MovieFest Charitable Trust Gearing Up For Two Competitions In The Coming Months

Dannevirke, June 5, 2022 – The MovieFest Charitable Trust is gearing up for a very busy couple of months ahead with the launching of two events aimed at local school children and hobbyist filmmakers from around the Tararua District.

First off the block will be a colouring competition that has been suggested and prepared by one of Dannevirke’s young mothers and an enthusiastic cinema goer, who wants to see the recently re-opened Regent Cinema thrive and prosper into the future.

Following this will be the launching of a short film competition, the very thing that the MovieFest Trust was set up in 2005 to promote and run, and after a break for a number of years and now with a new home in the Regent, is all ready to get back into encouraging the younger members of the community to have a go at filmmaking.

Graeme Moffatt one of the founding trustees said, “The trust was begun by a number of filmmaking professionals and keen movie buffs with the aim of giving aspiring movie makers an opportunity of honing their talents and showing what they can achieve.

The winners of past competitions all had the opportunity of having their films shown on a cinema screen and this year will be no different, with the big screen in the Regent Cinema an ideal location to end such a great event.

We have chosen three individuals well known in the entertainment industry to act as judges, with the most prestigious of the three being the recipient of three Academy Awards for his past efforts.”

He is Alex Funke, who was born in Santa Barbara and is a fourth generation Californian, having been a cinematographer for over 30 years spending eleven years with The Office of Charles and Ray Eames (shooting over 30 films at that time).

His first effects project was Battlestar Galactica, and he has also taught advanced cinematography courses at both UCLA (full-time faculty for two years) and Loyola University and he has been invited to give lectures on visual effects photography in Italy and Norway.

He shared his first Oscar for 'Total Recall' and soon Alex became noted as an expert on miniatures, and was brought to New Zealand for work on The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

At the 75th and 76th Academy Awards, he won Best Visual Effects for his work on 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' and 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King', respectively.

For the audio creativity of the entered films, Brian Shennan, now retired but a one time sound recordist and mixer for the National Film Unit in Wellington, was one of the sound recordists on the iconic New Zealand film ‘This is New Zealand’, and has mixed numerous full length feature films.

Brian has agreed to judge the audio aspect of the movies entered into the competition along with a third judge, who is a professional actress and has yet to confirm her availability.

Mr Moffatt went on to say, “These events will be at least an annual occurrence centred around the cinema, with other festivals and events presently being investigated for the future.

We will have prizes of a 4K Action Camera for each winner along with a visit to Wellington to tour through Peter Jackson’s production facility Park Road Post, along with a tour through Weta Caves, just further along the same road.”

The Trust has recently created a web site https://www.regentdannevirke.nz that displays all of the current films being screened in the three daily sessions on offer, along with those planned for screening in the coming weeks with online bookings available for each screening.

The Colouring Competition the Movie Competition entry forms are now available from the Cinema Ticket Booth as well as at Embathe Soaps, and can be dropped off at the same places.

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