Film Production students bag International Motor Film Award nomination

The Film Production students worked as the crew for Film Production Academic Fellow Aarif Laljee’s landmark film ‘Aymen – Don’t Think, Just Do It!’ which follows the story of Aymen who decides to build a superbike and ride it up to 100mph on a test track despite no experience as a bike engineer or even riding a motorbike.

Its success had led to a nomination for ‘Best Student Film’ at the 2023 International Motor Film Awards – the world’s most prestigious event for the automotive film and television industry – which is holding its 10th anniversary event at London’s Alexandra Palace on Thursday 21 September.

The graduates involved were co-director/producer Michael Morris, Alex Coleborn (Director of Photography), Lee Preston (Assistant Camera), Phoenix Thompson & Lucy Atkinson (Additional Camera Operators), Owen Cull (Sound), Joe MacCaulay (Runner), Archie McWilliams (Credits and Graphic Design), Cris Newhall (Poster Design) and Niamh Lafferty (Photography).

Michael said: “Working on this film was a great experience. Aarif approached me with the idea and we worked on assembling a student crew to make this the best possible production we could. It was so cool to step beyond our usual academic work and collaborate with such a passionate and skilled crew. We all learnt massively from this and it helped us prepare for the industry which we are now a part of.

“The story itself is inspirational with a quirky side which anyone can relate to. I’m confident that the public will love it. To be nominated for such a prestigious award is rewarding for me and the whole crew. We thank the programme and the University for guidance and such a great opportunity.”

Aarif co-directed, produced and edited the film with Creative Technical Demonstrator Owen Calderbank contributing as a 3D animator and Broadcast Engineer & TV Studios Manager Ashley Tidball providing the soundtrack for the film’s credits.

On the nomination, Aarif said: “It’s great to collaborate with students on personal projects, giving them the opportunity to expand their creativity and gain valuable industry experience.

“Massive thanks to the Film Production team and the University for supporting this project and we are honoured to be representing Salford at the awards next month.”

The film will also be eligible to receive Technical Achievement Awards on the night in the Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Sound categories.