Experimental film students and graduates selected to be part of first round of nominations for ICA and BBC New Creatives

Posted Wednesday 15 May 2019

A threat posed by plastics in our oceans was among the stories explored by Kingston University students and graduates who have landed three successful applications to the first Open Call for New Creatives - a national initiative launched by BBC Arts and Arts Council England which aims to support new and emerging young artists.

PhD film research student Myrto Farmaki and MA Experimental Film student Emily Charlton were among 21 artists selected in London to develop their initial ideas. A Submission from MA Experimental Film graduate Louiza Orlof was also picked to be part of the initial cohort of filmmakers.

New Creatives is open to artists aged 16-30 producing new work in audio or moving image. Work by successful applicants is intended for broadcast on the BBC. The initiative is supported by the Institute of Contemporary Arts, with Kingston School of Art's Visible Institute involved as a production partner, working with artists to develop their commissions from initial idea to delivery. The Visible Institute is based within the University's department of film and photograph and champions the development of practice-based research.

The New Creatives brief challenged entrants to explore storytelling, performance and experimentation to make the audience think about what constitutes art and encourage new ways of looking at the world while communicating their place within it. It encouraged artists to take in to account four pillars - relevance, originality, timeliness and shareability.

The second Open Call for BBC New Creatives will close in June.

Master's student Emily Charlton's submission, which has a working title of Descent, explores the impact humans have made on ecology, particularly the presence of plastics in the deepest depths of the oceans. "Part of the problem is we are very removed from what is happening to the oceans, it's not very visible in our day to day lives - especially what is happening at the very bottom of the sea," she said.

The film is due for completion at the end of June and she is currently researching a host of rare specimens from the mysterious world of the deep sea. "I'm going to be filming the discovery collection which is based at the Oceanography Centre in Southampton," she explained. "They have a number of deep sea specimens collected since the 1930s. I'll be animating those deep sea creatures for my film. Some of the specimens look terrifying, it's otherworldly down there. My aim is to raise awareness of the issues and contribute to a change in attitudes in some small way."

Having moved to London in September to start her 18 month part time MA course, the 26 year old from Poole said she applied to the Open Call thanks to encouragement from her tutors and the University's promotion of the opportunity. "It's a brilliant scheme with some great partners. I was attracted to the fact that the film will not just be shown at a cinema but also broadcast, it's really exciting in terms of reaching a wider audience," she said.

Associate Professor and Director of Studies MA Experimental Film Phillip Warnell said New Creatives would generate and give heightened profile to new, short-form moving image and audio work. "Partnering with the ICA and a consortium of associates in London enables Kingston University to encourage talented students, graduates and others to apply to the programme, fostering new voices and approaches to film and sound art," he explained. "As lead artist on the scheme, it's a great privilege to channel absorbing levels of emerging filmmaking talent into a production-based scheme with such a wow factor."