A short film about moss created with neurodiverse young people in Powys has won a string of international film and arts awards.

Gentle as Moss on Stone, created by artists boredomresearch, was commissioned as an arts engagement project in support of the Natur am Byth! species recovery programme, with Plantlife Cymru and NRW providing expert guidance.

Vicky Isley and Paul Smith aka boredomresearch said: “We wanted to create an immersive public engagement project that would invite young people into a deeper, more personal relationship with the natural world - specifically mosses.

“We developed a series of workshops exploring the complexity, vulnerability and surprising resilience of moss with two groups of neurodiverse people.”

The workshops shaped the visual and emotional landscape of the film. Microscopic imagery created by the students inspired parts of the film, while their reflections on hope, fear, and identity informed the development of 10 fictional moss species that appear throughout the piece.

Participants experienced hands-on microscopy, gained insight into Wales’ rarest mosses and designed miniature moss themed film sets incorporating objects of personal meaning.

Gentle as Moss on Stone positions moss as a gentle yet powerful guide - symbolising stillness, resilience, and beauty in the overlooked - echoing the lived experiences of the young people who helped bring the project to life.

The film has won Southampton Film Week’s Michael Fuller Award for Best Film, Audience Award, Best Artist Film, the Best Editing Award at the Rob Knox London Film Festival, RAW Science Film Festival’s Professional Animation Short Award, Folkestone Film Festival’s Best Experimental & Art Film UK Award and Bracciano Film and Arts Festival’s Best Artist Short Film Award.

Nominations include Aesthetica Short Film Festival’s Best Artist Short Film, Braga Science Film Festival’s Experimental Short Film Award, Kendal Mountain Festival’s Animation Award and Biophilia Festival Internacional de Cine’s Animation Award.