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14 January 2017 Abingdon Music and Drama An enthusiastic audience was treated to ten new films by current members of the Unit and one further film from AFU alumnus and BAFTA scholarship winner Tian Ji, currently based in Hong Kong. Among those present were Marie Holmes and David J Bailey who, along with Alex Mugnaioni (OA and former AFU filmmaker) were the first professional actors to appear in AFU films. In another first, Larry Bush presented his film Lights, a product of the new Abingdon Film Academy, an offshoot of the Unit that enables young people from outside Abingdon to work with the AFU’s tutors and create their own films. At the end of the evening, the Michael Grisgby Awards - created in 2014 to honour the memory of one of Britain’s greatest documentary filmmakers and the AFU’s co- founder - were presented for the third time. The Spirit of Grigsby Award was shared by Joe Bradley (for his documentary The Brass Violin) and Louis Edward (for his fiction film Limbo) while The Michael Grisgby Young Filmmaker of the Year Award was presented to David Bicarregui for his film Fade Away. David Bicarregui (left) and Joe Bradley (right) with actor David Bailey and the Michael Grigsby Young Filmmaker of the Year Award Joint Choral Society Concert The choric storytelling was bold and energetic, with crystal-clear delivery from an excellent cast of 41 first and second year students. The ship’s set, atmospheric lighting and evocative soundscapes added considerably to the impact of the piece, combining with the acting to create a hugely dynamic and engaging production. OA Ed Rowett’s marvellous, spoof murder-mystery play commissioned and directed by Ben Phillips was an inspired choice for the Third Year’s production. The thirteen-strong cast was in impressive form as they took on the difficult art of making comedy look easy. Collapsing sets, doors that refused to open, actors and sound effects that never arrived on cue, unwelcome intrusions by the emergency services - every conceivable theatrical disaster was visited upon the play’s hapless crew, only to be surmounted and swatted aside with time-honoured British virtues of grit, pluck and improvisation. Abingdon Film Unit’s 13th annual screening This year’s concert included excellent solos and impressive orchestral accompaniment for Vivaldi’s well-loved Gloria and Vaughan Williams’s Five Mystical Songs. And Then There Weren’t Any Left Treasure Island