The Green Man Of Knowledge, a 13 minute animation by Rachel Bevan Baker, took the Jim Poole Short Film Award, held at the Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh.

The judges had a short list of 10 films to consider, from 77 entries.

The winning film earns an award of £1,000 together with a distribution deal from Oasis, owners of the Cameo. The film will now be seen in other Oasis owned or controlled cinemas, including The Gate at Notting Hill and The Ritzy at Brixton. The other projects on the Jim Poole Award short list are also detailed in this edition of Northern Exposure.

According to Rachel Bevan Baker, the story made an ideal animation project: "The Green Man is known in many cultures, including Gaelic, so it is a universal tale, but it also includes shape shifting, so that makes it a good choice for animation. It carries a sound narrative, like so many stories in the oral tradition, but I also liked the strong female character Malmhian (mh is the Gaelic "v" sound — ed) who was an interesting counterbalance to the male characters, including the Green Man."

The film tells the story of a young man who reaches his 21^st birthday and ventures forth from his home. On reaching the Land Of Enchantment, his right of passage begins. The Green Man Of Knowledge was one of three nominations for a BAFTA new talent award last year.

The film was originally commissioned by S4C and by BBC Scotland as one of a 26-part series based on local legends and folk tales from different parts of the world, contributed by the different countries involved. The award-winning film’s director researched legends and recorded a number of storytellers before settling on The Green Man Of Knowledge.

The weekend’s ceremony was the second Jim Poole Award — named after a former owner and manager of the Cameo Cinema in Edinburgh — and the award was presented by last year’s winner, Adrian McDowall. The technical quality of the animation was remarked on by those seeing the film as the factor that made a good story outstanding on the screen.

The animation technique used to produce The Green Man Of Knowledge is unusual, as Rachel Bevan Baker describes; "We animated first on paper, coloured with pastels, then a cell layer on top which is coloured like an etching, with the cell being scratched into and rubbed with oil bar colour. The effect is very, very beautiful, but very time consuming. It kept our colourists and animators busy for several months — quite a long stint for a 13 minute film!"

The award commemorates Jim Poole, a cinema theatrical visionary who took over a well-worn 1914 vintage Edinburgh Cameo and re-launched it as the New Cameo in 1949, owning and managing it until his eventual retirement in 1982. The Cameo is now owned by the Oasis.

The award was made by a panel that included Jim Poole’s daughter Jennie Poole, actor Gary Lewis, Angus Lamont of Ideal World Productions, Glasgow and Dan MacRae, Depute Director of Development at the Film Council and from Zoo CinemaX MD Clare Binns and Programme Director Carol Miller. Representing Oasis, the Cameo’s General Manager Diane Henderson.

Rachel Bevan Baker was not able to receive the award in person, as she was attending an animation conference in Bristol, but members of her production team accepted it for her and phoned a delighted Rachel with the news.

"It came as a complete surprise," she said. "I had just left the last screening in Bristol when the team called to. I was delighted - and pleased that the team collected it. It is their award as much as mine. We are all delighted."

Rachel started her career in animation at Glasgow School of Art when studying illustration. She did some animation as part of her study and found her preferred field of work. She went on the study animation at the Royal College of Art, afterwards working for the Edinburgh Film Workshop.

She then gained an animation residence at MOMI where her resulting film "Beelines" was commissioned by Channel 4. Since then Rachel has returned to Edinburgh and has been working on animations as one of the partners in Red Kite Productions.