Internationally renowned cat movie hits NZ

Internationally renowned cat movie hits NZ

Yes, I really did just write that.

New Zealand's short film festival, Show Me Shorts is gearing up for its launch on November the 1st with the promise of premieres aplenty.

Films from Australia, Switzerland, Ireland, Israel, Spain, India, Iceland and the USA all make up the line up.

But there's one film which has already won international acclaim - and the hearts of animal lovers everywhere.

It's CatCam - The Movie, (which is premiering at the Show Me Shorts Film Festival), a fifteen minute short which has fired the imagination of every single moggie owner worldwide who are desperate to know what happens the minute their pet goes out the cat flap and into the wide world.

In it, a German-American engineer Jurgen Perthold decides that he wants to know a little more about where their initially stray cat, Mr Lee, headed off to every day on his travels.

It's true that curiosity killed the cat, but it also seems to have put a crimp in Jurgen's spare time as he devoted a large chunk of time to developing a camera to place around the cat's neck. Within a few days, the engineer's cracked it and soon the cat's out with a secret-eye recording what's going on.

Initially, the camera brought back only pictures which satiated Perthold's desire to see where the feline got to on its travels around their North Carolina home. 

But what actually happened was that these pictures ended up becoming an internet sensation - picking up award nominations and actually scooping prizes, much to their owner's surprise. It also fuelled a massive business for Perthold, who ended up being bombarded with thousands of emails wanting to get a hold of the kitty camera for their own use.

Consequently, Perthold developed a video camera to capture the antics of Mr Lee - from drinking out of streams, watching birds to catching what happens when the traditionally loner animal met up with others of its own kind. The camera's now been sold worldwide and the internet's awash with people posting pics of what feline antics their own pets get up to daily.

The CatCam doco has already received an award at the South By South West Short Doc Jury prize, as well as scoring nominations at the prestigious Sarasota Film Festival, and the Tribeca Film Festival. 

CatCam The Movie screens at the Show Me Shorts Film Festival which plays around New Zealand from November.