Gisborne filmmaker shortlisted

SHORT-LISTED: Gisborne filmmaker Cheyenne Lewis’ latest short film has made the finals for the national video competition called The Someday Challenge. Cheyenne is pictured in front with actors from the film Morgan Ngata, left, and Brody Lewis. Absent is Mark Lewis. Picture by Liam Clayton

Gisborne filmmaker Cheyenne Lewis likes that she can turn her thoughts into movies.

The 17-year-old Lytton High School student has had her latest film shortlisted for the annual Someday Challenge.

Called Kiwi Cops, the film is five minutes long but spans 30 years.

Cheyenne says it’s about two brothers who come across a Kiwi in a trap that ends up dying. What the brothers do as a result of this experience brings a business to life and saves native birds.

Cheyenne said her interest in filmmaking was sparked as a student at Te Karaka Area School. The school made a video for their departing principal. When Cheyenne saw it she thought it was “pretty cool.”

In 2016 Cheyenne made her first short film, called Eyes of War, which won her an $800 scholarship.

“I like that I can form my own thoughts into actual movies, instead of just ideas in my head I get to bring them to life.

“I originally started out about five or six years old writing stories. It wasn’t until I reached high school I thought let’s bring them to life.”

The Someday Challenge is a competition open to all young people of Aotearoa New Zealand to create a short film based on a theme of sustainability. This year there were 133 entries from filmmakers as young as eight-years-old through to young adults. Films arrived via Digital Pigeon, snail mail — and even by hand. One came all the way from a New Zealander living in the United Kingdom.