Winner of Best NZ Short Film at the Terror-Fi Film Festival

Winner of the $10,000 prize for Best New Zealand Short Film at the Terror-Fi Film Festival announced

THE HUNTING PARTY from writer/director Andrew Beattie has won Best Short Film at the first annual Terror-Fi Film Festival in Wellington. The win comes with a $10,000 grant for services prize from Avalon Studios, designed to help kick-start his next project. The film was unanimously voted Best Short ahead of some strong competition from throughout the country.

The Terror-Fi Film Festival is a showcase of the very best horror, thriller, and sci-fi from around the world, and for it’s first year presented the top genre short films New Zealand has produced in the last 10 years.

“The festival is a great way to showcase and celebrate our best talent,” says festival director James Partridge. “The feedback on the short film programme was incredible. We need to encourage more content like this to be made here.”

THE HUNTING PARTY was directed by Andrew Beattie, written by Andrew Beattie and Nick Ward, produced by Maile Daugherty, with cinematography by Simon Raby.

In a bittersweet twist, THE HUNTING PARTY was not able to screened at the festival itself due to it being deemed worthy of an R-rating; placing it in a queue that was unable to be fast-tracked in time for opening night. However, given it was already an official selection the film was still eligible for judging.

“I rang Andrew and said I have bad news and I have good news,” explains James. “He was thrilled to have won and also that, as the winner, the film will automatically screen next year. The most important thing for me was that a talented filmmaker could get the support he needs to begin work on a new project.”

“My first thing is to thank the amazing cast and crew who went above and beyond on a grueling shoot. This short film is as much theirs as it is mine,” explains writer-director Andrew Beattie. “A big thanks to the NZFC’s Fresh Shorts programme who took a chance on this, and Images & Sound for the breathtaking picture and sound post. And of course a major thanks to James and the Terror-Fi Film Fest.”

“I’m really excited about working with Avalon - thanks to their generous support - and Nick Ward and I are already cooking something up to capitalise on this opportunity ASAP,” says Andrew.

The Short Film Programme at The Terror-Fi Film Festival was generously sponsored by Avalon Studios and Screen Wellington. Avalon’s generosity with the prize was backed up by Screen Wellington’s continued commitment to support new initiatives and talent development opportunities throughout the screen sector.

The Terror-Fi Film Festival debut season ran 23-26 November at The Roxy in Wellington. The festival partners and sponsors all see the festival as being part of a bigger picture: to encourage, develop, sell and show more genre content from New Zealand.

After a successful inaugural season, the Terror-Fi Film Festival will be returning in 2018 bigger and better than ever - offering even more opportunities to Kiwi talent.

Visit www.terrorfifest.com for more.

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