With 2022’s Vista Foundation 48Hours finalists announced, the only question remaining is who’ll triumph at the Civic (if it’s not submerged as seen above) on Friday 18 November.
For 20 consecutive years, Aotearoa’s greatest and largest filmmaking competition has been a triumph of furious filmmaking, talent discovery and development. 48Hours alumni are well known (ok, we will remind you here that they include Taika Waititi and pretty much anyone making stuff this millennium). An incredible 555 registered teams have now been reduced to 16 impressive finalists left standing—who’ll compete alongside two Sir Peter Jackson wildcards at the Vista Foundation 48Hours Grand Final 2022, hosted by Tom Sainsbury at Tāmaki Makaurau’s Civic Theatre on Friday 18th November 2022 (buy tickets here)
With $90,000 of prizes up for grabs, there’s plenty for this year’s Grand Finalists to be excited about taking home, not least of all the enormous honour of winning one of the awards on offer. We’ll come back to that in a moment, but first, let’s introduce the 2022 Finalists—who I’m allowed to say (because I am not Liam) include Flicks’ own Liam Maguren aka Mitchell’s Here. Congratulations on being a Finalist, Liam (oh, ok, and everyone else…).
Ta Da
A Small Blob Of Ice Cream (Christchurch)
A very Scottish take on a drive-thru where the personal ghosts of the past get in the way of a tasty trout and gravy meal at MacDougalls.
Parked
Angle3 Pictures (Auckland)
A parking warden travels through parallel universes to encourage travellers to move on, but is stuck giving out the same ticket over and over again.
Red Flag
Apple Fork (Auckland)
A single man at a speed dating event navigates red flags while hiding one of his own.
A Multitude of Ways to Leave your Lover
Child Support (Wellington)
When Sarah discovers that Dave has downloaded the multiverse dating app “Gate”, their relationship is in trouble.
TUMMY TIME!
Chips cheese cats etc (Auckland)
A man grapples with his changing circumstances.
Dubbed
Daiso Run (Wellington/South Korea)
A Korean man deeply infatuated with a European woman goes to desperate lengths in order to communicate with her.
OINK
Fix it in Production (Auckland)
A supernatural movie about a well-loved pet pig.
Sacrifarce
Great Lake Film Society (Bay of Plenty/Taupo)
Nigel’s desire to fit in leads to offering himself as a sacrifice for an ancient cult.
Love You Stranger
Missing Pixels (Auckland)
A montage vision of a couple of lovers who have their dream romance interrupted by a supernatural threat.
Big Questions
Mitchell’s Here (Auckland)
A father struggles to answer his daughter’s questions.
Deep
National Hero, Disqualified Tim (Wellington)
A man dives deep into a submerged city where a monster lurks.
Going Solo
Rabid Auntie Jean (Christchurch)
A man meets himself in a bar.
Blood Pact
Sports Team (Auckland)
A teenage emo band makes a blood pact.
A Glimpse of Sin
Squint Eastwood (Wellington)
A visually impaired cowboy arrives in Hokitika.
Goodnight Sweet Prince
Team Zego (Auckland)
Two friends take a holiday in someone else’s holiday home.
The Talk
The Horny Owls (Auckland)
A teenage girl must learn to part with her childhood imaginary friend in order to grow up. But there will be a price.
Mime Hunter
Lipstick Boys (Wellington)
Sir Peter Jackson Wildcard
A cop hunts a mime, only to find out they have history.
Oh Crap
RS Productions (Hamilton)
Sir Peter Jackson Wildcard
An open home provides an opportunity for a desperate man.
You can get more of a feel for this year’s Vista Foundation 48Hours Grand Finalists here:
As for the prizes on offer, they are:
Grand National Champ 2022
The Grand National Champion APEE trophy
$15,000 cash prize – ($12k from WingNut Films, $2k from Viva La Dirt League)
$20,000 worth of post-production services from Park Road Post*
$15,000 worth of gear hire from Portsmouth Film Equipment Rental*
$10,000 of licensed music from West One Music*
x1 Year Digital Pigeon Professional subscription (valued at US $900 a year)
An exclusive pitch opportunity for the 48Hours Level Up Grant (25K) with NZFC
* T and Cs will apply
Grand National – First Runner Up
$5000 cash prize from WingNut Films
x1 Year Digital Pigeon Professional subscription (valued at US $900 a year)
Grand National – Second Runner Up
$2000 cash prize from WingNut Films
x1 Year Digital Pigeon Professional subscription (valued at US $900 a year)
Further awards include:
The OPPO48 Award
OPPO has partnered with the Vista Foundation 48Hours to bring the new OPPO48 Award with an impressive top prize of NZ$5,000! OPPO are big fans of the legacy of the Vista Foundation 48Hours. The OPPO48 award is designed to showcase mobile phone filming in Aotearoa.
Viva La Dirt League
New $1000 Comedy Prize
Viva La Dirt League is a comedy troop hailing from Auckland with a history with the 48Hours and they have a popular YouTube Channel currently at an impressive 3.88 million subscribers. Their pathway into digital content-making involves the 48Hours competition and now they want to give back to the filmmakers by sponsoring the new Viva La Dirt League $1000 comedy prize!
Dame Gaylene Preston and WIFT NZ Best Female / Gender Diverse Director Award
$1000 prize
To support and encourage women and gender diverse filmmakers to take on creative roles in filmmaking Dame Gaylene Preston and WIFT NZ present the ‘Best Female / Gender Diverse Director Award’ with a $1000 prize.
The Vista Foundation 48Hours Grand Final 2022 – hosted by Tom Sainsbury
Friday 18th November 2022
Civic Theatre, Tāmaki Makaurau
Buy tickets here
