We're running out of headlines to cover all the WIFT members who have picked up awards in the last couple of weeks.
One of most hotly contested is the Show Me Shorts awards and we are so delighted and proud to tell you that the Oscar�-accredited Lightbox Best Film Award was awarded to WIFT member Alyx Duncan for The Tide Keeper.
Duncan also took home the DEGNZ Best Director Award, while her cinematographers Chris Pryor and Ben Montgomery were jointly awarded the Panavision Best Cinematography Award.
In their statement, the judges, Peter Elliot, Siobhan Marshall, Cushla Dillon and Matthew Saville, said, "The Tide Keeper is concise, intelligent, beautiful and moving. This film created another world within a world, incorporating an intriguing sense of choreographic movement and the best elements of story-telling and cinema. It is totally original."
Speaking about WIFT member Tina Cleary's StarNow Best Actor Award winning performance in Cub, the judges commented: "Cleary's performance was amazing - it had distinctive depth and humanity. It was an extraordinary role that she rose to."
The Best Music Video Award category was fiercely competitive, with the prize going to last year's winners, directing duo Thunderlips, for Emily by The Eversons. The judges also acknowledged the work of WIFT member Mhairead Connor, who produced UFO, with the NZFC Special Jury Prize - calling it "Exceptionally bold and brave. Cinematic. Art department, the lighting and the make-up are all really well done. Fantastic."
As the winner of the coveted Lightbox Best Film Award Alyx Duncan is now eligible to enter The Tide Keeper into the 2017 Oscars�. She also receives $2,000 cash, $5,000 worth of gear rental from Rubber Monkey, a membership to StarNow, a copy of Final Draft screenwriting software, a bottle of Opawa pinot noir and flowers from Enchanted Rose.
Show Me Shorts is now playing 40 short films and six music videos in 22 cinemas across Aotearoa, from Dargaville to Stewart Island. Tickets are on sale from the cinema venues.
Audience members can be part of the awards process by voting for their favourite film to win the People's Choice Award during the festival. Survey and voting forms can be completed at cinema venues or online at www.showmeshorts.co.nz.
SHOW ME SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL 2015 AWARD WINNERS:
Lightbox Best Film Award
Alyx Duncan, The Tide Keeper
Final Draft Best Screenplay Award
Ryan Heron & Guy Montgomery, Return
DEGNZ Best Editor Award
James Cunningham, Accidents, Blunders and Calamities
StarNow Best Actor Award
Tina Cleary, Cub
Best International Film Award
Jonathan Stein, Out of the Village
DEGNZ Best Director Award
Alyx Duncan, The Tide Keeper
Panavision Best Cinematographer Award
Chris Pryor & Ben Montgomery, The Tide Keeper
NZFC Special Jury Prize:
Mhairead Connor, UFO
Best Music Video
Thunderlips, Emily by The Eversons
Best Student Film:
Kyan Krumdieck & Annabelle Dick, The Grind
People's Choice Award: Announced in December when audience votes are counted.
About Show Me Shorts Film Festival
Show Me Shorts is New Zealand's leading international short film festival, and the only festival in New Zealand with Academy Awards�-accreditation. Their mission is to connect audiences with quality short films, celebrate excellence in short film making and foster the New Zealand short film community.