Wellywood rolls red carpet out for young film makers

Wellywood rolls red carpet out for young film makers

Miramar’s internationally-recognised film industry celebrated the birth of a new generation of film makers at the inaugural Roxy5 short film awards in Wellington tonight.
The supreme award went to team DME1 of Otaki College for their film, titled ‘Life is but a dream’, the story of a sailor who leaves England in 1860 and wakes up in Wellington 150 years later.

The Roxy5 judges awarded DME1 $5,000 for their school, a Weta designed and sculpted trophy and a full day guided tour of Miramar’s film-making facilities. Myth-Makers of Wellington College were runner up and won a half-day tour of local film-making facilities.

Roxy5 co-founder and Academy Award winner Jamie Selkirk awarded certificates to the other finalists Rongotai College and Tawa College.

Fourteen teams of secondary school students have spent the past two months making 5-minute documentaries to commemorate Wellington’s 150th Anniversary.

The top four shorts were screened at the Roxy Cinema as part of the Miramarvellous Festival, which includes the Documentary Edge film festival celebrating its 10th anniversary in New Zealand.

DME1 team leader Stephen Aitken says they were privileged to have the support of Wellywood stars like Mr Selkirk.

“We learned so much from the competition and became closer through the creative process. It’s been hard work, but also a lot of fun getting to meet our heroes and industry trailblazers.”

Mr Selkirk says the students have proven there’s plenty of emerging talent in New Zealand, which is encouraging for the film industry.

“I couldn’t be happier with the quality of the stories these kids have told and the creativity they’ve demonstrated in their film making.

“Many of the youngsters are natural born storytellers, which is the essential ingredient for good film making.”

At the beginning of his career, Mr Selkirk worked alongside Sir Peter Jackson in the making of Bad Taste, Meet the Feebles, and Braindead and became a full producer (and editor) on The Frighteners. Mr Selkirk was awarded a Best Editing Academy Award in 2004 for his work on the Lord of the Rings.

The Roxy5 film competition was created by the Miramar Events Trust and supported by industry heavyweights including Sir Richard Taylor, Taika Waititi, Damian McDonnell, Dan Hennah, Ra Vincent, Mike Hedges and Matt Aitken.

In future, the competition will be expanded to include schools in other parts of the country.

ENDS

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