A film inspired by Shakespeare’s Richard III has won the coveted 2017 Shakespeare Shorts Film Competition.

Mona Zaldi, from Canada, was awarded the prestigious title with her short film 'Richard III – Unto the Kingdom of Perpetual Night'. Organised by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, the Shakespeare Shorts Film Competition first launched in 2013 with Sir Kenneth Branagh as its patron, inviting people to enter a short film competition which attracted entries from all over the world.

A special outdoor screening was held at Shakespeare’s New Place where the works of three finalists were shown and the winner of the competition, judged by Sir Kenneth, announced.

With the theme of Crossing Borders, this year’s competition attracted 235 entries from 41 countries including the UK, New Zealand, Iran and Romania.

Sir Kenneth said: “From three excellent finalists, it’s an onerous task to select a winner. They are all excitingly ambitious, skilfully made, and full of imaginative talent. I salute all the filmmakers.

“In the end, for its wide range of creative ambitions in performance, cinematography, language and theme, and for the high quality of execution in all these areas, I congratulate the makers of 'Richard III – Unto the Kingdom of Perpetual Night'.

“This was a powerfully felt, cinematically ambitious exploration of nightmare- personal and global. The Shakespeare text was well-spoken and felt, and the language allowed to breathe. Shakespeare as prophet was met with prescient image making of the self-destruction of which man is capable, in imagination and action. There was a unity of design here that had gravity and grandeur without bombast. Sombre, thoughtful and complete.”

The two other finalists were 'Ophelia' by Caterina Picone (best film inspired by Shakespeare) and 'Shakespeare’s Women Part IV' by Fin McMorran (best Shakespeare themed animation).