AFU tutors Mike Grigsby and Jonas Mortensen

As 2008 draws to a close, we can reflect on another tremendously exciting year for the AFU. At its annual screening in May, the Unit presented a record number of 17 new films, bringing its tally in 5 years to 60 and marking the AFU’s 5th anniversary in style. Gravel and Stones was screened at two major UK film festivals – Raindance in October, and the London International Documentary Festival in April – and achieved a commercial dvd release in France, paired with Mike Grigsby’s 1970 documentary I Was A Soldier (http://www.dorianefilms.com/doriane_fiche.php/i_was_a_soldier.html). Four further AFU films were selected for national festivals in Leeds, Leicestershire, Lancashire and Bradford. James Yan’s Dance with Stacey, Matt Copson’s Perception and Tom Bateman’s Delicate Boys of a Secondary Age all won awards. The Unit collaborated with the Westminster branch of the United Nations Association and the BFI to pioneer the first Young Filmmakers for Development festival at the NFT in London in November, bringing together students, film professionals and representatives of NGOs to view films by young people from Colombia, USA, Israel, Palestine, Cambodia, Kurdistan and UK. All in all, it has been quite a year!