An imaginative four-minute film on Fairtrade from Arbory School is the overall winning entry in this year’s It’s Not Fair! Primary Film Competition. The award was announced at a special showcase screening held at Ballakermeen High School on Wednesday 11th May attended by the finalists in the competition which is run by the One World Centre.

The team from Arbory beat off stiff opposition from four other primary schools and impressed the judges with their design, wardrobe and use of comic effect. They were awarded Best Theatrical Film for their performances in addition to securing the overall winner’s prize.

Fairtrade was also chosen as a topic by the students of Bunscoill Rhumsaa. They were awarded Best Opening Sequence for a creative stop motion introduction. Meanwhile Marown School’s film looked at the impact of water scarcity and was judged Best Educational Film.

St Thomas’ School picked up Best Emotional Impact for their inventive way of covering the refugee crisis and last year’s winners Sulby were awarded Best Film Making for their superb technical skills on a film about education for girls.

The event was kindly sponsored by Sure and supported by the Isle of Man Film Festival.

Sarah Jarvis, Marketing Manager of Sure, said: “The It’s Not Fair! competition is a great opportunity for younger students on the Isle of Man to think about wider global issues and encourages them to compare, in a creative way, the life they enjoy here against that of others. As well as learning useful technical skills in the film-making process, the students are challenged to think about some of the big inequalities around the world and it is always exciting to see the approach they take to what can be quite difficult subjects.”

Rosemary Clarke, Director of the One World Centre, added: “As usual we were impressed with the students’ imaginative interpretations. This year’s films used a range of genres, everything from comedy to documentary, and a number of different techniques such as animation and green screen effects to get their message over effectively.

“All the film-makers should be proud of their work and we hope all the entrants will share their learning with their own schools as well as their friends and families. We are particularly pleased that this year the winning film will be screened at the Isle of Man Film Festival and so will be seen by a much wider audience.”

Photo - The winning team from Arbory School with, from left to right, Zoe Guilford of the Isle of Man Film Festival, Rosemary Clarke, Director of the One World Centre and Sarah Jarvis, Marketing Manager at Sure.