The Someday Challenge 2014 Winners

The Someday Challenge

2014 Winners

Young New Zealand film-makers rise to challenge to make sustainability films

20 Winning Films Released Online
Voting Starts for Audience Favourite

This year’s 20 Winning Films in The Outlook for Someday sustainability film challenge are released today at www.theoutlookforsomeday.net

Made by individuals and teams from 7 to 24 years old, the films demonstrate impressive storytelling skills and film-making know-how. They use live-action, animation, documentary, music video and poetry to make powerful statements about environmental, social and health issues.

The winning films (listed below with synopses) tackle subjects as diverse as the protection of bees, trees, birds and paua; art, craft, and self-expression; recycling and care for resources; cancer survival, bullying and online communication; and the everyday food choices that we make.

A Judging Team of people from media, education, government and business selected the 20 winners out of 130 entries from all over New Zealand.

Now in its 8th year, the Someday Challenge asks young people aged up to 24 to make short sustainability-related films of any genre, filmed with any camera and any length up to 5 minutes.

Films from the Someday Challenge in recent years have gone on to achieve international success, with entries by film-makers aged from ten to 24 selected for prestigious film festivals.

This year for the first time ever, each winning film-maker will receive a commitment from The Outlook for Someday that their film will be entered into at least one international film festival in 2015.

“Our partners and supporters generously contribute prizes for the winning films. With this commitment to enter the films into international festivals, we can also offer the film-makers a chance to step onto the world stage,” says David Jacobs, Project Director of The Outlook for Someday.

The film-makers will be honoured at The Someday Awards red-carpet ceremony at the Aotea Centre in Auckland on 4 December.

As well as receiving their prizes they will find out which of the 20 Special Awards (listed below) they have each won and which film has been voted Element Audience Favourite.

The online vote for Element Audience Favourite starts today and closes atmidnight on Monday 1 December.

The climax of the ceremony will be the announcement and screening of the film chosen as The Body Shop Standout Winner, for which the prize package includes a mentorship with actor, film industry professional and Someday Ambassador Kiel McNaughton, membership of the Directors and Editors Guild of New Zealand, and a Canon DSLR camera kit ready for film-making.

The Outlook for Someday is New Zealand’s sustainability film project for young people. It includes an annual film challenge and a national series of sustainability film-making workshops.

This year 508 young people have taken part making the 130 entries to the film challenge, and 664 young people, teachers and youth workers participated in 33 free one-day sustainability film-making workshops.

The objective of the project is to help grow a generation of sustainability storytellers.

“The Outlook for Someday is a vehicle for media citizenship. By making films about sustainability young people are contributing their talents to changing the world," says David Jacobs.

WATCH THE WINNING FILMS:
www.theoutlookforsomeday.net/winning-films

VOTE FOR AUDIENCE FAVOURITE:
www.theoutlookforsomeday.net/vote

DOWNLOAD HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGES OF THE WINNING FILMS:
www.theoutlookforsomeday.net/gallery/2014/winning-films

DOWNLOAD PROJECT IDENTITY:
http://www.theoutlookforsomeday.net/gallery/2014/project-identity

PRIZES:
www.theoutlookforsomeday.net/prizes/prizes

JUDGING TEAM:
www.theoutlookforsomeday.net/prizes/judging-team

THE 20 WINNING FILMS

Beep by a team from Timaru (aged 18-22)
Genre: Drama
Synopsis: A man is given pause for reflection and a change of direction when an incessant beeping begins to plague his life.

Te Ao o te Tuturuatu by Tomairangi Harvey (11) from Christchurch
Genre: Animated Docudrama
Synopsis: Narrated in Te Reo Māori, this painterly animation tells the story of the Tuturuatu (Shore Dotterel) and its habitat and survival in New Zealand.

Open Your Eyes by a team from Craighead Diocesan School in Timaru (aged 14-15)
Genre: Video Essay
Synopsis: A plainspoken confessional of modern malaise from a young voice alerts us to our wastefulness and disconnection.

Paua Sustainability in Tauroa by Olivia Matthews (16) and Emma Dolfing (16) from Kaitaia College
Genre: News Item
Synopsis: A reportage-style piece about cooperation between schools in the quest to preserve and grow paua populations in Northland.

Material Witness by Daisy Thor-Poet (16) and Ming Thor-Poet (13) from Mount Aspiring College in Wanaka
Genre: Documentary
Synopsis: A thirteen-year old girl shows us how to combine a calling for the arts and the call of nature to produce stunning artworks.

To The Rescue by Mason Cade Packer (15) and Anthony McEwen (16) from Kapiti College
Genre: Documentary
Synopsis: All the way from Chicago to Lower Hutt, this film tracks the work of food rescuers who salvage food from around their cities to feed the hungry.

No More Cats! by a team from Victory Primary School in Nelson (aged 10-11)
Genre: Documentary
Synopsis: Students probe into the murky debate about cats and native birdlife through interview and anecdotes from New Zealand history.

Rewind by Liam van Eeden (16) and Jean-Martin Fabre (16) from Verdon College in Invercargill
Genre: Drama
Synopsis: If you could rewind the things you did what would you change for the better? Two young men show us how a single moment can change a life.

Quinn’s Quest by Hunter Williams (15) from Auckland
Genre: Documentary
Synopsis: A seven-year old girl asks her mother questions no seven-year old should ever have to ask. This documentary chronicles how Quinn Hautapu inspires people across New Zealand with her bravery and indomitable spirit.

Epilobium by a team from Hobsonville Point Secondary School in Auckland (aged 13-14)
Genre: Video Essay
Synopsis: Words tumble from the mouth of a young poet as a waterfall of images of urban New Zealand drives us to a fundamental question: what will we leave behind on this land when we are gone?

Cathy and Anna by Michelle Vergel de Dios (23) and Kiri Jones (20) from Auckland
Genre: Drama
Synopsis: Part parable of humanity, part real-life experience of young people searching for a subject to drive their passion in a homework assignment, this story mixes live action and animation to convey its message.

Odd Balls by Rowen Trusewich (17) from Auckland
Genre: Documentary
Synopsis: Following one woman and her hobby, this biopic gives us a snapshot of a passion that never ceases to give pleasure and warmth.

Beeing a Honey Maker by a team from Avalon Intermediate School and Taita College in Lower Hutt (aged 11-13)
Genre: Music Video
Synopsis: To a languorous beat as lilting as a summer’s day, this music video riffs about the importance of bees to our lives and to life itself on earth.

Weekday Vegetarian by Ruby Harris (15) and Naomi Ashby-Ryan (14) from Logan Park High School in Dunedin
Genre: Public Service Announcement
Synopsis: A simple, achievable option for cutting waste and harmful emissions the world over. A film to make you think, and act.

Saving Trees by a team from Pongakawa School in Te Puke (aged 10-11)
Genre: Drama
Synopsis: We follow a news crew as they witness the cutting down of the last tree, and the civil unrest that ensues in the fight to save it.

Nature’s Ghosts by Emma Scheltema (24) from Auckland
Genre: Animated Video Essay
Synopsis: Animating a story of ecology with the same simplicity and care with which we should treat our earth, this film gracefully entreats us to act for the good of all.

Honeybee News by a team from Freevile Primary School in Christchurch (aged 7-9)
Genre: News Item
Synopsis: Adorable honeybees speak up about their plight in today’s world. Mixing live-action puppetry and documentary reporting, this film shows how the decline of bees around the world will impact almost all life on earth.

Omaha Shorebird Sanctuary – A Place Worth Protecting by a team from AUT University in Auckland (aged 21-22)
Genre: Documentary
Synopsis: This documentary discusses the multiple threats facing New Zealand’s native shorebirds and what one community is doing to protect its avian inhabitants.

If Life was Like the Web by Angus Slade (14) from Lower Hutt
Genre: Animated Music Video
Synopsis: Made of the times, for the times, this film critiques our online interactions and illustrates how they can fall short of true communication.

The Final Cut by Connor Ayliffe (19) and Fyn Ayliffe (13) from Auckland
Genre: Animated Silent Movie
Synopsis: A rich man buys a rainforest only to find that someone has been cutting down the trees and he wants to get to the root of it.

THE 20 SPECIAL AWARDS

Connected Media Film-making Achievement Award
For a film with outstanding creative / technical quality

Enviroschools Young Voices For Change Award
For a film motivating young people and/or decision-makers to be change-makers

UNESCO Sustainable Future Award
For a film which promotes dialogue on sustainability through a new perspective and/or critical thinking

Department of Conservation Big Picture Award
For a film focusing on one or more of the Big Ideas and Values in DOC's Big Picture strategy to connect young people to the natural world

Ministry of Youth Development Community Participation Award
For a film focusing on active citizenship

Te Puni Kōkiri Whakatipuranga Award
For a film with a Māori indigenous perspective on sustainability

The Coconet.tv Pasifika Award
For a film by a Pasifika film-maker or team and/or featuring Pasifika language and culture

Like Minds, Like Mine Award
For a film that focuses on social inclusion and wellbeing as a sustainability issue for young people

All Good People and Planet Award
For a film which addresses social justice as a sustainability issue

Auckland Council Film-maker Award
For a film by a film-maker or team from the Auckland region

The 4.30 Show Secondary School Film-makers Award
For a film made by young people of secondary school age

What Now Primary/Intermediate School Film-makers Award
For a film made by young people of primary or intermediate school age

Tearaway Secondary School Performance Award
For a film made by young people of secondary school age with strong on-screen performance

Upstart Magazine Primary/Intermediate School Performance Award
For a film made by young people of primary or intermediate school age with strong on-screen performance

Yours Digital Media Award
For a film with outstanding editing or animation

Green Ideas Sustainable Lifestyle Award
For a film focusing on lifestyle change for sustainability

Viewfinder Cinematography Award
For a film with outstanding cinematography

AUT Storytelling Award
For a film with powerful storytelling

O’Halloran North Shore Media Empowerment Award
For a film which empowers its viewers and/or its makers

The Someday Ambassadors Teamwork Award
For a film with strong teamwork on and/or off screen

THE OUTLOOK FOR SOMEDAY PARTNERS AND SUPPORTERS

The Outlook for Someday in 2014 is based on partnerships between Connected Media Charitable Trust and The Body Shop New Zealand, The Enviroschools Foundation, the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO, Ministry of Youth Development, Department of Conservation, Te Puni Kōkiri, the Health Promotion Agency and Auckland Council.

Funding Partners are ASB Community Trust, The Trusts Community Foundation and Creative New Zealand's Creative Communities Scheme.

Media Partners are The 4.30 Show, What Now, The Coconet.tv, YOURS.net.nz, Element Magazine, Green Ideas Magazine, Tearaway, Upstart and Viewfinder.

Event Partners are Auckland Live, Austin’s and All Good.

AUT University is Tertiary Partner, the Directors and Editors Guild of New Zealand is Industry Partner and Benefitz is Print Partner.

O’Halloran North Shore is Accountancy Partner and Stephens Lawyers is Honorary Legal Advisor.

Project Supporters are Levi’s® Stores, DefenderBags, Safebottles, ecostore, WWF New Zealand, Orcon, Rockstock, B&F Papers, Pastel City, AS Colour, Karousel Screenprinting, Kahra Scott-James, Orange Productions, NZ Camera Hire, Hire Plants, El Framo, Corporate Consumables and Lothlorien Organic Fruit Juices.

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