Monday 31 October 2011

Short Film Award Nominees Announced

The sixth annual Show Me Shorts Film Festival has announced the nominees for it’s eight award categories.

The big ones to watch are Australian film ‘The Kiss’ by Ashlee Page with five nominations, and local highlights ‘Ebony Society’ by Tammy Davis, ‘3 Hours’ by Regan Hall and ‘The Great Barrier’ by Jack Woon, each with four nominations.

The total prize pool is valued at over $10,000, with the winner of the top award for Kodak Best Film taking away enough reels of Kodak motion picture film to shoot their next short film. The winners will be announced at the festival’s Opening Night event this Thursday at 8pm at Auckland’s Capitol Cinema. A limited number of tickets to this event are available to the public, but will sell out fast. The event includes screenings of the eight award winning films, plus complimentary drinks and the opportunity to mingle with the nominees and winners.

The judges for 2011 are Catherine Fitzgerald (‘The Orator’, ‘Two Cars One Night’), producer, director and 1st AD Paul Grinder (‘Spartacus’, ‘District 9), and movie trailer producer James Brookman (‘Billy T: Te Movie’, ‘Sione’s 2). Here’s what they had to say about the films and judging process:

"There were so many extraordinary entries that it was no easy task choosing the winners. The program crosses all genres, captures the full range of emotions and features films that are truly unforgettable. After more than 6 hours of deliberations we all agreed that the future looks very bright for these talented filmmakers and the Show Me Shorts Film Festival." – James Brookman

“Bikes, bandits and belches - finding a few common threads in this years Show Me Shorts Film Festival was the easy part. Choosing finalists and selecting the winners was far from easy. And thank god for that. To have to decide from such a diverse group of storytellers and unique talented filmmakers was a challenge. For me this years crop show short filmmaking by New Zealanders is alive and well, whether at home, inside a darkened animation studio or locations stretching from Dunedin through the outback of Australia to the streets of Jordan.” – Paul Grinder

“What a privilege to watch these films – with many fresh, original and engaging takes on universal themes! The diversity of stories, storytelling and talent made selecting nominees and winners a real challenge, but equally fills me with excitement in anticipation for what the future will bring from these filmmakers and artists.” – Catherine Fitzgerald

The full list of nominations can be found below, and further information on the opening night can be found at http://www.showmeshorts.co.nz/opening-nights.

Show Me Shorts Film Festival is a travelling festival of the best short films from here are around the world, showing at 12 cinemas nation wide during November. The official festival website can be found at www.showmeshorts.co.nz.

Show Me Shorts Film Festival – here for a good time, not a long time!

NOMINEES
Kodak Best Film
Ainsley Gardiner & Chelsea Winstanley for ‘Ebony Society’
Jack Woon for ‘The Great Barrier’
Regan Hall for ‘3 Hours’
Katrina Mathers, Merrin Jensen, Patrick Sarell & Daryl Muntonfor ‘Nullarbor’

Special Jury Prize
Lucas Bone for the musical score in ‘Cockroach’
Shane Radford for Production Design in ‘Koro’s Medal’
Alistair Lockhart & Patrick Sarell for animation in ‘Nullarbor’

SDGNZ Best Director
Tammy Davis for ‘Ebony Society’
Regan Hall for ‘3 Hours’
Jack Woon for ‘The Great Barrier’
Ashlee Page for ‘The Kiss’

Script to Screen Best Screen Play
Tammy Davis for ‘Ebony Society’
Jack Woon for ‘The Great Barrier’
Ashlee Page for ‘The Kiss’

SDGNZ Best Editor
Denise Haratzis for ‘The Kiss’
Lewis Albrow for ‘3 Hours’
Lisa Hough for ‘Redemption’

Screen Hub Best Student Film
John Reid for ‘Devil’s Door to Heaven’
Jonah Musitano for ‘Maurice’

Panavision Best Cinematographer
Leo Bund for ‘3 Hours’
Jack Woon for ‘The Great Barrier’
Nick Matthews for ‘The Kiss’

StarNow Best Actor
Nicole Gulasekharam for ‘The Kiss’
Darcy Ray Flavell for ‘Ebony Society’
Donogh Rees for ‘Elaine Rides Again’

ENDS

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