Hohepa Hemara has been named best director at an awards night to celebrate new young talent in the film industry.
Hohepa's environmental film Youth Today was but one of the many highlights of the annual Youthtown Short Film Challenge
An animated film made by South Auckland-based Massacre Films, also known as Isaiah Tour,
took the top prize .
The six-minute bilingual cartoon, called Cookie, describes the tragic consequences of a feud between two families of biscuits - the Afghans and the Shortbreads. Eighteen-year old Isaiah, who also took the judges' gong for best script, wins $2000 in Harvey Norman vouchers.
The award is doubly welcome for Isaiah, who has entered the Youthtown Short Film Challenge for three years running. Now in its seventh year, the contest gives budding film makers, actors and actresses between 13 and 18 years-old a chance to showcase their production talents.
"Isaiah was the judges' choice as he has great technical ability, his story was well constructed and the animation had a great sense of humour," says Paula Jones, one of the Short Film Challenge judges and Head of Documentary at South Seas Film and TV.
"He's an incredibly gifted young director."
With his best director awar, Hohepa Hemara gets an introduction to television production course provided by South Seas Film, Television & Animation School.
No Signal was the runner-up for best film with $500 in Harvey Norman vouchers going to the film making group Kocky Productions. The students who make up Kocky Productions attended a Youthtown Auckland film and TV workshop led by Garth Gleeson, the main tutor.
The winners of the Youthtown Short Film Challenge were announced at a screening at Auckland's Academy Cinema. It was judged by a panel of industry experts, including Paula Jones and Johnny Givins, head of on-screen acting at South Seas Film and TV School.
Eleven budding Tarantinos and Scorceses submitted a range of films of between 4-7 minutes - animation, horror films, documentaries and gangster flicks.
"Youthtown always produces some fantastic entries and we're always stunned by the high level of entries right across the board," Paula says.
To see a full list of winners and to learn more about Youthtown and its programmes, see www.youthtown.org.nz
