Research in Film Awards 2019

 

PositiveNegatives Win at the AHRC Research in Film Awards! 

Still from ‘Life on the Move’

 

Life on the Move, our co-produced stop motion animation illustrating complex research on global migration won ‘best social media short’ at the AHRC Research in Film Awards.

Two of PositiveNegatives’ co-produced films (North Star Fading and Life on the Move) were nominated for the 2019 awards. 

Members of the PositiveNegatives team headed to an awards ceremony at the BFI (British Film Institute) Southbank for the big announcement on 12th November 2019.

The Research in Film Awards (RIFA) celebrate the best in academic filmmaking. Their aim is to inspire researchers from across the UK to bring their work to the wider world. 

 

Our award-winning team of artists, film-makers and academics

In 2019 there were five RIFA categories and PositiveNegatives are delighted that two of our co-produced films appeared in three categories. They are:

 

 

The team receive their award

Life on the Move explores the many reasons why people choose to migrate and is based on research, partly carried out by the PositiveNegatives team, in the Horn of Africa. The film was a collaborative production, involving multi award-winning film maker Osbert Parker, the Migration Leadership Team (LIDC-MLT), PositiveNegatives, artist and graphic novelist Karrie Fransman with field work facilitated by the International Organisation for Migration. 

North Star Fading is a zoom animation inspired by the testimonies of Eritrean refugees produced by PositiveNegatives and illustrated by Karrie Fransman. 

Alongside our own entries are a whole host of exciting films, all of which you can read about and watch here

 

“ It was clear I had to find simple, but imaginative ways to bring these true stories to life in surprising ways that allowed viewers to emotionally connect with personal experiences without revealing people’s identities, especially when filming migrants in the Horn of Africa was not a option for several reasons. Animated characters, was the perfect choice to protect anonymity and focus audience attention on the message and heart of the stories.” 

– Osbert Parker on creating Life on the Move 

 

The awards ceremony was attended by members of the press, academics, film industry professionals, and the cast and crew behind the 25 films that were shortlisted.

As winners in our category, PositiveNegatives were presented with an award and receive £2,000 prize money to put towards our future work.

Still from Life on the Move

 

About our Collaborators 

The (LIDC-MLT) London International Development Centre Migration Leadership Team is leading a series of global conversations with academics, policy and practice experts, artists and migrants. They are funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to develop a shared and participatory global strategy for identifying and supporting migration research.

Karrie Fransman is a comic creator whose work has been published in The Guardian, The Times, Time Out, The Telegraph, BBC, The New Statesman and by The Arts Council. She is the author of two graphic novels ‘The House That Groaned’ and the award winning ‘Death of the Artist’ along with an award-winning comic, ‘Over, Under, Sideways, Down’ about an Iranian teenage refugee, for The British Red Cross.

Osbert Parker is a three time BAFTA nominated director and is perhaps best known for his signature style of using cut-out animation mixed with live action to create one-of-a-kind imaginary landscapes within commercials and short films.

 

Contact

If you would like further information please contact: 

Emily Oliver, Managing Director, [email protected] Emma Parker, Communications Manager, [email protected]