Photo: Datsun – Directed by Mark Albiston
This is the 17th edition of Show Me Shorts, which has been recently hailed as one of the top 20 short film festivals globally.
Show Me Shorts Film Festival will screen the best new short films from Aotearoa and across the world at 36 cinemas and community venues nationwide during 7-30 October.
Seven films will make their world premiere at Show Me Shorts in October. Audiences will be among the first in the world to see: Atali’i O Le Crezent (Sons of the Crezent) (NZ), King Tupac (NZ), Punk It Tender (US), Split Ends (Iran), Time Tourists (NZ), Xanadu (UK), and Yaffa 11 (Israel).
Special events will include opportunities to hear from visiting international filmmakers and a programmer from Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, which is this year’s country of focus.
This is by far the largest programme ever for Show Me Shorts, with 92 short films and music videos selected. The short films span a wide variety of genres, including comedy, drama, science fiction, fantasy, satire, documentary, animation and thriller. There are also two programmes of Whānau Friendly short films to enjoy.
The selected films include work from talented local directors with established careers such as Mark Albiston (Datsun), Ivan Barge (Blue Smoke) and Stephen Kang (Breathe) alongside some impressive debut films from new directors like Jennifer Te Atamira Ward-Lealand (Disrupt) and Siobhan Marshall (Manny and Quinn). There are also two filmmaker spotlight sections that showcase the work of rising stars: local filmmaker Isaac Bell (Isaac Bell Spotlight), and Australian actor/stunt professional turned filmmaker Nash Edgerton (Spider/Bear/Shark Trilogy). Both filmmaker spotlight sections feature a retrospective of older and new work, that allows us to delve more deeply into these directors’ filmmaking journey, and quirky senses of humour.
Show Me Shorts will launch with Auckland Opening Night on Friday 7 October at The Hollywood, Avondale. Wellington Opening Night will follow on Thursday 13 October at The Embassy, and then Christchurch Opening Night on Friday 14 October at Alice Cinema.
The Awards Night – at which the eight coveted major prizes will be presented – will take place on Sunday 9 October at Rialto Cinemas Newmarket.
Show Me Shorts is an Oscars® accredited film festival, meaning the winners of the top two awards, Department of Post Best New Zealand Film and Best International Film, will become qualified to enter the Academy Awards®.
Show Me Shorts will play in Arrowtown, Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Gisborne, Hamilton, Havelock, Katikati, Matamata, Napier, Nelson, New Plymouth, Ōpōtiki, Ōtaki, Picton, Tākaka, Tauranga, Wellington, Whangārei, Whitianga and Antarctica.
The full programme including dates, locations and booking information are available at the Show Me Shorts Film Festival website.
