News / 23 Jun 2025
Animation and Marketing Communications students win at KODAK/Nahemi Awards
BA (Hons) Animation
BA (Hons) Marketing Communications
Teams of BA (Hons) Animation and BA (Hons) Marketing Communications students won prizes at the KODAK/Nahemi Student Commercial Awards.
The KODAK/Nahemi Student Commercial competition has been running for nearly 40 years and is organised by Peter Hort from the University of Westminster, with support from Kodak, Nahemi and the University of Westminster. Leeds Arts University students have won awards four out of the five years that they’ve entered.
For the competition, students had to make a 30-second commercial using one ten minute roll of 16mm film provided by Kodak. They were provided with live briefs by the advertising agencies McCann, Libertine and TBWA, for Xbox, Ginsters, Alliance Witan and the sexual health charity Brook.
The awards ceremony took place at the iconic Regent Street cinema in London and was hosted by Gémina Gil Flores and Jemma Burgess, also known as The Gems, who are an award-winning creative team at McCann.
The student team who won first place in the Animation award for their short ‘Who Inspires You’ include:
Daryna Borovska, BA (Hons) Animation
Kapela Joy Kimpinde, BA (Hons) Animation
Maria Teresa Galtarossa, BA (Hons) Animation
Sila Kirgiz, BA (Hons) Animation
‘Who Inspires You’ highlights the importance of family and fresh, homegrown ingredients in the Ginsters pasty. The creative team chose a kindergarten classroom setting to evoke a sense of warmth and authenticity that suited the brief.
"For us as first-year students, this was not only our first participation in the competition, but also our first experience with such a large-scale project. The team put a lot of effort into this project, and although this work is very hard in the process, it pays off when you can finally see the finished result on the big screen! This project was the first in which I was able to try stop motion technique as well as a director role, and I feel such unity and gratitude for working with other people, the award became a pleasant reminder of this experience."
Daryna Borovska, BA (Hons) Animation student
“Me and Daryna gathered around a group from our coursemates to be able to make this film. I worked on backgrounds, shooting process, and developing an early idea. I definitely learned something new and improved on some skills. My main point was to gain experience, so I am happy with the overall outcome. The win was huge bonus, which I am proud of.”
Sila Kirgiz, BA (Hons) Animation student
The student team who won third place in the Xbox brief for their short ‘Someone’s always Online’ include:
Kara Harvey-Hill, BA (Hons) Animation
Libby Evans, BA (Hons) Animation
Sophia Vypalova-Simon, BA (Hons) Animation
Samar Mohamedin, BA (Hons) Marketing Communications
Emilia Arnolin, BA (Hons) Marketing Communications
To showcase how Xbox connects everyone, this team presented the perspective of a nightshift worker, highlighting their core idea that you are never alone, as someone is always online.
The awards were followed by a drinks reception sponsored by Kodak, where students were able to network with industry professionals from McCann, Libertine and TBWA, and the charities Ovarian Cancer Action and Action on Salt.
"It was wonderful to achieve third place within the Xbox brief and we are all thrilled with the outcome. We’ve been working on ‘Someone’s Always Online’ since last October and it has been a long process but we are very glad it has all paid off. We are grateful for all this hard work to have been recognised by the judging panel and it truly was a unique experience working with 16mm film."
BA (Hons) Animation students Libby Evans, Kara Harvey-Hill and Sophia Vypalova-Simon and BA (Hons) Marketing Communications students Samar Mohamedin and Emilia Arnolin