New Zealand Youth Film Festival calling for entries from aspiring filmmakers

Young Kiwi film buffs are encouraged to enter their work in the upcoming NZ Youth Film Festival.

Young Kiwis aspiring to be the next Jane Campion or Taika Waititi can enter their work in the upcoming New Zealand Youth Film Festival.

Presented by the New Zealand Herald, the festival is now open for entries of any theme or genre from young filmmakers aged 15 to 24 years old.

There are 11 categories to enter, from best visual effects to best music video - and $25,000 worth of awards on offer, from Canon camera gear to a tour of the iconic Shortland St film set.

$25,000 worth of awards are up for grabs.

This year the awards ceremony, as well as events across two days, will take place in Wellington, with tours of Lane Street Studios and Wētā FX on December 7 and 8.

The Oscars-inspired awards ceremony will be live-streamed on the Herald website.

The festival’s director, AUT business and communication studies student Ryan Chow, is excited for this year’s talent to go on display for the second year in a row.

“We are thrilled to announce the second New Zealand Youth Film Festival presented by The New Zealand Herald,” he says.

“It’s amazing to witness the incredible talent and creativity of our young movie-makers. We’re proud to offer them a platform to shine a light on their work and connect them with industry opportunities in the hopes of kickstarting their careers.”

Last year's entrants got to tour the TVNZ studios in Auckland.

The festival was hosted for the first time in Auckland last year, with 357 entries from across the country and a programme of events that included tours of TVNZ’s studios with newsreader Melissa Stokes.

One of the festival judges was Marvel Studios director of technology Katie Hinsen, who said the event was “fabulous”.

“The quality of film-making from rangatahi as young as 15 really blew me away. I can’t wait to know many of these folks as colleagues on the world stage, doing Aotearoa so proud.”

The New Zealand Youth Film Festival is a non-profit event designed to discover and celebrate the next generation of Aotearoa’s movie-makers.

It’s free to enter and entries close on October 27.