More than 500 film-makers, producers and celebrities turned out for the Limelight film awards at The Troxy in Limehouse on Thursday night.

The ceremony which is aimed at aiding the development of emerging film-makers, incorporated 13 different categories, with an overall winner receiving the film of the night award.

This prestigious accolade was won by the makers of Hoodforts, who will receive �10,000 to help produce their next film. Hoodforts is a short film highlighting the problems of stereotyping within society, produced by the Mile End Community Project, which was featured in last week’s edition of The Advertiser.

Nurull Islam, who is one of the organisers behind Hoodforts, said that many of the young people involved in making the film are currently sitting their GCSEs, but that they will celebrate and decide how to use their �10,000 prize when they finish.

Mr Islam, 34, added that he was delighted their film had been recognised at the ceremony. He said: “To win against all those great film-makers shows that you should never under-estimate your potential.

“We are absolutely ecstatic about the win, but we would like to celebrate this win with everyone else who was nominated in the awards, and want to say a huge thank you to Limelight for creating the platform for everyone.”

Limelight’s founder and CEO Munsur Ali praised the winning entry, and believed the message behind it resonates in a borough such as Tower Hamlets.

“The film was a very creative way of dealing with people’s perceptions of each other in society. In Tower Hamlets we have a high population of young people and it’s easy to identify people wrongly.”