Finding talent on UAL Showcase: The Oscar-nominate filmmakers

You can learn a lot about someone from the art on their walls – especially if they’re a painter. That’s why director Sarah Blok and production designer Melissa Davis were determined to get the set for their National Film & Television (NFTS) graduate short film just right.

Trouble, a Student Academy Award nominated 20-minute short, takes place over one evening. Two brothers in their 20s join their artist father for a barbecue to celebrate his birthday but when his ex-wife, their mother, shows up unannounced, events take an awkward turn. Sarah wanted the set to be maximalist in style, adorned with paintings by the father character.

“I had the idea that he’d make abstract work that had become more figurative as he’d gone through his divorce,” explains Netherlands-born, London-based Sarah, who worked for 10 years in the film industry before studying a Directing MA at NFTS.

It was down to Melissa, the film’s production designer, to source these paintings. “It was important for us to find artwork that spoke to the nature of the character and the nature of the story,” she says. A student herself at the time, Melissa’s first port of call was other universities. “We had a budget but it wasn’t huge, so it needed to be a collaboration.”

After a long search scouring exhibitions and emailing course tutors, Melissa discovered the work of Camberwell 2023 BA Fine Art: Painting graduate Petrică Bistran on UAL Showcase. “I thought his work was amazing. I loved the size: massive canvases with all this expression,” she remembers.  It helped that Petrică’s Showcase profile included artwork dimensions, great installation photographs and links to social media to follow up.