‘Floating’ reaches the top at film awards

_{2024 School Shorts winners (detailed below)} 

With more than thirty short films entered this year, the New Zealand Broadcasting School’s (NZBS) annual competition for emerging filmmakers was hotly contested once again.

High school actors, screenwriters, cinematographers, sound designers, editors and directors are recognised in the awards with entries this year spanning music videos, documentaries and various film genres. 

Contributions came from high schools all over the South Island with the filmmakers gathering at Christchurch’s Reading Cinema to see their work on a big cinema screen on 3 November 3rd. 

_{Sofi Braga won Best Overall Film for her work “Floating”} 

Best overall film was produced by Cashmere High School’s Sofi Braga – an international student due to head back home to Italy at the end of the month. 

She said it was a thrill to see her work in a cinema setting. 

“I’m so happy to win this award and to be able to watch our movies on a big screen! It was truly a step towards a dream coming true,” she said. Growing up around cinema and music production, Braga said she knew she wanted to be part of the industry from a young age. 

“I drew a storyboard for this film at home in Rome and when I joined the film club at Cashmere, they told me about this competition and offered to help me make my film. It was really a team effort, and I will be forever grateful to everyone who was involved,” she said. 

_{Cashmere High School films took out Best Performance, Best Overall Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay} 

Cashmere High School won four of the eight awards. Head of English Brett McKersey said the level of entries and the collaboration involved reflected the school's strong arts culture.   He said the School Shorts competition was a key fixture in the minds of the school’s film club and wider arts and media students. 

“We've had some passionate students this year. They create and work together and inspire younger students too, which is awesome. Taking their work beyond the classroom and having the joy of seeing it on the big screen with a full audience reaction is a big driver for these students.” he said. 

The judging panel was made up of freelance screen editor and director Loren Kett, filmmaker and theatre practitioner Vanessa Wells and cinematographer Kirk Pflaum. 

School Shorts is an ideal way for students passionate about media to be introduced to the NZBS with best screenplay co-winner Connor Tobbell as case in point. 

_{Connor Tobbell (left) and Ben Staunton won Best Screenplay for their film “Deadline”} 

Tobbell was looking forward to starting his Bachelor of Broadcasting Communications degree next year, and said the course was a good fit for his interest in video editing and filming. 

“I know I want to work somewhere in media. I’m not sure just what area it might be in terms of TV or film.I had a look at the course and the third-year professional placement sounds really good,” he said. 

Thanking the sponsors Photo and Video International and Panasonic, NZBS manager Kathryn McCully congratulated all the students for their impressive work and urged them to keep exploring their talents. 

“You’re our future and I encourage you to lead the way using film to its full potential to explore our greatest problems and opportunities, celebrate our successes, support us in times of grief, help us consider new perspectives and bring us together,” she said. 

“Tell your own unique stories, take risks, make mistakes and learn from them, and, most of all, persevere.” 

Full list of winners and judges' comments: 

BEST PERFORMANCE 

Cashmere High School Silas Adams - Mia Sharr 

“Mia Sharr’s performance grounds the wilder conceits of the plot, and her character work provides the necessary stakes and sense of loss that give weight to the protagonist’s dark actions.” 

BEST DOCUMENTARY 

Avonside Girls’ High School How Much Does Anything Mean to You? - Jessie Harris 

“It was great to see so many documentaries entered in this year’s competition, and it was a tough decision. In the end, the panel felt this documentary really captured the spirit of the local Christchurch art scene and how much creating art and music means to these artists.” 

BEST SCREENPLAY 

Cashmere High School - Deadline Ben Staunton & Connor Tobbell  

“Film is a visual medium, so it’s important to remember that a good script is more than clever dialogue. The panel felt that this film had an original approach to the Apocalypse as it explored the five stages of grief with excellent use of structure, sequencing, and theme.” 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY 

Riccarton High School Simulacrum - Kenta Lord 

 “While it’s beautifully shot, what really impressed the panel was the excellent visual story telling built on a foundation of clarity and coherent sequences.” 

BEST SOUND DESIGN 

St Andrew's College Knock, Knock - Shaun Cooper 

“Sound is such an integral part of any horror film, and it really drives the intensity of this film. Some of the judges watching with headphones really felt that the knocking was coming from inside their room…” 

BEST EDITING 

Te Puna Wai O Waipapa - Hagley College Evelin - Oscar Kane 

 “The editing demonstrated a natural sense of rhythm in its integration of performance with narrative while matching the energy of the song. Also, a shout out to the excellent VFX compositing required to pull off the multiple incarnations of the singer.” 

BEST DIRECTOR 

Cashmere High School The Visitor - Iñaki Belton-Ilarri 

 “The weird, dark, unsettling tone of this film is a testament to the director’s ability to bring all the filmmaking elements together in service of their creative vision.” 

BEST OVERALL FILM 

Cashmere High School Floating - Sofi Braga 

 “This film weaved together beautiful cinematography, haunting music, great performances, and excellent use of locations and production design, to create an emotional story of loss and regret.”