Have you ever wondered what might happen if your washing machine fell in love?

Probably not, but for a team of filmmakers it was just that idea which led to them winning Best Main Short Film at this year’s St Albans Film Festival.

Titled Final Spin, the eight-minute-long piece is the creation of St Albans filmmaker Ben Roper who wrote and directed the film alongside former Sandringham School friends Chris Cooper and Leo Cinicolo.

“We wanted to see if we could make our audience feel emotionally for something which is usually overlooked and lifeless,“ explains Ben, 26.

The plot follows an old washing machine, played by Thanda Mugero, which is abandoned in the woods and becomes romantically linked with an industrial laundry machine.

Ben reveals that Thanda actually got inside an old washing machine to play the part, which presented challenges during filming.

“We shot through pouring rain, it was partly shot in winter when it was freezing cold, partly in summer where you get so sweaty inside these things, which are effectively ovens, that it was almost unbearable,“ he remembers.

The sci-fi film fan continues: “It was hell, it was really, really hard. Before we could shoot on any given day we had to carry the two machines and all of the camera gear to the middle of the woods.

“All the time we had to try and maintain this idea that it was an innocent being that was just going about its life.“

A year and a half in the making, Ben’s team wanted Final Spin to also consider what happens to the things we throw away.

But they never imagined it would win an award as they faced hot competition from eight other finalists in the Main Short Film category.

“It’s absolutely thrilling, but we were quite shocked, really grateful of course, but quite surprised,“ enthuses Ben, whose St Albans-based film production company Rapture has supported the Film Festival since it began three years ago.

Having grown up in St Albans, Ben says the festival could be an important part in turning the city into a creative hub outside London.

“This is just the beginning really, St Albans should be championing this kind of creative industry,“ says the young filmmaker who was given his first video camera aged just seven.

“The film festival is the first step along that road to realising what St Albans can be as a place.“

Visit rapturefilm.com to watch Final Spin.