Ben Wilson Winner 2008 Sydney Film School Scholarship

The McDonald College is very proud of Ben's filmmaking achievements and congratulate him on winning the Sydney Film School Robin Anderson Scholarship.

The Scholarship is open to all senior category finalists and recognises excellence in secondary student filmmaking.

Wilson’s film "Idealisme"  is a complex yet charming multi dimensional love story that, independent to the scholarship, won best film in the Senior Fiction category.

As a proud partner of the Awards, Sydney Film School offer an annual one-year full time scholarship to a senior finalist, to study the Diploma of Screen program. Through this initiative the school provides an outstanding opportunity for a person who is passionate about making films to further their studies in a practical, working and educational environment.

“We interviewed an impressive shortlist of finalists and watched extra films that they had made before making this difficult decision. We feel very confident that Ben will be a great asset to our school community and look forward to being part of his development as a filmmaker. We strongly encourage all the people we had the privilege to meet to continue with their excellent work.”  Leslie Oliver Head of Studies Sydney Film School

The inaugural SFS Robin Anderson Scholarship was awarded to Maya Newell in 2005, who used her year of study to complete her award winning documentary Richard, which has gone on to screen at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, and win Best Documentary Director at the 2007 Asian Festival of First Films amongst many. In 2008 Richard became the first Sydney Film School film to have a national DVD release through Siren Visual.

Wilson is the 4th person to receive this scholarship, and is set to reap the benefits of studying at one of Australia’s most innovative and driven facilities in terms of actively supporting their students, and providing relevant training to spring board into the industry.

The Robin Anderson Film Awards were originally created in 2003 as a tribute to one of Australia’s best documentary filmmakers, whose work with partner Bob Connolly included Black Harvest (1992) and Rats in the Ranks (1996). The Awards encourage young Australians still at school to pursue creative excellence in filmmaking. By supporting this initiative, Sydney Film School are actively nurturing outstanding talent as they begin their path as a filmmaker.

Our very best wishes to you Ben and we're confident you will go on to have a very successful filmmaking career.