Learner Recognition
Sarah Stables, who studied for a NextGen: HNC in Film and TV at New College Lanarkshire, won a Royal Television Society (RTS) Student Award for her film ‘Falsehood’ last month.
The event celebrates the best audio-visual work created by undergraduate students from universities and colleges across Scotland.
Sarah said: “It was the last award of the night and the standard of the other entries was so high. I’d only entered to get the experience of submitting something to a competition, I did not see this coming.”
“‘Falsehood’ is an intense short film, featuring a young couple having a fight in a car. It was drawn from personal experience. Many moons ago an ex broke up with me in similar way. I’m very much over it, but it always niggled at me that I didn’t say the things I wish I had, so it was cathartic to go back and put that right!”
“I previously had office jobs and then I had two children. I thought I’d go back to work when my youngest was three and went to nursery. But that was the year Covid hit and it made me think that I didn’t really want go back to office work. I wanted to something I really cared about and set an example for my kids to do what makes you happy.
“I’ve always been interested in film and TV, the course looked really good and I applied. It’s been fantastic. The variety of people on the course is amazing, people I’d never have met in ‘real life’ but have become really good friends. And the lecturers have been so supportive. I definitely feel a connection to the department that will continue after I leave.”
Valerie Innes, Head of Next Generation Qualifications and Standards at SQA said: “A huge congratulations to Sarah for winning – what a huge accomplishment! It’s great to see that SQA qualifications are helping learners like her reach their full potential and are allowing her to showcase her talent. As we continue to develop the next generation of these courses, we hope more learners will follow her lead.”
Alan Moffat, Head of the Visual and Creative Arts Department at New College Lanarkshire, said: “It’s a fantastic achievement and she’s a worthy winner. Her work is of a very high standard. Another student of ours, Coleen Bell, won the same award last year, which shows the talent we have here, among students and lecturers.”
You can watch Sarah’s film Falsehood on YouTube.