A GROUP of Fife primary pupils scooped a prestigious film award at the Discovery Film Festival in Dundee last night.

P6 youngsters from St Paul’s Primary, Glenrothes, won the Discovery Youth Screen Project Award 2006 for their animated film, The Inedibles.

Their triumph came after youngsters from all over Scotland were invited to send in short films reflecting their own culture and experience, and 52 films were submitted to Discovery’s co-ordinator Jo Hall.

A panel including filmmakers, directors and representatives from the BBC and Scotland’s National Screen Academy narrowed the entries down to five finalists. And it was the humorous plasticine animation by the St Paul’s team—similar in style to Wallace and Gromit films—that was chosen as the winner.

The elated youngsters were at Dundee Contemporary Arts last night, accompanied by teacher Eileen Lumsden.

“They are absolutely delighted to have won,” said Eileen. “They did all the work, from the planning to recording the animation itself, building models and learning animation techniques.”

The Inedibles is based on a healthy eating theme and was dreamt up as part of a project by the pupils to urge their peers to eat well.

Painstaking work was required to put the film together and it took them two terms to complete the task. The criteria for the award were powerful storytelling, innovation and confident use of techniques.

The award is dedicated to the memory of Edinburgh Filmhouse’s Shiona Wood, the colourful force behind film education in Scotland for more than two decades, who died this year.

A DCA spokeswoman said the Glenrothes pupils’ success was “a great end to a fantastic week” as the film festival drew to a close.

*At DCA last night are (front, from left) Camille Davison, Eleanor Higgins, Deborah Paterson and Kyle McLaren. Rear: teacher Eileen Lumsden, Liz Whatmore and Dominic Savage.