Glorious Revolution, the Grad Film from London Film School alumnus, Masha Novikova was awarded joint third prize at La Cinef.
The film was selected from over 1,500 short films submitted from film schools all over the world to the Festival de Cannes competition. Glorious Revolution was the only UK film to be awarded at La Cinef and takes home the โฌ7,500 third place prize.
Shot entirely in Ukraine last year, the film was informed by Mashaโs own experiences of the Revolution of Dignity. Glorious Revolution is set in 2014 and depicts a motherโs loss, as her son is killed while protesting in Independence Square. Her attempts to bury him as a hero clashes with the corruption in the bureaucratic system, testing her view of Ukraine.
Pablo Garrido Carreras was DP, and the screenplay was co-written by Matthew McHaffie, and co-produced by Paisley Valentine Walsh who also fulfilled the role of Assistant Director alongside Anastasia Savinova, with Ka Ki Wong and Alex Grigoras working on poster design and as Colourist โ all LFS alumni.
Glorious Revolution and other the awarded films will be screened at the Cinรฉma du Panthรฉon in Paris on 31st May. Italyโs Valerio Ferrara was named the winner with A Conspiracy Man (Il Barbiere Complottista) and Li Jihaeโs Somewhere receiving second place. Third prize was shared with Humans Are Dumber When Crammed Up Together (Les Humains sont cons quand ils sโempilent) by Laurรจne Fernandez.
The winning films were selected by the short films and La Cinef jury, presided over by Egyptian film director Yousry Nasrallah and including Monia Chokri, Laura Wandel, actor and director Fรฉlix Moati and French journalist Jean-Claude Raspiengeas. Previously known as Cinรฉfondation, La Cinef was originally created in 1998 in a bid to discover new young international cinematographic talent.
Mashaโฏ was born and raised in in Kiev, and travelled and studied at London Film School, graduating in 2021, with an MA in Filmmaking. She is an Erwin and Gisela von Steiner Foundation grant recipient, an Oskar-Karl-Forster scholarship holder, and was selected for Ildikรณ Enyediโs directing workshop with her upcoming short film, Mariaโs Lovers.
Masha joins several other LFS alumni to have been part of the Cinรฉfondation competition. In 2016 Hamid Ahmadiโs graduation filmโฏ In The Hills won 2nd prize, and in 2018โฏ Zhannat Alshanovaโs grad film, End of Season was selected. Several more LFS alumni have taken part in the prestigious Festival de Cannes Cinรฉfondation Residence including Duccio Chiarini, Barney Elliott, Babak Jalali, Rafael Kapelinski, Orkhan Aghazadeh, and Rafael Mendoza. In 2020 Amanda Nell Euโฏ was chosen to attend theโฏ Cannes Cinรฉfondation LโAtelierโฏ with her projectโฏ Tiger Stripes.