Youth made musical comedy with green theme takes top film honour
A musical comedy co-directed by four young women from Hamilton has been announced as The Body Shop Standout Winner at The Someday Awards in Auckland.
Today is the Day, made by Hillcrest High School students Bella Cook, Elizabeth Newton-Jackson, Emma Savage and Nowshin Humayun, aged 15 – 16, delighted the judges with its buoyant humour and comedic performances.
For the five-minute film they and their team-mates wrote and performed a musical about a group of intrepid tree-planters who confront environmental vandals in their neighbourhood.
Watch the film at www.theoutlookforsomeday.net/
“The team behind Today is the Day has made a memorable film that deservedly wins this award.” said Barrie Thomas, Director of The Body Shop, which is Key Partner of The Outlook for Someday sustainability film challenge for young people.
“It is an exuberant look at how we can all do something in our own backyard, and it combines a serious call to action with a verve and vitality that reflects the talent of these young film-makers. It is a film that demands to be enjoyed.”
“The Body Shop is again proud to be associated with The Outlook for Someday. It is wonderful to experience such fantastic films year after year, made by extraordinary, committed and socially-conscious young people.”
The prize package won by the directors of Today is the Day includes Unitec courses or film production facilities to the value of $8000, an IPad 2 and screen industry guild memberships for each film-maker.
“The Standout Winner is, for us, a standout favourite – witty, astute, cunning and enormous fun in ways that you wouldn’t expect from a film dealing with such serious concerns.” said Dr Scott Wilson, Senior Lecturer of the department of Performing and Screen Arts at Unitec.
“To be able to deliver a coherent message about sustainability is one thing. To do it in a musical that will – seriously – leaving you humming the tune for hours afterwards is an achievement I’ve never before encountered.”
“This film is a joy to experience and a testament to the skills and abilities of these young women. Unitec is proud to be associated with such a consummate piece of art.”
Lee Stratford, the young women’s media teacher at Hillcrest High School says they“revelled in the process” of making the film.
Even though 2013 has only been the first year of Media Studies for Bella, Elizabeth, Emma & Nowshin, “their ability to work together like ‘old hands’ through design to post-production has seen them achieve success all through the year. These young women are able to produce work that is visually striking, evocative and quirky.”
Today is the Day is one of 20 award-winning films celebrated at the Someday Awards red-carpet ceremony at the Aotea Centre in Auckland last night. The winning film-makers received their prizes from acclaimed New Zealand film-maker Andrew Adamson, who they also met with earlier in the day.
Each film received a special award (listed below) and was in the running to be Element Audience Favourite.
A record 1500 people voted in the online poll, which was won by I’m A Little Molecule of H2O, a love song to water that explores the life-cycle of our most vital resource.
Made by a team from Avalon Intermediate School in Lower Hutt, the film is “genius”, says James Russell, Editor of Element Magazine.
“With captivating and varied visuals, the film wraps a biology lesson about the vital force that is water in fresh and funky beats. What more could you ask for?”
Made by individuals and teams from 7 to 24 years old, the winning films tackle social and health issues as well as environmental subjects. They cover shark finning, palm oil, water quality, endangered sea lions, climate change, fair trade, drug addiction and community reuse of resources.
A Judging Team of 12 people from media, education, government and business selected the 20 winners out of 153 entries from all over New Zealand.
Nine of the winning films are from the South Island, which is more than in any of the previous six years of the film challenge.
Now in its 7th year, The Outlook for Someday is New Zealand’s sustainability film project for young people. It includes an annual film challenge and a national series of sustainability film-making workshops.1063 young people participated in the film challenge and workshops in 2013.
The Outlook for Someday film challenge asks young people aged up to 24 to make a short sustainability-related film of any genre, filmed with any camera and any length up to 5 minutes.
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Tags: Environment, film, Youth
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