2023 was a fantastic PQA Film Festival season! Comprising two regional festivals in the North and South of England, we’ve been overwhelmed by the sheer talent shown both on screen and behind the scenes by our PQA students. Film and Television is a prime focus here at PQA and a unique part of the fun and inclusive experience that we offer at our academies each week. So, it’s great to celebrate our students’ creative filmmaking talent!
We’re super proud of the Film & TV module we offer here at PQA, through which our students benefit from unique classes, taught by professional filmmakers. It’s an excellent introduction to film and television, pre-production and production techniques and screen acting. Our students are given all the tools to enable them to tell the most wonderful and original stories by creating and filming short films of their very own. Students take on roles both in front of and behind the camera, working in production ‘teams’, which mirror how professional film sets are run!
Because our academies produce such a fantastic range of amazing short films, we invite them to enter them into our annual PQA Film Awards – the pinnacle of film and television at PQA! This year we received 400 from 120 academies across the UK and our panel of film professionals had a very hard time judging! Well done to everyone who entered. As well as our Official Selection of films, we’d also like to give a shout out to the Special Mentions, who also scored very highly.
Our PQA Film Festivals celebrate the winning films, so that students can share their work with their family and friends on the big screen! What better way to celebrate than to host our own red-carpet experience? It’s always great to see everyone enjoy the opportunity to experience some Hollywood-style glitz and glamour. Our Northern Film Festival took place at the Cineworld in Didsbury on 5th November, bringing together over 40 academies for a screening of 80 short films. Our Southern Film Festival took place at the BFI Southbank in London on 10th December, with 43 academies taking part at a screening of 90 short films. Altogether we had over 1500 students winning awards!
Nick Pilton, our Head of Film & Television at PQA adds: “We congratulate our talented PQA students on an exemplary year of filmmaking. We are constantly surprised and in awe of the skills and imagination demonstrated on the big screen. We hope that you enjoy the new festival awards this year, you deserve them!”
Well done to everyone involved in making the 2023 season such a success! Click here to discover more about what makes film and television classes at PQA so unique.
Yes! Every academy offers one free trial session, as long as there is space available in the age group. If the group is currently full, you can join the waiting list, and we’ll contact you as soon as a place becomes available.
PQA runs for 41 weeks throughout the school year. You can find the full list of term dates on each academy’s webpage, just search for your local academy and visit its web page.
PQA provides performing arts training for children and teens aged 4–18. Our Main Academy (ages 6–18) includes three core classes:
Some academies also offer Poppets (ages 4–6), an energetic 90-minute class introducing young children to singing, dancing and acting.
PQA welcomes all children, whether they’re complete beginners or already confident performers. There’s no audition needed to join.
At PQA students in Main Academy are grouped by age, learning with other children and young people at similar stages.
This depends on where you feel your child will be happiest. Some 6-year olds are ready to join the 6-9 age group in Main Academy, others will feel more comfortable starting in Poppets.
Your always welcome to discuss what’s best for your child with your local Principal before booking your free session.