Show Me Shorts finalists nominees revealed

Show Me Shorts finalists nominees revealed

This just in...

The nominees for the 7^th annual Show Me Shorts Film Festival are in! Fourteen films have been nominated in nine award categories.  Notably, ‘Night Shift’ by Zia Mandviwalla received nominations in five award categories; ‘Tatau’ by Chantelle Burgoyne and ‘Lambs’ by Sam Kelly each received four nominations; and ‘43,000 Feet’ by Campbell Hooper received two nominations.

The winners will be announced at the Opening Night in Auckland on Thursday 1^st November. The 2012 prize pool is valued at over $20,000, with the winner of the top award for Best Film taking away $5,000 in film equipment rental from Rubber Monkey Rentals, 6x 400ft of Kodak film stock, subscriptions to Screen Hub, StarNow.com and Setkick’s online production management tool, plus a one year membership to SDGNZ for the Editor and Director.

Two short films from Australia and one from Switzerland have been nominated for Best International Film. Australian film, ‘The Wilding’, is produced by previous Show Me Shorts Best Film award winner Jannine Barnes.

Three dramatic Kiwi shorts are in contention for the coveted Best Film award: ‘Lambs’, ‘Tatau’ and ‘Night Shift’. Last year’s Best Film award was won by Jack Woon for his dreamy drama about awkward teenage love: ‘The Great Barrier’.

There are still some tickets for the Auckland Opening Night and Awards Ceremony available to the public but these are selling fast from Capitol Cinemas (reservations on 09 623 2000). The Show Me Shorts Opening Nights include screenings of the winning films, and are the only chance to see all of these films screened together. A Wellington Opening Night event will follow at Paramount on Thursday, November 8^th.

The judges for 2012 are actor Rene Naufahu (‘No.2’, ‘The Market’, ‘Russian Snark’), props and prosthetics designer Roger Murray (‘Evil Dead’, ‘Spartacus’, ‘Narnia Chronicles’) and director Paul Campion (‘The Devils Rock’, ‘Eel Girl’). Naufahu was impressed with “the willingness of the assembled teams to take risk, to lead with the heart, to be brave; without compromise of technique in all areas - photography, editing, script-writing, acting - regardless of budget, location or material.”

The nominated films can be found scattered throughout the six different sessions of Show Me Shorts 2012 programme, each featuring about seven short films grouped together around a common theme: Explorers, Comedy Corner, Love & Other Catastrophes, My Hero, Nerd’s Revenge and Unrestricted Access. The full programme of 40 short films this year showcases a wide variety of fiction and documentaryshorts. Themes of family ties and new relationships feature alongside dumpster diving and synchronised cycling. The international films on offer tell tales of sheep stealing, the de-winging of angels and time travel, not to mention stories on love… for gravediggers, zombies and juvenile delinquents.

Judge Rene Naufahu describes the Show Me Shorts films that had the biggest impact on him as “inescapable, claustrophobic, unpredictable, urgent and other-worldly yet at the same time liberating, a huge breath of fresh air, slow-burning and (best of all!) on our doorstep”. 

The seventh annual SHOW ME SHORTS Film Festival will screen in 12 cinemas around New Zealand, commencing 1 November. The full programme is at www.showmeshorts.co.nz.

Here is the full list of 2012 nominees:

SHOW ME SHORTS BEST FILM

Tom Hern for ‘Lambs’

Zanna Gillespie, Graeme E. Bibby & Chantelle Burgoyne for ‘Tatau’

Matt Noonan & Chelsea Winstanley for ‘Night Shift’

PANAVISION BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Andrew Stroud for ‘43,000 Feet’

Ari Wegner for ‘Night Shift’

Denson Baker for ‘Lambs’

BEST STUDENT FILM

UNITEC for ‘This is Libby’

Zanna Gillespie, Graeme E. Bibby & Chantelle Burgoyne for ‘Tatau’

Lauren Eisinger & Katherine France for ‘Kia Kaha’

STARNOW BEST ACTOR

Waka Rowlands for his role in ‘Lambs’                  

Anapela Polataivao for her role in ‘Night Shift’                      

Fynn Ellison for his role in ‘Ollie’    

SCRIPT TO SCREEN BEST SCREENPLAY

Zia Mandviwalla for ‘Night Shift’

Matthew Harris for ‘43,000 Feet’

Lucy Zee for ‘This is Libby’

SDGNZ BEST DIRECTOR

Zia Mandviwalla for ‘Night Shift’

Sam Kelly for ‘Lambs’

Chantelle Burgoyne for ‘Tatau’

SDGNZ BEST EDITOR

Chantelle Burgoyne for ‘Tatau’

Jeff Hurrell for ‘Lambs’

Dan Jarman for ‘The F.E.U.C’

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

Jannine Barnes for ‘The Wilding’

Maya Zibung Jones for ‘Parallel’

Asuka Sylvie for ‘Pinion’

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE

Richard Mans’ technical accomplishment for ‘Abiogenesis’.

The cast and crew of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ for community filmmaking.

Yaser Naser for the VFX on ‘50% off Mail Order Bride’.

(Also a special mention to Andrew Long’s End Credits on 50% off Mail Order Bride)