Food for thought as samosa is sent into space

A group of 11-14 year olds won a national award for their animation.

The Rainbow Collective Film Club from Peckham have been announced as winners at the Into Film Awards, which honours the best young film-makers and use of film in education across the UK.

Presenter Lashana Lynch gave the Audience Choice Award to the group of 11-14-year-olds for their hilarious animation, Samosa in Space.

The Audience Choice Award sees all of the nominated films across six categories going head-to- head in a public social media vote.

That makes it the only category where the winner is decided by the public, as opposed to by judges.

Originally nominated in Best Animation – 12 and over, Samosa in Space proved a big hit with audiences, who shared the video more than 400 times.

The film is a colourful and catchy musical animation, based on the true story of two men from the Chaiiwalla takeaway in Bath who sent a samosa into outer space.

Musician, Ibbi, who created the song in the film, initially approached the group about collaborating, and the children were immediately keen to create a film that could cheer everyone up.

It was created remotely during Covid, with the children creating digital and hand drawn images, and choosing when to place them within the song.

The Rainbow Collective Film Club has been running for five years and the young people have grown up together creating animations as part of it.

During the height of lockdown and Covid, they used their skills as animators to create films to celebrate key workers, show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Movement, raise awareness on mental health, celebrate Black History Month, raise funds for children who needed laptops, celebrate their mums for Mother’s Day and bring attention to families who needed support from their local foodbank during Christmas.

Their animations were watched by tens of thousands of people on Twitter and they were able to build a strong following, raise awareness on social issues and bring a smile to peoples’ faces.

Film-maker, Elise, 13, said; “It’s a huge honour to win any award but especially an Into Film Award.

“On the journey to get here, I found my best friend for life and worked alongside my big brother, a bunch of friends and two great teachers. The family just got bigger, and I learned so much about making short films.

“The Rainbow Collective is definitely a game changer, especially for an area like ours.”

The red-carpet event in Odeon Luxe Leicester Square was hosted by comedian and broadcaster, Sue Perkins, other presenters included Eddie Redmayne, Tom Ellis, Stacey Dooley, Michael Ajao, Anson Boon, Emma Appleton, Ben Shires, Sebastian Croft, Sheyi Cole, Thaddea Graham, Lola Petticrew, and Samuel Adewunmi.

 

Pictured: Winners of the Audience Choice Award, Rainbow Collective, with presenter Lashana Lynch. Top from left, Tianna, Yusif, Rahmat, Amiah, Lashana Lynch, Courtney, Raphael, Elise, Iris. Bottom from left, Emmanuel, Twilight, Angel, Maryam, Xavier and Zahraphina.  Picture: Getty Images