A GROUP of young Wiltshire film makers will be hoping to hit the silver screen next month after their short film made the final of a competition, beating off competition from nearly 600 entries.

Leonidas Achilleos, 22 from Trowbridge, and Matt Lavigne Smith, 22 from Bradford on Avon, made the three-minute film along with three other friends from Bristol and Bath last month.

Their film, called Corner to Corner, is just one of 12 finalists who will have their films viewed at an exclusive ceremony at BAFTA before a winner is announced.

The brief for the short film was The Question and Mr Achilleos, who studied history at Southampton University, said that the group hopes their films stands out as many entrants produced films around marriage proposals.

He added: “Well we had the idea that we were going to base it in a working men’s club and have our main protagonist breaking away from the mundaness of the club and it slowly transformed into him doing origami and leaving it behind when he left.

“Our thought was what is the complete opposite thing to put in a working men’s club because the other ideas seemed uncreative and we wanted him to do something with his hands to show him being a gentle protagonist.”

There are three awards up for grabs in the of the Reed Film Competition, including the Judges Grand Prix where the filmmaker will walk away with £10,000. There is also a People’s Choice Award where film fans can vote for their favourite and see the producers be awarded £1,000.

Mr Achilleos added: “The judges are film experts and I think one is the producer of Notting Hill and The Theory of Everything so to think that they have watched and discussed our film is an honour.

“If we were to win, I think we will put the money to our next film and we will keep the same team because it worked so well.

“The public can vote so we want as many people to go online and vote for us.”

The group more recently came first at the Bath Spa University Line-Up Film Festival with their 'Corner to Corner' entry and will hoping to achieve a similar success when winners are announced for the Reed Short Film Competition this month.

To vote, visit www.reed.co.uk/film. Voting closes on April 14. The ceremony will take place later in the year.