The 11th annual Rialto Channel 48HOURS furious filmmaking competition winners have been announced at the 2013 Grand Final event hosted tonight at the mighty Civic in Auckland. The Grand National Champion prize was awarded to team TRACES OF NUT for their short The Sleeping Plot – a black comedy about a 10-year-old girl searching for her best friend.
“Everybody did their job,” director Dean Hewison told Flicks. “It was a combination of everybody doing such a great job in their department that just makes the film sing.”
“The Sleeping Plot” by Traces of Nut – Crime Movie from 48HOURS on Vimeo.
“I’m forever trying to suppress my expectations at 48 hours,” Richard Falkner adds “as we’ve been bridesmaids in Wellington a bunch of times, so I could hardly believe it when we were named winners. We were already having a mega night between Dean, Matty, and Nova’s wins, but the main prize just equalled pure jubilation. Now I’m back at work in Wellington, in this surreal ‘pinch me’ state. So many good films last night, and through the whole comp; it really could’ve been anyone. The idea of winning 48 is hard to get my head around, it’s like we’ve defeated Sauron!”
From the judging panel, Scott Walker (director of Frozen Ground) said of the winner: “I loved the story, original, manipulative (I fell for that kid), funny, and clever. High production values made everything feel smooth and it looked professional. Great wee story, well told. All the little portends as the film went along were great, making a second viewing really rewarding.”
The short film competed with over 800 teams from across New Zealand who took part. Judging was undertaken by an international judging panel (including chief critic at Variety, Scott Foundas and Homeland director Lodge Kerrigan). The winners took home a prize pool of around $50,000 from NZ Film Commission and Wingnut Films.
The runner up prize went to team CHESS CLUB for I Got Robots, third place to team NIGHTOWLS with Autocraniotomous. 48HOURS also announced that The Sleeping Plot and Best Animated film winner Sleep Clinic have been selected to compete at the prestigious Fantastic Fest in Austin.
Here are the full list of winners:
GRAND NATIONAL Champion: TRACES OF NUT for The Sleeping Plot
GRAND NATIONAL Runner Up: CHESS CLUB for I Got Robots
GRAND NATIONAL Runner Runner Up: NIGHTOWLS for Autocraniotomous
‘V’ BEST ACTRESS: Nova Waretini-Hewison from TRACES OF NUT for The Sleeping Plot
‘V’ BEST ACTOR: James Kupa from CHESS CLUB for I Got Robots
RIALTO CHANNEL RISING STAR: JOLLY SHRIMP CO. for Guinea Pig Funeral
CANON BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Matty Warmington from TRACES OF NUT for The Sleeping Plot
AUT UNIVERSITY BEST DIRECTOR: Dean Hewison from TRACES OF NUT for The Sleeping Plot
LOOP BEST SONG: “Bobs Bust Out” Composer Jeremy Veal from ICW PRODUCTIONS for Consulting Vic Meyer
LOOP BEST SCORE: Jordan Brown from ELYSIUM EXIT for The Empath
MEDIA DESIGN SCHOOL BEST SCHOOL: BOOTY POPPERS for Good Intentions
IMAGES & SOUND SEXIEST SHORT: ELYSIUM EXIT for The Empath
GAYLENE PRESTON BEST FEMALE DIRECTOR: Lucy Timmins from BOOTY POPPERS for Good Intentions
BEST ANIMATION: DR JECKYLL for Sleep Clinic
NZ HERALD ONLINE, BEST SCRIPT: Alex Parsons & Dan Bain from THE EH TEAM for Is Love Enough?
BEST EDITING: Jeremy Mulholland from THE EH TEAM for Is Love Enough?
BEST ART DIRECTION: DUST BOOT for Sleep Shepherds
BEST MAKE UP: TOUCHING CLOTH for Night Vision
BEST USE OF THE CHARACTER: GRRR ARRRRG PRODUCTIONS for Breakdown
BEST USE OF THE PROP: SPOOCE MEDIA for The Appointment
BEST USE OF THE LINE: THE UNDERDOGS for The Hopeless Life of Snoz Meyer
INCREDIBLY STRANGE AWARD: NIU FILM for A Man Escaped
BEST TEAM INTRO: BUS OF THE UNDEAD
