Narberth and Whitland Rotary Club are delighted to announce that sixteen-year-old Grace Kind from Meidrim, a pupil of Ysgol Dyffryn Taf in Whitland was chosen as runner up in a national competition focusing on young filmmakers.

Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland organise a number of competitions for young people including - Young Artist, Young Chef, Youth Debater, Young Environmentalist, Young Musician, Young Photographer, Young Writer, Young Citizen Awards and the Technology Tournaments.

For the first time this year they organised a new competition for young filmmakers.

Focusing on talent and presenting a unique opportunity to be one of the first winners of this exciting competition.

Competitors where required to send a five-minute piece showing their interpretation of the theme ‘Through My Eyes’.

The competitions which cover Rotary Clubs within Great Britain and Ireland aim to encourage young people to experiment with filmmaking, use digital and/or traditional methods of filmmaking and demonstrate interpretation of the topic.

Grace said: “I’ve never entered a filmmaking competition before but I have always enjoyed filming and editing little home videos. I decided to enter while sat on the train on the way back from visiting my brother in Croydon.

“He took me to work with him for the day and I think just seeing a little bit of the outside world reminded me that there is a world outside of Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire (though of course, they are lovely and who would ever want to leave them?) and so I started to look at ways I could engage with that world a little bit more.”

This was the theme for her short film.

Grace has competed in Rotary Competitions with Ysgol Dyffryn Taf in Youth Speaks debating team since 2016.

She follows in the footsteps her two brothers Harry and Charlie, in entering (and winning) Rotary competitions over several years.

Ysgol Dyfryn Taf Governor and Rotarian Rob Elward said: “This is such a great accomplishment for Grace and we congratulate her on her success.

“It is a huge achievement for Grace herself, her school at Ysgol Dyffryn Taf and us at Narberth and Whitland Rotary Club who entered her into the competition.”

The National Winner was from Crickhowell Rotary Club.

In September Grace will be going into Year 12 to study Maths, English, Biology, and Chemistry at A-Level.

She has a few ideas for the future, she says filmmaking in some shape or form is definitely in the mix.