Damani Mitchell (left) and Lekan Mitchell, winners of the Jamaican Junior Filmmakers Competition accepted the prizes on behalf of the production team of the winning entry 'Neville Smith'. They recieved cash from British Caribbean Insurance Company, phones from Digicel, passes from Palace Amusement and books from Sangster's Book Stores. The presentation was held at the offices of the Francophone Film Festival, Lilford Avenue, last Thursday. - Winston sill

Ahead of Thursday's announcement of the inaugural Junior Filmmakers Competition winner at the 32nd annual Francophone Film Festival, one thing was certain: The winning entry would come from Campion College, as all three entries were from students at that Hope Road, St Andrew, school. But Pierre Lamaire, president of the Alliance Française at 12b Lilford Road, St Andrew, where the festival is being held, said there are plans for expansion.

"We are hoping to make this Jamaica Junior Filmmakers Competition into a Caribbean Junior Filmmakers Competition," Lamaire said.

Campion's Filmmakers Society predates the Junior Filmmakers Competition.

There was one entry each in three categories, music videos, documentaries and dramatisation and it was the documentary, Neville Smith, about a legendary mathematics teacher at Campion, which came out on top.

Damani Mitchell and Lekan Mitchell accepted the prizes on behalf of the production team. There was cash from British Caribbean Insurance Company, phones from Digicel, passes from Palace Amusement and books from Sangster's Book Stores.

Healthy doses of humour

Through a series of interviews, the short documentary covers Smith's career at Campion and the impact he has made on generations of students as well as staff members. His legendary metre rule and successive VW bugs were a part of the story, which had healthy doses of humour.

Dr Hopeton Dunn, who made the announcement on behalf of the judges, said: "All three productions are in a way, winners. Not only are you pioneers, but all the efforts are commendable. Everybody should feel encouraged and empowered."

Dunn said: "It is very important to develop in our young people what I call a visual literacy." He said that it was crucial from a personal development perspective, as well as "the possibility of developing careers in the creative sector", those careers maybe co-existing with other pursuits.

Lamaire said after last year's Francophone Film Festival, the decision was taken to provide an avenue for young people to express themselves. Various schools were contacted and free workshops were held at the Alliance Française from January to June. Students were allowed to use video cellphones, in addition to digital cameras.

"It is not the quality so much of the image, but the quality of the content," Lamaire said. "You agree the image can be a little bit off to show the realism."