An international film festival took place over the weekend, and announced the winners of its annual film making competition.

With a double accolade the overall winner from the Walthamstow International Film Festival, founded in 2010, also came joint first in the under 18s category.

Jordan Benjamin, a 17 year old student at Leyton Sixth Form College in Waltham Forest, had unanimous support from all the judges for the bleak drama Forgotten, based on the theme of domestic abuse.

The judges were Janet Awe, a scripted comedy development producer, Barry Bliss, a Walthamstow based feature film director and photographer, Ed Cross, director producer of digital content at M-Integrated Solutions, Wayne Jones, cinema manager of Empire Cinema Group and Hassan Vawda, an Walthamstow based artist film director.

In second place was Rose, which was shot on location in Walthamstow. This bleak drama also focuses on a dysfunctional relationship and was highly marked for its portrayal of teenage depression. Marcus Green, the director, aged 17, is a student at Sir George Monoux College in Walthamstow. This film was also joint first in the under 18s category.

The judges awarded third prize to international film making group Non Films, whose piece Dull Hope was category winner in the Experimental section.

JK Starley by Steve Roberts, from Waltham Forest, won in the animation category. This quirky musical interpretation of the Walthamstow inventor was judged to be best and the judges commented on the humour and technical standard in the film. The judges also highly commended the runner-up We Are Moving by Walthamstow’s Esther Nelson and Litza Jansz for its community appeal and aesthetic.

Documentary winner was Carol Gyasi’s poignant film, Skateboard Blues, following the disabled beggars in Accra, Ghanaa, who use skateboards to weave in and out of traffic. The panel praised the film in particular for the risk involved in making the documentary short.

The Dead Man Speaks, set in a post-life landscape in Amsterdam, won the drama category. Marcos Mereles’ visual poem ruminates on what happens to all the living dead when their human form has departed.

The Experimental section saw Non Films’ Dull Hope scoop the premier place as category winner. Half animation and half movie footage, this hybrid resonated very much with the judging panel who deemed it to be a sad dirge on personal memories and heartbreak.