Maidah’s design will appear as the official Black Card before every screening of the film
Maidah with her winning design(Image: BBFC)
An 11-year-old Liverpool schoolgirl has won a national competition that will see her artwork displayed on cinema screens across the country before every UK showing of Wicked: For Good.
Maidah, a student at North Liverpool Academy in Everton, beat more than 700 young artists to win the British Board of Film Classification’s (BBFC) Create the Card competition, held in partnership with Universal Pictures. Her vibrant design, featuring a hand-in-hand Glinda and Elphaba walking toward the Emerald City, will appear as the official BBFC Black Card when the film opens in cinemas on Friday, November 21.
For her art teacher, Jade Miller, 23, the victory is nothing short of life-changing. Miss Miller told the ECHO: “Maidah was a talented student from the get-go. As soon as she came to North Liverpool Academy, she was really attentive and always wanted to perfect her work.”
Maidah’s design will be seen in cinemas across the country, appearing as the official Black Card before every screening of the film(Image: BBFC)
“Maidah winning this award is brilliant because our school’s name is out there now. As an art department, it’s made us feel so proud. She’s only 11-years-old and her life will be forever changed. For us to be a part of that, it’s just amazing.”
Using water-based paints, acrylic pens and coloured pencils, Maidah created a piece “full of bright, popping colours.”
Miss Miller, who has taught at the academy for nearly three years, said: “She was clever about it; it’s got loads of features from the movie. She wanted to show the friendship between Glinda and Elphaba, so she included them holding hands, walking towards the Emerald City. In the sky there are hot air balloons, which is an emblem of the film. All the colours are so bright. She did it all on her own.”
When Maidah, who found out she’d won via a special video message from Wicked: For Good director Jon M. Chu, she burst into tears of joy.
Maidah has done North Liverpool Academy ‘proud'(Image: UGC)
The competition’s judging panel, which included BBFC President Natasha Kaplinsky and Universal Pictures’ marketing team, selected Maidah’s design for its creativity and emotional depth.
Cast members including Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum and Jonathan Bailey were filmed reacting to the artwork, congratulating the Liverpool pupil and telling her she would make a “fine student” at Shiz University, where Glinda and Elphaba first meet.
As part of her prize, Maidah and her family were invited to London for a behind-the-scenes visit to the BBFC headquarters, where she learned how films are classified. The day ended with a yellow-brick-carpet appearance at the European premiere of Wicked: For Good, where her artwork was shown on the big screen for the very first time.
BBFC President Natasha Kaplinsky OBE said Maidah’s entry “captures everything we hoped to celebrate – creativity, imagination and the courage to tell your own story.”
Universal Pictures’ UK Marketing Director, Erika Lewington, added: “Maidah’s artwork brings the film’s message of friendship and finding your own voice to life in such a joyful way.”
For Maidah, who said she has loved Wicked “forever,” the moment is one she will never forget. She said: “I wanted to show that Elphaba and Glinda are both good – they just have their own kinds of magic.”
Her signature will now appear on the official BBFC Black Card, alongside those of Kaplinsky and BBFC CEO David Austin – marking a massive achievement for an 11-year-old whose creativity is now set to shine on screens nationwide.