Lancing College Hosts Film Festival Gala with Sir Christopher Hampton


Lancing College recently welcomed back distinguished alumnus Sir Christopher Hampton (Second's 1959-1963) for a special film gala. The event celebrated the creativity and talent of our students, featuring the much-anticipated screening of the 2024 House Film Festival. Sir Christopher, an acclaimed writer, director, and double Oscar winner, funded the project and played a key role in making the evening a success.

The evening began with a drinks reception, where the writers and directors of the ten films met Sir Christopher to chat informally about their experience of wrestling a screenplay into shape on the page, then putting it onto screen and the directorial decisions involved in creating a film, from composing camera angles and lighting right through to final edit. As the students settled in with popcorn in hand, the gala screening commenced. The films themselves were a testament to the students' creativity, blending humour, drama, and even a touch of the magical. 

The House Film Festival was the culmination of months of hard work by students from each House, who scripted, directed, and starred in their own short films. Developed and then written between November 2023 and March 2024, the films were shot on location at the College in ten slots of 3½ hour in late April 2024. With the support of a professional writing and production crew, the students produced an impressive range of films. With Sir Christopher’s blessing, a number of awards – “The Hamptons” – were made, adjudged by a panel of film buffs. Matty B won Best Actor and Maria N Best Actress, with Marshall D and Issy M triumphing in the Best Supporting categories. Jaz B took home the statuette for Best Director for Intra Terrorem, whilst Will N won the Best Screenplay-Script Award for School State. Best Film was hotly contested: the award went to Intra Terrorem (Saints’ House). 

Finally, Sir Christopher took to the stage to present his own “Prize of Prizes” to the single film which had particularly caught his attention and done a great job across the five minute running time. He awarded that accolade in this inaugural year to The Benefit of Hindsight (Field’s House). 

The 2024 House Film Festival will undoubtedly be remembered as a highlight of the year, celebrating both the incredible talent of Lancing's students and the enduring connection between the College and its OLs. We'd like to extend a huge thank you to Sir Christopher Hampton for his involvement, and for inspiring the next generation of filmmakers at Lancing College.