A YOUNG film maker from Tavistock has scooped a prestigious award at an international festival in Hungary.
Jo Batten, aged 21, entered her film Peppermint Dreams in the Millennium Film Festival at Szolnok in Hungary — and was astounded to find she had been awarded the top prize in the First Films category.
Jo said: 'We had an interpreter and so we were listening on headphones and then I heard my name.
'I was really, really surprised. I had to go up and make a speech and there were press and TV cameras there as well.'
Jo's film was made as a tribute to her late grandmother and uses animation and photographs.
The film opens with shots of Yeolmbridge near Launceston, where her grandmother was born, and features childhood games, her gran's cat and footage of a little girl splashing in the river.
The final poignant image is a picture of Jo and her grandmother taken shortly before she died.
'My only wish was that she could have been there to see it all,' said Jo.
For winning the category, Joe received a handsome bronze award and certificate — and a cheque for £350.
'I was really thrilled. I just went there for the privilege of seeing my film and the experience of meeting other film-makers.
'I'd love to go back to Hungary — Budapest was beautiful, the architecture was fantastic.'
A former Tavistock College student, Jo graduated from Plymouth College of Art and Design this summer with a 2:1 degree.
She is working on a freelance basis for Two Four Productions, Biograph and Denham Productions and aims to work in the broadcasting industry, eventually as a director.