular attention to the finest detail and are clearly prized by the challenge participants. Each award is a unique handmade gem and represented the category of the award.
After the official announcement of the beginning of the night made by one of the founders of DVMISSION Roy Hanney, the glittering premiere screening followed. The audience was excited to see the films they had made in just 48 hours the previous weekend, there were a lot of rounds of applause, laughs, and an incredibly supportive atmosphere. After the films were screened, the guests had the chance to nominate their favourite film for the audience’s favourite award.
One short break later for drinks, talks, and time for casting the audience vote, the ceremony continued with the naming of the winners. The first category was for social media engagement where I was one of the judges. There were three nominations, and the winner was announced and welcomed to the stage. TrashArt became the delighted holders of the statuette and a bottle of champagne. After a thankful speech by the winners, the judges’ justification for the winner was read by Jinx Prowse, and the participants posed for a photo with the award. That is how the night continued and lots of awards were given. All winners in 14 different categories expressed their gratitude for the opportunity once more year to participate in the event.
The last award – for the Spirit of DVMISSION was bestowed by Roy Hanney and he gave a speech for its importance. The winners were Worcester Mini Massive who proved that the passion for filmmaking is being passed to the next generation of filmmakers as Worcester Massive have participated for years and won an award this year, as well.
At the end of the night, everyone was pleased with the fun atmosphere and organisation, of the event. All winning films can be watched on DVMISSION`s YouTube channel our you can see them on the website – just go to the VIDEOS page.
Overall, personally, I had a great time there, met with filmmakers and guests, and I am looking forward to experiencing it next year as a participant in the challenge!
