Following a fabulous Grand Finals at Auckland’s Civic Theatre, Vista Foundation 48Hours have some winners to announce! The Vista Foundation Grand Finals honoured the creative ingenuity and awesome tenacity of 2021’s entrants, with some incredible entries from around Aotearoa lighting up the big screen in the heart of Tāmaki Makaurau.

Vista Foundation 48Hours Competition is thrilled to announce that the 2021 Grand National Champion Award goes to:

Good Girl by Traces of Nut (Wellington)
A professional dog walker (Emma Draper) becomes immersed in a self-help podcast and finds herself treading dangerous territory.

The team also took home Best Director and Best Script on the night for their suspenseful and canine-filled entry. This marks the second time the team has won the top prize, last taking home the National Champion Award in 2013 for their film, The Sleeping Plot. On their second win, Vista Foundation 48Hours National Operations Manager Ness Patea commented that "Traces of Nut reject the age-old adage ‘never work with animals and children’ and advances to the front of the pack with their entertaining splatter film Good Girl.”

Every year, Vista Foundation 48Hours Founder, Ant Timpson, bestows a special award to a deserving team. 2021 saw the return of the popular Best Solo/Duo Award - honouring those courageous teams entering the competition with just one or two team members. This year’s recipient is Taranaki-based Hannah Taylor of Pastafarian Productions. Taylor was hand-picked by Timpson for flying solo on her animated musical comedy Rekindled Spirits, which also qualified in the ULTRA Category. Rekindled Spirits is a cheeky comedy musical following a couple on a retreat attempting to repair their relationship, only to be joined by another presence.

In a first for the competition, and to acknowledge, encourage and support more female directors into entering, Dame Gaylene Preston and Women in Film & Television (WIFT) are proud to have awarded Best Female Director to Hannah Taylor from Pastafarian Productions (Taranaki) for her film Rekindled Spirits, with a $1000 cash prize.

Winning in this year's Ultra Category was Christchurch team, A Small Blob of Ice Cream for their film The Sounds of Earth. The Ultra Prize honours those filmmakers who dare to rise to an optional extra challenge, thereby making them eligible for the Ultra Category. This year, Ultra teams were challenged to set their film entirely in the dark, with entrants finding all sorts of creative solutions to qualify in this category. The Sounds of Earth is a solo animated film set in deep space. This futuristic fable features a parent alien with a desire to destroy and an offspring who struggles to follow his parent's wishes.

Vista Foundation 48Hours are also stoked to have had 120 school teams enter the competition this year. They are acknowledging their best school team for 2021 with a $1000 National Prize, which went to the Newlands College team - Howie Mandel Fan Club for their film, Sharla and the Smiths. As Sharla prepares for college, things begin to fall apart in the final season of her family sitcom. Sharla and the Smiths is a unique film that took some creative risks that ended up paying off in this self-aware family sitcom.

The Vista Foundation 48Hours Team are stoked have had over 300 entries in 2021's competition, with all films made in just 48 hours by some of Aotearoa's most exciting up-and-coming talent. Learn more about Vista Foundation 48Hours at 48hours.co.nz

AND THE WINNERS ARE...

• Grand National Champion:
  Good Girl by Traces of Nut (Wellington)
   
• Grand National Runner-up:
  A Matter of Time by Apple Fork (Auckland)
   
• Grand National Second Runner-up:
  Āta by Mitchell’s Here (Auckland)
   
• Ant Timpson's Best Solo/Duo Award:
  Rekindled Spirits by Pastafarian Productions (Taranaki) - Hannah Taylor
   
• Best Ultra Award
  The Sounds of Earth by A Small Blob Of Ice Cream (Christchurch) - Andrew Todd
   
• The Dame Gaylene Preston and WIFT Best Female Director Award
  ‘Rekindled Spirits’ - Pastafarian Productions (Taranaki) - Hannah Taylor
   
• Best Director Award
  Good Girl by Traces of Nut (Wellington)
   
• Best School Team
  Sharla and The Smiths by Howie Mandel Film Club - Newlands College (Wellington)
   
• Best Performer Award
  Hydrangea by Tasteful Sideboob (Wellington) - Rosie Howell
   
• Best Script Award
  Good Girl by Traces of Nut (Wellington)
   
• Best Cinematography Award
  Memories of Kevin - Angle3 Pictures (Auckland) - Daryl J Wong
   
• Best Production Design Award
  DAS BANANA-BOOT by Qualified Tim (Wellington) - Tim Hamilton
   
• Best Animation Award
  Loot & Blunder by I Love Loops (Auckland)
   
• Best VFX Award
  Banana Boys by Disqualified Tim (Auckland)
   
• Best Editing Award
  Pre-Emptive Defence by Couch Kumara (Wellington) - Finn O'Connor
   
• Best Sound Design Award
  Banana Boys by Disqualified Tim (Wellington) - George Palmer & Callum Scott
   
• Best Original Score/Song Award
  Making A Splash by Chillybox (Auckland) - Gareth Van Niekerk

Grand National Finalists:

• Apple Fork - A Matter Of Time
• Awkward Animations - Unfinished Symphony
• BAE24 - The Dying Art of Cat Burglary
• Couch Kumara - Pre-Emptive Defence
• Disqualified Tim - We built and destroyed a full sized B17 bomber specifically and only for this competition. Also known as "Banana Boys"
• Dystography Studios - The Last Lord of Scotland
• Traces of Nut - Good Girl
• I Love Loops - Loot & Blunder
• Kinaki - Good as Gold
• Mitchell's Here - Āta
• Qualified Tim - We built and destroyed a full sized cardboard u-boat specifically and only for this competition. also known as “DAS BANANA-BOOT”
• Snack To The Future - Judy
• Tasteful Sideboob - Hydrangea
• The Creamery - In Deep
• Underwater Dreams - Jebivetar

Ant Timpson Wildcards:

• Cyan Sea - Max
• Free Cinematic Luts - Shit Chat
• Pastafarian Productions - Rekindled Spirit

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