Young Durham Filmmaker Celebrated In National Awards

Leading film education charity, Into Film, has announced this year’s Into Film Awards nominees and Michael Smith (18) from Durham is set to walk the red carpet. The glitzy ceremony has previously been attended by some of the biggest stars in the industry including Daniel Craig, Lashana Lynch, Eddie Redmayne, Lily James, Luke Evans, Gemma Arterton, Charles Dance, Ruth Wilson, Bill Nighy, Simon Pegg, Martin Freeman and Naomie Harris.

Michael has been selected as one of three ‘Ones to Watch’, which celebrates young people who are
destined to be the future of the UK screen industry and provides career progression support to help
them on that journey. He started making films at eight-years-old and by sixteen his documentary,
Streets of Steel: The History of Witton Park, was screened at Witton Park Village Hall. Following that, he
continued to champion his local community and has recently been commissioned by Teescraft
Engineering and the Durham County Council to create a documentary on the Stockton and Darlington
Railway for its 200th anniversary in 2025.

He works with local events, Kynren and the Hardwick Live
Festival, and has volunteered as a videographer for Bishop Auckland FC for the past five years. With
Local Community History Month being celebrated in May across the UK, which aims to promote local
history and community engagement, Michael’s achievements are especially vital.

Michael said; “I’ve accepted the ’Ones to Watch’ award with great privilege and relish. The prospect of
even being considered within this category has hugely impacted whether I want to make filmmaking a
full-time career. Whether it be a writer or a director of feature films, it wouldn’t seem like work, more a
blessing.”

The Awards, sponsored by the UK film industry, celebrates young people’s creativity in film, showcasing
and highlighting the wealth of tomorrow’s creative talent. This year’s other nominated films cover a

wide range of compelling and timely subjects for young people including mental health, the war in
Ukraine, gender identity, neurodivergence, multiculturism, the potential harms of AI, feeling
disconnected and isolated in modern society, nature conservation, immigration and identity, looking
after an unwell parent, the need to stop scrolling on social media, and much more.

This year’s Into Film Awards received an unprecedented number of film entries from children and young
people across the UK. Into Film believes that every child should be given the chance to learn hands-on
filmmaking skills and to tell their own stories in film, which is the central aim of its Young Creatives
programme, supported by the BFI awarding National Lottery Good Cause funding.

Into Film Award host, Rose Ayling-Ellis said; “I am really honoured to be the 2025 Into Film Awards host
and I am so impressed with the creativity and brilliance of all the young people involved. The standard of
the nominated films is extraordinarily high and just shows how important it is to give young people a
voice through filmmaking.”

Discover the rest of the nominees and watch all the nominated films on the Into Film website -
https://www.intofilm.org/news-and-views/articles/into-film-awards-2025-nominees