ISSUE NO. 24 (12 JUNE 2020)

Agence France Presse (AFP) Y11 Digital Media Graduation 

Congratulations to the sixty four graduating students, all of whom completed the six units which comprise the AFP Media qualification. This is a unique award with News journalism forming the flagship unit of the course and subsequently accredited by the AFP in the aim of equipping students with fact checking skills, so relevant in combating fake news.

An impressive eight students qualified for the highest markband possible: The High Achievement Award! These were Mihika Khandelwal (11B2), Aiswarya Rambhatla (11M1), Rohan Williamson (11N2), Katie Kwok (11S1), Alyssa Wong (11N1), Anakin Wan (11C2), Andrea George (11N2) and Jonty Francis (11S1). 

Sadly, the usual AFP Media Graduation Ceremony had to be cancelled, although students have received digital copies of their graduating transcripts. The following special awards and nominations were made to students as part of the annual South Island School Film & Media Awards: 

Best AFP Video Essay

Nominees: Alyssa Wong (11N1), Andrea George (11N2), Mihika Khandelwal (11B2) 

Winner:  Aiswarya Rambhatla (11M1)

Best Client Commission Film: 

Winner:  Nicholas Tam (11C2), Jet Yue (11N2), Jason Mak (11K2), Akshat Gupta (11B1)

Best BSD Online Role playing Computer Game

Nominees: Brian Chow (11M1) , Aiswarya Rambhatla (11M1), Michelle Kim (11K1)

Winner: Anakin Wan (11C2)

Best Music-Video Written Essay

Nominees: Kavinda de Alwis (11B2), Jurie Lee (11K1), Alyssa Wong (11N1)

Winner: Katie Kwok (11S1)

Please note that the work of all students will be ready for viewing next Friday the 19th of June.

13th SIS Film & Media Awards

The 13th SIS Film & Media Awards ceremony also had to be cancelled, whilst the usual Collaborative Project films produced by Year 12 IB Film students and which tend to dominate the senior categories had to be postponed until they begin Year 13! Nevertheless, the Film & Media department has still seen a remarkable range of quality films associated with students from across the school and which deserved to be recognised. Rather than winning trophies, students for 2020/21 will receive digital badges, specific to their category and award, which can be assigned to their signature for the next twelve months.

Notably, only one student won more than one category with Karina Au (13N2) winning both the Bodega Media Comparative Study Award and Bodega Media Film Student Award, the latter of which she shared with Alicia Leong (13K1). For other senior section awards, the best overall fiction film, went to Samara Chaplain (12C2) for her Gone Girl inspired monologue. Other notable winners included the Edgar Wright ‘Cornetto trilogy’ inspired work of Joe Shale and Lewis Kerr. Joe won ‘Bodega Media Best Editor’ and Lewis ‘Bodega Media Best Scriptwriter.’ The boys were narrowly edged out by Samara for the blue ribbon prize of Best Film.

Justin Man, co-Head of the Digital Leadership Council was nominated a remarkable three times in the same category: ‘The Making a Difference Award.’ Unsurprisingly, Justin went on to win this category with his promo video for Innovation XIII.

The Best Non Fiction Film went to Yi Kin Choy (13B1), one of three awards won by those students completing the IBCP. Seb Caldwell (13N2) and Lizzi Henricksen (12B1) also deservedly scooped the Bodega Media Film & Television Production Award and the Bodega Media Director Award, respectively.

Despite the challenges faced during the 2019/20 academic year, Film and Media students have distinguished themselves by maintaining great diligence and resilience in completing such excellent work.

2020 SIS Film Award Winners

• Y9 AFP Photography Award- Bobbi Lee (9S2)
• Y9 Advertisement Award- Sean Tsang (9N1)
• Y10 AFP Horror/Thriller Award- Thomas Hafner (10C1), Aashika Mamgain (10N2), Erin Armitage (10K2), Zahabiyah Boty (10B2)
• Bodega Media MaD Award- Justin Man (12M2)
• Bodega Media Performance Award- Lily Haylett (9B1)
• Bodega Media Comparative Study Award- Karina Au (13N2)
• Bodega Media Script Writer Award- Lewis Kerr (12B1)
• Bodega Media Sound Designer/Composition Award- Michelle Li (12B2)
• Bodega Media Cinematography Award- Maxine Yang (12B2)
• Bodega Media Editor Award- Joe Shale (12K2)
• Bodega Media Director Award- Lizzi Henricksen (12B1)
• Bodega Media Film & Television Production Award- Seb Caldwell (13N2)
• Bodega Media Film Student Award- Karina Au (13N2) & Alicia Leong (13K1)
• Bodega Media Factual Film Award- Yi Kin Choy (13B1)
• Bodega Media Film Award-Samara Chaplain (12C2)

For Episode 5 of The Tech Bubble (here) we tackle the thorny issue of Fake News. Host Iain Williamson is joined by Eric Wishart, former AFP editor in chief here in Hong Kong and now responsible for special editorial projects. He lectures in journalism at HKU and HKBU and is the vice president of the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents Club. Also, Mary Hui, a member of our alumni having left us back in 2010 before she graduated from Li Po Chun UWC in 2012. She currently works for Quartz covering business and geopolitics in Asia, as well as the HK protests. With Eric and Mary, our usual student guests: Sam Bonnekamp and Chloe Jazzy Lau. Finally, Zack Jones from 11C1 makes his debut appearance on the show. Zack has completed internships with the SCMP and writes regularly for the Young Post.

This year the Fine Art students demonstrated both resilience and perseverance in managing the changes to their GCSE examination requirements due to Covid-19. We have been so impressed by their artistic journey and continued commitment during e-learning. Over the coming weeks, we will be sharing the stunning work created as part of their personal portfolios. 

Today we are celebrating the work of Annette Wun, Tatum Sadler, Valerie Shui, Lok Yiu Fung and Adele Aranha.

It was lovely to have students back in workshops carrying out practical tasks for their unit of inquiry. Students were delighted to be making products that they have been planning all term. Year 7 Textiles students have been making Textiles monsters to celebrate uniqueness and embrace diversity.

Chloe Lau 11B1 in Team #YouMatter kicked off their project with the assembling of Covid-19 care packages aimed at families with children with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities last week! You can read about the #YouMatter Campaign HERE.