North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Students’ bite-sized films impress judge
Over 100 youngsters have sunk their teeth into storylines of monsters and food, in the hopes of being crowned the best young filmmaker.
Short Shorts is a film competition open to primary, intermediate and secondary school students in the Kaipatiki community.
‘‘Kaipatiki Bites’’ was this year’s theme, open to creative interpretation from the youngsters, who ran with ideas of taniwha, food tasting and factory workers.
Kaipatiki Public Arts Trust chairman David Innes said the trust wanted to leave the kids with a theme that was ‘‘reasonably wide’’.
This way ‘‘bites’’ could be interpreted any way the students wanted, either biting food, or biting monsters, or even an IT byte, if they wanted.
‘‘But, it was mainly monsters and food,’’ Innes said.
This year’s winners were announced at a special screening and awards presentation at Birkenhead Intermediate School auditorium.
Primary and intermediate winners were Apollo Brice from Willow Park Primary, and Hannah Stride, Khalila Ardani, Nikki Gear and Oliver Downes from Northcote Intermediate.
Wairau Valley Special School got a highly accomplished for the secondary schools.
Prize money ranged from $250 to $1000 for the best short film.
Independent filmmaker Phil Dadson, also from Kaipatiki, was chosen to judge the entries and Kaipatiki Local Board chairwoman Danielle Grant, handed out the prizes.
Grant said what shone throughout all the entires, was the young people’s pride in Kaipatiki.
‘‘They captured so much about what is so special about what we all call home. So much about connecting with the place or the people.’’
Short Shorts began as a way to locally own public art interaction and build participation in the Kaipatiki community. But, run all by volunteers, it takes a lot of manpower.
However, entries for this years competition doubled from last, with 20 entries from 9 schools, and chairman David Innes said this year’s new additions secured the competition’s return next year.
‘‘It looks like no big deal on the surface, but it’s a lot of work. But, the community will be disappointed if we didn’t do it again next year,’’ Innes said.