Young Director Award winners 2020

Yesterday evening [July 30] the winners of the 2020 Young Director Award were announced via an online ceremony fronted by YDA President, Francois Chilot, pictured above.

The usual, physical ceremony, which takes place during the Cannes Lions festival was, of course, cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak, but the YDA competition remained and last night's ceremony was the culmination of a series of talks and interviews across this YDA Week. This year there were 50 trophies awarded - 30 silvers and 20 golds - across 16 categories, including two new categories introduced this year, Best Use of Humour and Dreampitch, which was aimed at writers, who had to pitch an idea for a project in under 100 words.

Above: This year's YDA Jury Chairman, Karim Bartoletti, presenting during the online ceremony.

Big winners on the night were Jesse Lewis-Reece from You Are Here, who picked up three Gold Screen awards, in Short Film [up to 6 minutes], Passion Project and Changing the World Frame by Frame, as well as Special Jury Prize for his short film, Eyelash [below]. Jeremy Merrifield also picked up a Special Jury Prize alongside a Film School [6 minutes and over] gold for his film Balloon.

Other multiple Screen winners were Sarah Clift, Paul Nevison and Libby Burke Wilde.