Show Me Shorts Film Festival gets underway this week, with another outstanding lineup of short films playing around Aotearoa from Friday October 6.
Since 2006, Show Me Shorts Film Festival has been treating Kiwis to great collections of short films from Aotearoa and further afield. Listed last year by MovieMaker magazine as one of the top 20 short film festivals globally, and with Oscars®-qualifying status granted by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences back in 2012 (the first film festival in New Zealand to achieve this), there’s strong interest worldwide in putting short films forward—which leads to a huge number of submissions for consideration each year.
The very best of these have been selected for the 2023 programme, which can be seen at one of the festival’s 100 physical screenings, taking place in 35 cinemas and community venues across Aotearoa between October 6 and 29.
Keep an eye on Flicks or visit the Show Me Shorts website for screening locations, and details on the short film collections that will also be available to watch on demand. There’s also info on the professional development and networking opportunities for aspiring short film makers through the festival’s Industry Day, Screenwriting Lab, and Short Film Talks and various masterclasses.
This year’s awards see 17 short films nominated across eight award categories. Lǎo Lao Lǎo Le, directed by Julie Zhu from New Zealand, is the most-nominated film and is competing for three awards, including the coveted Department of Post Best New Zealand Film. In Zhu’s short, a young boy is left home alone with his increasingly unwell grandmother and is forced to come to terms with her deterioration.
The second film nominated for Best New Zealand Film, Anu by Rachel Fawcett, sees a recent widow, who’s moved to New Zealand from India, forced to confront her grief by completing an ordinary ritual in an extraordinary circumstance: quarantine.
Buttons & Dumplings, by Calvin Sang and Mei Ling Lee, is the third and final nominee for Best New Zealand Film— the heartwarming migration story of a Chinese family, takeaway food, mahjong and the Prime Minister of New Zealand.
Flicks has been a longtime partner of Show Me Shorts and we’re stoked to continue this long-running relationship in 2023. Flicks editor Steve Newall is one of the judges for the Cause and FX Best International Film category, and this year’s nominees include films from Indonesia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
In Basri & Salma In A Never Ending Comedy (Indonesia), a husband and wife who’ve been married for 5 years work at the carnival together, spending their days entertaining other people’s children without any of their own. Meddling relatives and self-doubt leads to an explosive confrontation. Muscat (Canada) depicts a 16-year-old Moroccan fisherman, Samir, who discovers his attraction towards men when he meets a tourist traveling with his wife. And Such a Lovely Day (UK) features a glorious, happy family gathering in a perfect English summer garden. There’ll be lunch under the mulberry tree and wine and games and dancing. And then there’ll be a surprise.
Click on the film titles above to see when they are playing near you, and you can also catch the best of the best at the Award Winners sessions. These collect all the Show Me Shorts prize-winning short films in one session, with the final films playing confirmed on 8 October when the awards are announced.
Here is the full list of award nominees.
Best Cinematographer Award
· Ian Powell for Te Whakawhitinga
· Clayton Carpinter for When You Went Away – The Transits
· Marty Williams for The Ballad of Maddog Quinn
Toi Whakaari Best Actor Award
· Yan Lin for Lǎo Lao Lǎo Le
· Prabha Ravi for Anu
· Michelle Ang for Nai / Milk
· Ministry of Jingle for Moana Ete
Best Screenplay Award
· Anna Rose Duckworth & Ali Burns for Just Kidding, I Actually Love You
· Ian Sweeney & Alex Scott for Good Luck
· Maza White for Daughter of God
NZ on Air Best Music Video Award
· Kingmaker – Tami Neilson by Alyx Duncan, Emma Mortimer
· Daithí – Familial by Ayla Amano
· When You Went Away – The Transits by Ian Sweeney & Johnny Gilbert
DEGANZ Best Editor Award
· Jeremy Leatinu’u & Ian Powell for Te Whakawhitinga
· Kevin Schlanser & Jack Brown for Nai / Milk
· Jonno Woodford-Robinson for The Ballad of Maddog Quinn
DEGANZ Best Director Award
· Michelle Ang for Nai / Milk
· Pulkit Arora for Anu
· Julie Zhu for Lǎo Lao Lǎo Le
Cause and FX Best International Film Award
· Such a Lovely Day by Simon Woods, Polly Stokes, Emma Norton, Kate Phibbs (United Kingdom)
· Basri & Salma In A Never Ending Comedy by Khozy Rizal, John Badalu, Sue Turley (Indonesia)
· Muscat by Philippe Grenier, Charlotte Beaudoin-Poisson, Sophie Ricard-Harvey (Canada)
Department of Post Best New Zealand Film Award
· Lǎo Lao Lǎo Le by Jazz dos Santos, Puteri Raja Ariff, Julie Zhu
· Anu by Rachel Fawcett
· Buttons & Dumplings by Calvin Sang, Mei Ling Lee
More info can be found at the Show Me Shorts website, and in the following excerpt from Show Me Shorts’ media release:
Show Me Shorts is an Oscar-accredited film festival, meaning the winners of the top two awards, Department of Post Best New Zealand Film and Cause and FX Best International Film, will become qualified to enter the Academy Awards. Other prizes include $8,500 cash, $12,000 worth of post-production services from Department of Post, $5,000 of gear rental from Rubber Monkey, membership to DEGNZ, flowers from Enchanted Rose, engraved winner’s badge and certificates. The total prize pool is valued at more than $40,000.
In addition to the eight awards listed above, audience members can vote for their favourite short films to win the People’s Choice Award by scanning the QR code on screen at the end of every session. The winner of this award will be announced at the end of the festival.
The jury were impressed by strong performances throughout the selected films, as well as skillful use of filmmaking tools that result in a “compelling and thought provoking cinema experience.” Dion Nash (ex-Black Cap, entrepreneur and arts enthusiast) was among this year’s Jury members. He had this to say about the films: “Among the array of films we had the pleasure of viewing, there was a consistently high standard.”
National awards Jury members
Angela Cudd: Producer
Bronwyn Kidd: Programmer at Flickerfest (Australia)
Dion Nash: Ex-Black Cap, entrepreneur and arts fan
Fransiska Prihadi: Programmer at Minikino Film Festival Short Film Week (Indonesia)
International award Jury members
Simona Meriggi: Founder and Artistic Director of Amarcort Film Festival (Italy)
Steve Newall: Editor at Flicks
Tui Ruwhiu: Executive Director at the Directors and Editors Guild of New Zealand
Screenplay award Jury members
Katie Bignell: Film Festival Strategist at Festival Formula
Nick Ward: Award winning screenwriter
Festival Director Gina Dellabarca commented: “I’m thrilled to see such a large range of types of short films nominated for awards this year. My thanks go out to our esteemed jury members for their time and care in choosing the winners. As well as all the screen industry organisations that have sponsored awards and by doing to are supporting the careers of these amazing filmmakers.”
The award winners will be announced at an Awards Ceremony taking place as part of Industry Day, at 5.30pm on Sunday 8 October at the Hollywood Avondale, in Auckland. Tickets to Industry Day are available here. The winning films can be watched together in the Award Winners collection at the following locations: Auckland, Matakana, Katikati, Wellington and Christchurch.
There are 86 short films and music videos in the 2023 Show Me Shorts Film Festival programme. The films will screen at cinemas nationwide from 6 to 29 October, with a selection also avai
