Congratulations to former student, Ben Hodge, whose film documenting his year transitioning has been shortlisted for a national award!

Ben’s documentary has made the shortlist for the Best Documentary category of the Into Film Awards. The film title is 1 year: A letter to my 14 year old self. It follows Ben’s journey as a trans man, documenting his first year of having testosterone.

Ben left Carmel in 2018 and now studies Media and Performance at the University of Salford. Ben is really looking forward to the awards. He said: “The film was something that I really wanted to make to tell my story and show how far I’ve come. It shows I live my life just like everyone else, there’s just something extra for me to celebrate and think about.

“The difficult part was afterwards when I knew my family would see it and see that I didn’t think I would make it to 16. But I still think it was important for me to include to show people that it does get better. Other than that, I actually had a lot of fun making it!

“My advice to anyone wanting to go through the process would be, it’s gonna be difficult. Transitioning can be hard because there are a lot of people not on your side. But actually, in the end you come out of it so much happier.

“To add, I transitioned during my time at Carmel. The staff and pastoral team there were so helpful and supportive. If you’re at Carmel or considering attending the college, just know that you are in the best place to be yourself!”

Hosted by David Walliams OBE, the Awards will take place on 18th March at London’s ODEON Luxe Leicester Square.

We’d like to wish Ben the best of luck at the awards. We are very proud of everything he has achieved.

Click here to watch Ben’s documentary.