Winning performance
A Kerikeri teenager has been named the joint winner of best lead performance in the student category of the Screen It International Film Festival held in Queensland last weekend. Lydia Bailie-Bellew played the part of a wardrobe-dwelling goblin in the short film, Gob, directed by another Kerikeri teen, Casey Roberts. Bailie-Bellew is known for her roles in Kerikeri Theatre Company productions such as Bugsy Malone and The Sound of Music.
Film debut for students
Fifteen groups of young film-makers from across the Mid North will have their big-screen debut this Wednesday as part of the Kaikohekohe Education Network Film Festival. Three films from each participating school, Paihia, Kawakawa, Ōhaeawai and Tautoro schools plus Bay of Islands College, will be shown at Kerikeri's Cathay Cinemas with three screenings during the day and one in the evening. Each film is three to four minutes long and themed "Our Place". Paihia School principal Jane Lindsay said the initiative had been running for several years but in the past the schools had taken turns to host the festival. This was the first time the films would be shown in a real cinema. The project had uncovered some extraordinary talent among the actors and directors. She hoped seeing their work on the big screen would inspire the students to continue with film-making.
