The original way in which a School of Creative Media (SCM) student depicted the fear aroused by an impending eye operation in a video has won her the first prize in a video contest and a one-year training opportunity in Italy.

The striking image of a mouth, an egg and a needle in Miss Wanda Choi's piece, Operation, caught the attention of Ms Linda Lai, an SCM teacher, who was looking for potential entries to a video contest organized by Videotage in Hong Kong. "Operation" subsequently finished first among a number of entries from other local tertiary institutions. The video was inspired by an impending eye operation by the student's grandmother.

Later, when Fabrica, the research and development communication centre of the Benetton Group in Italy, was looking for budding young Asian artists, Wanda became the first Asian artist recruited by Fabrica through Videotage. Wanda will take part in a one-year training programme at Fabrica's video department, where she will be taught in visual art, photography, music and interactive media production. "I am most delighted at the prospect of working with young artists from all over the world, which could be conducive to new ideas."

Wanda is among the first batch of graduates from SCM's bachelor degree programme. Dr Hector Rodriguez, who supervised Wanda's video piece, referred to the student as an "amazing case".

"Her progress was impressive," he said. "I am very proud of her."

Meanwhile, Wednesday Creamy Cake, a short film directed by a recent SCM graduate Miss Nancy Tse Yuet-na, has received a Special Mention by the International Jury in the world-renowned International Short Film Festival in Oberhausen, Germany.

This year, the Festival received some 2,700 entries from 82 countries, and Nancy Tse's was the only Chinese film shortlisted.