Twins win award at Bute Street Film Festival with documentary about Luton

Jaspal and Jasbir Nangla, directors of Two Side Studios – a small independent video production company – wrote, shot and edited their 11-minute-long video, ‘Tipping Point’, as a way to get more people involved in their communities by shining a light on culture and creativity in Luton.

Last weekend, Luton was treated to three days of short films at the Bute Street Film Festival, with people from across the country submitting their entries.

After online and in-person voting, the brothers won the ‘Breakout’ award, one of six that were given out during the weekend.

Jasbir said: “We were absolutely speechless, we had predicted in our heads that we weren't going to win. This is vindicating for me as a filmmaker. We said that it's not a vote for us, it's not a vote for our film, it's not a vote for Two Sides.

"It's a vote for these communities and Luton, because that's what it is about, those people who are fighting and struggling to make Luton great.”

The idea for the film came after the brothers saw the reaction to Luton Town FC’s Premier League promotion last year. From there, their project “snowballed”, as Jasbir put it, and the pair met with various people from Luton’s music, commercial and creative scenes, piecing together a picture of the town’s history and direction for the future.

Jasbir explained: “It felt like those people's their voices are finally getting heard.”

Director of the festival, Megan Hoang, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to see the brothers win this year's Breakthrough Award! We know this is just the beginning for Jasbir and Jaspal as they eagerly explore new stories in Luton. It's also incredibly exciting to witness more talented filmmakers from Luton stepping into the spotlight and sharing their fantastic films."

This isn’t the end of the road for Tipping Point, the brothers have already submitted it to the British Urban Film Festival in London.

For any wannabe filmmakers, Jasbir’s advice for them is: “It’s about making connections with people and networking. Learning about them and then forming a relationship and then that can result in anything.”