Islay Students and the Movie Awards

Islay’s young film stars were headed to London's famous ODEON Leicester Square early March but a series of travel related disasters caused by snow, hail, ice and sick cabin crew delayed their departure and meant that even though they eventually made it to the Smoke, they missed the awards ceremony. British film industry movers and shakers had gathered to celebrate the First Light Movies Awards 2008 and the Islay crew were nominated as winners. The dazzling ceremony, which has been dubbed the mini Oscars®, was hosted by the vivacious Big Brother presenter and TV personality Davina McCall.

A whole host of celebrities were also on hand to present the actual awards including Sir Ian McKellen, Kevin Spacey, BAFTA award winning director Shane Meadows, new Bond beauty Gemma Arterton and the Secretary of State for Media, Culture and Sport Andy Burnham MP. Unfazed by their misfortune, the stalwart Islay crew partied hard with the time they had, clocked a few celebs, and made sure they extracted the max from what was left of their trip. Next year, they are gonna WIN...

Some comments from the students: Shannon: 'Experience of a lifetime! My favourite part of the journey was the party afterwards - meeting the people we were up against was good. The younger group that got the award were so full of spirit and they all said 'congratz' though we didnae win. It was a shame that we didn’t get to go sightseeing, but well worth it. Hope to do it again!! Andrew: It was good - thanks to Carol and everyone who got us there....eventually!! Lynsay: It was a great experience just to be in London - but to be at the Awards after party and to be nominated was mind-blowing. Meeting Ralf Little is definitely something I’ll never forget! Even though there were so many disasters we found ways to make things great. Loved it!!

This story was published with kind permission of the Ileach newspaper.