Gambling Films Bring Home Silver

13 May 2005

Gambling Films Bring Home Silver

Two short films commissioned by the Gambling Helpline won a Silver Remi Award at the prestigious Houston Worldfest, USA.

The Gambler and Gambling - The Flipside highlight problem gambling addiction and how Kiwi families deal with their struggle.

Gambling Helpline Chief Executive Gary Clifford says the films are used by the Gambling Helpline to train staff and have been distributed around the country to a range of community agencies and gambling venues to generate awareness of problem gambling.

"Through these films people share their real-life fight with problem gambling and how it impacts on their personal relationships and work-life. As well as the voices of people directly experiencing gambling problems the "flipside" view of a person who is concerned about another's gambling is also presented.

"This award is a tribute to the people who have told their story in a bid to help others who experience problems because of gambling," he says.

The films, produced by TopShelf Productions, received a Silver Remi Award at the Houston Worldfest Independent film festival in April. The festival has been celebrating independent films since 1961 and aims to recognise and honour outstanding creative excellence in film and video. The festival claims to have discovered film greats such as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Ang Lee who all received their first filmmaking awards at the festival.

Another award went to the documentary produced by TopShelf Productions and recently screened by TVNZ, called It's Not a Game. The documentary was awarded a Certificate of Merit in the Documentary: Social/Political category of the Hugo Awards for Excellence in Television in Chicago.

It's Not a Game screened on TV One's Documentary New Zealand in early March and revealed the real-life stories of New Zealanders whose lives have been negatively affected by gambling on pokie machines.

In 2004, more than 90 percent of Gambling Helpline's callers reported their primary addiction was gambling on gaming machines in pubs, clubs and casinos.

The Hugo Awards are run in conjunction with the Chicago International Film Festival and honour the best in television.

Mr Clifford says it is great that New Zealand is being recognised on the international stage for its creative presentation of important social issues.

These successes come at a time when the world's leading authorities on problem gambling will gather in Auckland for the International Gambling Conference: Policy, Practice and Research - One Year On and Think Tank (May 27-28).

"Hosting this conference and Think Tank reflects New Zealand's strong international reputation in problem gambling research and in the way that we provide support services for people experiencing problems," says Mr Clifford.

ENDS

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