AN 18-year-old student from Dominican College in North Belfast is set to walk the red carpet in London’s Leicester Square this month after her short film was nominated for the prestigious Into Film Awards.
Nora Campbell, who is currently sitting her A-Levels, received the surprise of her life when she learned that her film, Vampires Prefer Classical, had been shortlisted in the Best Film (16–19) category at the annual awards ceremony. The event brings together leading figures from across the film industry to celebrate the very best in young filmmaking talent.
Nora said: “I was really surprised and delighted when I found out I had been nominated. I was so shocked that my weird wee movie about guitars and vampires had been picked. I think that the world needs more colour and weirdness, and I wanted to put some of that out into the universe. It was actually studying film in school which got me into filmmaking and I really did not think that I would love directing as much as I do.”
Nora will be joined at the Into Film Awards by a group of young filmmakers from St Colmcille’s High School in Crossgar, who will also attend the prestigious London event.
Sean Kelly, Northern Ireland Programme Lead at Into Film, said: "We are incredibly proud to see such talented young filmmakers from Northern Ireland recognised on a UK-wide stage. The creativity, humour and originality shown in this year’s nominations highlight the strength of storytelling coming from our schools. These young people have embraced filmmaking as a way to express themselves, and it’s inspiring to see their work recognised at this prestigious event."
A scene from the film
Nora’s film is a wildly chaotic and brilliantly funny fantasy comedy. Fast-paced and imaginative, it follows a girl chosen by an eccentric wizard to summon an enchanted electric guitar and take on an evil vampire — one with a surprising passion for classical music.
The North Belfast teenager now hopes to study film in Manchester next year.
Her Moving Image Arts teacher, Ciaran Lyons, said: “Nora has creativity, intelligence and practical determination in abundance. The way she uses these qualities to turn the products of her quirky imagination into finished films is an example for all. Everyone at Dominican College is extremely proud of her.”
The film stars Nora’s family and friends. Nora explained that once she began planning the shots, the filming process flowed naturally.
“My film is basically just a big amalgamation of everything I love, and this made it a lot of fun to make. A big inspiration for me was my love for music and especially music videos, which I took a lot of inspiration from. I was in the middle of a bit of a vampire craze, as well as the TV programme The Mighty Boosh, and I thought that all of these things together would kind of be the best thing ever.”
