A staggering five out of the eleven principal awards at this year’s Encounters Short film Festival went to filmmakers who are either based in Bristol or were trained here. The Awards were announced at the Gala Ceremony at the Watershed on Saturday night.

Isabel Anderton from Bristol becomes the only woman to win an Encounters 2007 prize with her short entitled “Young Offender” which won the ITV West Award sponsored by ITV West. The film is based on a true story about a young white inmate who becomes increasingly disturbed as he serves out his time in a multi-racial institution for young offenders. Isabel receives £1,000 as the maker of this year’s best entry made in the South West.

The winner of the prestigious Cartoon d’Or Nomination was Bristol-trained stop frame animator Trevor Hardy with “Pushkin”, a story about a missing cat and Mrs Dombilard, its worried owner. The DepicT! Award to find the best 90 second micro-film, sponsored by Aardman, Films@59, Arts Alliance Media, BBC Film Network and Shooting People was won by Bristol based writer, director and animator Matthew Walker with his film “Operator”. This charming and amusing film begins with a man calling telephone enquiries to ask “Do you have a number for God?” To view Matthew’s film and profile go to www.depict.org/news/45.

“Isabella” by Geoffrey Taylor went on to win both the National Association for Higher Education and the Moving Image (NAHEMI) / Kodak prize for creative filmmaking and the Kodak / Nahemi Cinematography Award. Geoffrey is a graduate of UWE and a regular Encounters and Watershed volunteer.

A further two awards were also picked up by local graduates. The DepicT! Audience Award went to UWE graduate David Gilbert for his film “The Picnic” and David receives a bundle of benefits from Shooting people, the online news service and resource bank for film-makers.

The South West Screen Audience Award went to Harriet Fleuriot, a graduate of the Arts Institute in Bournemouth but now based in Bristol. Her film “A Short Collection of Hilary Flamingo’s Dream Vocations” won her £1,000 and mentoring by an industry professional.

Congratulations to all the winners.

For more details on all the winners of this year’s festival visit www.encounters-festival.org.uk