Mia El Chaar, a 19-year-old film student from Ealing, received an early Christmas present when she won the 'People's Choice Award' at the 2021 Ealing Film Festival.

The film titled 'Breach', written and directed by Mia, gained the most votes from the public and was announced as winner on Christmas Eve.

It tells the story of Sofia, a girl who dies unexpectedly and finds herself in a waiting room for the dead, speaking to the angel who is guiding her to her final destination.

But it appears that the system has malfunctioned - a breach - so was it really her time to die?

Believe it or not, this was the first film Mia had ever made.

"I had never made a real short film before… it's really awesome," Mia said.

It's a fantastic achievement considering that 269 films were entered from 35 different countries across 6 continents.

Ealing Film Festival provides a great opportunity for Film students from the local area to get an experience of Festival life, as well as hone their filmmaking skills.

Mia is studying for a BA in Practical Filmmaking at MetFilm School. She explained how she, "wasn't actually planning on putting it up for festivals, but there was a lot of encouragements from the crew and the cast."

This year, the festival was held in an Ealing church hall turned cinema.

Talking about her first festival experience, Mia said: "It was amazing, we went to the two days. We saw the screening of the film and it was super interesting to also see all the other films that were submitted, to meet other filmmakers that are as passionate as you and it's a really welcoming environment."

Mia is already thinking about next year's festival.

"It was honestly such a positive experience that I would definitely go for it again."

The submission date for the 2022 Ealing Film Festival will be announced soon.

It seems the quality of films is only going up.

You can watch 'Breach' and find out more information about the film and the festival, here.