The third New Zealand Youth Film Festival awards ceremony is taking place at Te Papa in Wellington tonight, with the next generation of Kiwi filmmakers set to be awarded.
Presented by the NZ Herald, entries for the festival opened in June this year for young Kiwis aged 15 to 24 to enter their work in different genres.
Since the festival’s inception, the number of entries each year has grown - there were 509 entries from around the country this year, compared to 426 last year.
This year, the NZYFF’s sibling festival, the Australia Youth Film Festival, was launched in Australia.
Tonight’s ceremony can be viewed via a livestream on the Herald website.
The festival took place in Wellington for the second year in 2023, with more than 400 entries from around the country and prizes including a tour of the Shortland St film set and Canon camera gear.
The ceremony was hosted by comedian and actress Karen O’Leary.
This year, the prizes up for grabs include a tour of Wētā Workshop, camera, cash prizes and time with industry leaders and actors.
As well as the highly-coveted Wellington UNESCO City of Film Best Overall Film - with the winner set to be awarded a Māoriland Film Festival Experience - here are the awards set to be handed out tonight.
Yoobee College of Creative Innovation Best Directing
Dear Dad, - Acacia Wong
The King - Aislin Hook
Sticky Pages - Emily Quang
Bear Witness - Grace Symmans
Mixed Media - Isaac Giles
Self-Portrait - Ryo Nishikawa
At Arms Length - Toni Tyson
South Pacific Pictures Best Acting
God’s Favourites Fall Hardest - Faith Carolyn Wand
Stuck In A Hard Place - Finn Davey
Smile - Henry Jiao
Nokia Low - Oberon Romond
Motion - Ryan Evans
Crazy Love - Thomas Stewardson
I Thought I Was Alone - Zion McLean
Best Māori Filmmaker
Taurewarewa - Libby Witheford-Smith
The Great South - Taniora Ormsby
One NZ Best Phone Short
Leave a Message at the Tone - Juno Salmon
Living Out Loud: Reflection of Trans Visibility -Lee Li
Wētā FX Best Visual Effects
Hobson’s Choice - Daniel Robinson
A Dragon in Name Only - Jacynta Scurfield
Hardwired - Joel Graham
Lumos - Kate Skoglund
The Broadcast - Madison Kremmer
The Memory Emporium - Michael Allred
Red Light - Tyler Redmond
The NZ Herald Best Documentary
Native Eye - Grace Bridle
Sound in Wind and Limb - Katie Bilbrough
Pōneke Classical Sessions - Sebastian Kerebs
The Unlikely Voyage - Zoe Janda
Living Out Loud: Reflection of Trans Visibility - Lee Li
Blackmagic Design Best Editing
Empty Ceilings - Caleb Rayner
Crescendo - Faith Cruz
ONLINE - Ollie Madsen
Take Me to Your Leader - Rata Shaw
Tape V - Wei-Chi Lin
Canon Best Cinematography
King Karsten - Andrew Watson
It Hunts At Night - Charlie Johnston
The Wētā - Hayden Smithie
Birdsong - Levi Andreas Roberts-Brothers
Borders of the Heart - Weitong Li
Wētā Workshop Best Special Effects
The Trade - Jack Robinson
Smugglers Run - Mark Ruffell
The Puppet Show - Sam Pay