Talented Max wins two national film awards

Former New City College Havering Sixth Form student and talented film-maker, Max Roach, won two honours at a prestigious national online film awards presentation attended by movie director Edgar Wright and US actor Michael Sheen.

Max, who studied the Creative Media TV & Film BTEC and A Level Film Studies while at the sixth form in Hornchurch, was named Overall Winner for his film Lift-Off, which also scooped the award for Best Film/TV Extract at the WJEC Eduqas Moving Image Awards Ceremony.

The presentation was streamed online from YouTube, where Sara Pascoe, herself an ex-Havering Sixth Form student, presented Max his first award, saying: “I’m delighted to announce that the winner is Max Roach from Havering Sixth Form, which is my old college – a crazy coincidence – congratulations Max you are doing Essex proud!”

Students from schools and colleges up and down the country entered the competition and then the best were short-listed for the ceremony.

Lift-Off depicts the idealistic future of space travel from an alternative perspective where the outcome is bittersweet. Max says he was initially inspired by the current events of space travel, and the possibilities of living on Mars – but also the very real challenge of not being able to come back.

Having left the sixth form in the summer, Max, 18, from Romford, is now studying Film and Television Production at the University of York. After winning the awards, Max said: “It feels absolutely incredible that the fantastic team that worked on this film is getting recognition for their amazing work. An award is nothing without the team, memories and dedication behind it.

“Sara Pascoe and Edgar Wright have both been massive inspirations for me and are partly responsible for why I took film in the first place, so hearing them bestow the awards for Lift-Off was out of this world. It was also an amazing experience to watch the other brilliant films being screened at the event.

“I have to thank Sean Stubbs-Tyler along with the other amazing Film & TV staff at Havering for not only telling me about the awards but for also being brilliant tutors and mentors.”

He added that the film involved a personal story. “It became a lot more real during the writing stage where I incorporated experiences of my own (not space related) to the narrative. I feel that my favourite stories are ones personal to the teller, and this is what I attempted here.”

To view the awards ceremony, click here