Short Film Award Nominees

Show Me Shorts Film Festival has announced the nominees in the running for their 2022 awards. This is an Oscar®-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®.

There are 17 short films nominated across eight award categories. Atali'i O Le Crezent (Sons of the Crezent) directed by Brendan Canty and Breathe directed by Stephen Kang – both from New Zealand – are the most-nominated films, competing for three awards respectively.

All winners will be announced at the Awards Night event at 5pm on Sunday 9 October at Rialto Cinemas Newmarket, in Auckland. Limited tickets are available for the Awards Night event here.

The 2022 nominees are:

Best Cinematographer Award

• Marty Williams for Datsun

• Simon Raby for The Finding

• Tim Flower for Perianayaki

Toi Whakaari Best Actor Award

• Daniela Mika for Sista

• Villa Junior Lemanu for Atali'i O Le Crezent (Sons of the Crezent)

• Gloria Zhang for Breathe

Final Draft Best Screenplay Award

• Shreya Gejji for Perianayaki

• Sean Max for Out of Service

• Ian Sweeney for Time Tourists

NZ on Air Best Music Video Award

• Zoe McIntosh, Frith Armstrong for Better Daze – Hoss

• Alex Hargreaves, Caitlin Shinnick for Alien Weaponry – Tangaroa

• Stella Reid, Dick Move, Miryam Jacobi, Jack Barry for Ladies Night - Dick Move

DEGANZ Best Editor Award

• Julian Currin for Manny and Quinn

• Richard Shaw for Breathe

• Brendan Canty for Atali'i O Le Crezent (Sons of the Crezent)

DEGANZ Best Director Award 

• Lina Tianyue Hu for My Daughter is Coming

• Sean Max for Out of Service

• Brendan Canty for Atali'i O Le Crezent (Sons of the Crezent)

Best International Film Award

• Nash Edgerton, Michele Bennett for Shark - Australia

• Thijs Bouman, Rosalien Hollestelle, Noa Zimmerman for De Pinpas (The Debit Card) - The Netherlands

• Dania Bdeir, Coralie Dias for Warsha - Lebanon/France

Department of Post Best New Zealand Film Award

• Mark Albiston, Sharlene George, Gal Greenspan, Andrew Mauger for Datsun

• Mhairead Connor, Stephen Kang for Breathe

• Angela Cudd, Tajim Mohammed-Kapa for The Difference Between Pipi and Pūpū

The members of the International Jury (Steve Newall from Flicks.co.nz, Madeleine Hakaraia de Young from Māoriland Film Festival and acclaimed local filmmaker Shuchi Kothari) enjoyed the opportunity to consider the films in contention, saying: “From the dizzying heights of cranes over Beruit, to the shark infested waters of Australia, these films in under 20-minutes conjure more emotion than many features. Each illustrates the many strengths and possibilities of short films to capture moments, delve into people’s inner lives - and entertain.”

Festival Director Gina Dellabarca commented: “The juries had their work cut out for them this year as the overall standard of filmmaking is extremely high. I’m very thankful to all of the judges who took part in the process for their time and thoughtful consideration. We are fortunate to have a wide range of experienced jury members this year, hailing from all over the world in a variety of disciplines that spans filmmaking, criticism, screenwriting, programming and distribution.”

In addition to the awards listed above, audience members can vote for 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.

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, copies of Final Draft writing software, membership to DEGNZ, flowers from Enchanted Rose, engraved winner’s badge and certificates. The total prize pool is valued at more than $40,000.

The jury panels assembled for the 2022 Show Me Shorts awards included highly regarded screen industry practitioners:

• Valeria Wagner: Programmer at Locarno Film Festival
• Christian Stark: Programmer at Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur
• Glenda Tuaine: Filmmaker and event director at Motone Projects
• Steve Newall: Editor at Flicks.co.nz
• Madeleine Hakaraia de Young: Māoriland Film Festival
• Shuchi Kothari: Award winning filmmaker & Associate Professor at University of Auckland
• Nick Ward: Award winning screenwriter

There are 92 short films and music videos in the 2022 Show Me Shorts Film Festival programme. The films will screen at cinemas nationwide from 7 to 26 October, and On Demand from 15 to 30 October. Full screening dates, locations and booking information is available here.

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