National Academy of Screen Arts partners with New Zealand Youth Film Festival

Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University’s new National Academy of Screen Arts is one of two major partners of this year’s New Zealand Youth Film Festival and will play host to the awards evening in Wellington on 8 December.

More than 420 films have been submitted for this year’s festival, which aims to celebrate and empower the next generation of film creators and actors aged between 15 and 24 years. Thousands of dollars’ worth of prizes are up for grabs, including camera gear and studio production tours.

Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Maile Petty says the partnership is an opportunity to connect Massey with emerging film creators.

“We are delighted to host the second annual New Zealand Youth Film Festival awards ceremony. As Aotearoa’s largest and most comprehensive showcase for rangatahi filmmakers and screen arts from across the nation, the festival is the perfect partner for us because we share the vision of supporting our young creators to develop their skills and empower the next generation of screen industry leaders.”

The National Academy of Screen Arts was launched in May this year to deliver the Bachelor of Screen Arts (Honours) degree programme, which attracted more than 300 students in its first year. The programme includes majors such as animation, factual production, film production, game production, immersive media, media technology and visual effects. Massey University has invested in new studios and facilities for the academy in one of New Zealand’s most iconic buildings, the former Dominion Museum.

At the time of its launch, Professor Petty said that as a UNESCO City of Film and a highly recognised global screen-sector leader, Wellington makes significant contributions to the global disruption and convergence of film, game and interactive content mediums and indigenous story telling.

“The Academy has been established to directly and meaningfully immerse our students, researchers and stakeholders into this vibrant screen ecosystem."

Festival Director Ryan Chow says the judges are impressed by the quality of entries and what many of the entrants go on to achieve.

“Our festival is here to shine a light on the work of rangatahi and connect emerging creatives with opportunities through our programme of awards and events. We are always overjoyed when we hear of the successes our nominees enjoy following our events, like how our festival has helped connect one of our winners with commissioning opportunities."

About the Youth Film Festival Awards evening

The awards will be held in the new film studio developed this year in the former Dominion Museum building, Tokomaru. Staff, graduates and current students will work with industry partners to deliver the production and live stream the awards on the New Zealand Herald website, the other major sponsor of the event.

Every year, the festival offers coveted awards and an acclaimed events programme which includes a red carpet awards ceremony and an industry day, with tours of TVNZ’s newsroom with Melissa Stokes and Wētā FX.

The following awards will be presented:

• Massey University National Academy of Screen Arts Best Directing
• South Pacific Pictures Best 15-18 Age Group
• One NZ Best 19-21 Age Group
• Warner Bros. Best 22-24 Age Group
• Universal Music NZ Best Music Video
• South Pacific Pictures Best Acting
• What the Actual?! Best Documentary
• Canon Best Cinematography
• Adobe Best Editing
• Wētā FX Best Visual Effects
• Wellington UNESCO City of Film Best Overall Film Award