BSFF 2020 winners!!

This year we had around 450 entries to our film festival across both the science fact and fiction categories. It has been our best year yet!! Our team of student volunteers longlisted 200 of these and then Robbie and Katherine (the BSFF committee) chose just 32 for our official selection!!

If your film was selected, a massive well done!! It was an incredibly tough competition!! The 32 films were passed to our teams of judges. You can learn a little more about them in our previous blog posts:
Science Fact judges
Science Fiction judges

The judges watched the official selection and scored them. The scores were averaged to decide the winners. Read on to find out who won!!

Science Fact Amateur

Runner up — Those in Grass Houses

Christian Lawes (Director, Writer and Producer)
Georgina Makhubele (Narrator)
Moritz Wanger (Composer)
Dominika Latusek (Sound Designer)
Marco Valerio Caminiti (Colourist)

Sociable Weavers engineer the biggest nest built by any bird. Within these enormous structures they live a fascinating social life, but can their family bonds protect them from the dangers of life in the Savannah?

Winner — The World’s Coolest LEGO Set!

Created and presented by Joshua Chawner

A world leading team of ultra-low temperature physics at Lancaster University decided to place a LEGO figure and four LEGO blocks inside their record-breaking dilution refrigerator.

This machine — specially made at the University — is the most effective refrigerator in the world, capable of reaching 1.6 millidegrees above absolute zero (minus 273.15 Centigrade), which is about 200,000 times colder than room temperature and 2,000 times colder than deep space.

Watch it again here.

Science Fact Professional

Runner up — The Most Ideal Place

David Regos (Producer and Director)

When preparations were being made for the historic Apollo 11 moon mission, three space stations around the globe were needed to keep track of the spaceflight. One was in California, one in Australia and the third was in an unknown sleepy village in the middle of Spain. The Most Ideal Place shows the crucial role that Fresnedillas played in July 1969 and tells the story of the local Spaniards who unexpectedly became an important part of this monumental event.

Watch it again here.

Winner — The Adventures of Alice in Typhoidland

Samantha Vanderslott, Claas Kirchhelle (Directors, Writers)
Ben Leighton (Animator)

On a golden afternoon in 1864, Alice Liddell went on a magical tour. Whilst being rowed in a boat, she heard a story about a rabbit in a nice coat. But this is not the story of the trip that led to Wonderland. Glide with us on a murky ride as we journey down the sewer hole into Oxford’s underside – there is much to show in typhoidland.

Watch it again here.

Science Fiction Amateur

Runner up — The Apocalypse will be Automated

Created by Melanie Killingsworth

In the year 2021, a virus wreaks havoc, starting in Melbourne. The government shuts down the country, quarantine is established, and the recently-dead roam the streets.

Three friends have prepared for this, using all the technology at their disposal. In the fight between humans and zombies…who will machines side with?

Winner — Good Morning

Joonas Ennala (Writer and Director)

Far in the future, after the annihilation of the earth, it’s time for humankind to bloom again. Just need to wake up first.

Watch it again here.

Science Fiction Professional

Runner up — Pet Planet

Ratimir Rakuljic (Director, Writer and Producer)
Monika Drahotuski (Producer)

Pet Planet is the best toy you’ve never had! Once unpacked and switched on, it forms an entire living world. Take good care of it and witness the rise of civilisations right on your tabletop. Nothing could ever go wrong.

Winner — Watchmaker at Time’s End

Shaheen Sheriff (Director, Writer)
Abida M Sherief , P V M Sheriff (Producers)
Vishnu Chandran, Kiran Ravindran, Sunakshi Puri, Shaheen Sheriff (Cast)

A watchmaker. Meteorites. Time is uncomfortably relative in this Keralan town, and our hero struggles to make the perfect watch to keep up with the times.

Shaheen Sheriff: “This movie is a mix of several things that I personally wanted to see on screen — an animated science fiction set in my hometown in Kerala, pulling together very regional elements to showcase a human story.”

Congratulations everyone!!!