Te Whanganui-a-Tara / Wellington

City Winner

Gutted - Couch Kumara

Runner Up

Nightlight - Videoshop

Finalists

  • after the flare - NITRO
  • CATASTROPHIC - Kettle of Fish
  • Front Yard - Twotors
  • Gutted - Couch Kumara
  • HEARTH - Silver Noodle Soup
  • In the Hampers of Madness - ScAvengers
  • Keepsake - Bus Stop Productions
  • Lover's Got the Runs - Pixel Pixies
  • Nightlight - Videoshop
  • S(p)lash - Underwater Dreams
  • Sweets - Disqualified Tim
  • The Bureau - Infinity Pup
  • The Crowning - Cinetrance
  • The Lurhman Brothers - Berger King
  • Walcom to New Zillund - Ugly Fruit
  • YES, AND? - Kākāpō

Shortlisted

  • Daiso Ran - Jimm
  • Goo Productions - Magic Mic
  • Hairy Stool - Carecrow
  • Honey, I 8Ked the Kids - Tale of the Rolling Wanderer
  • Nutty Mosquitoes - Unhinged
  • Silver Window - handicam
  • Squint Eastwood - Demetri's Law
  • Sweet Rat Media - Beaky Friday
  • Those Guys - P.B. & Jay
  • TW99 - Chasing the Horizon

Award Winners

Wift Best Female / Gender Diverse Filmmaker

Kākāpō - YES, AND?

Nominees: 

  • Kettle of Fish - CATASTROPHIC
  • Infinity Pup - The Bureau
  • Couch Kumara - Gutted
  • Cinetrance The Crowning

The Spirit of 48 Award (City Manager Award)

NITRO after the flare

Nominees: 

  • The old metal thing in the backyard - Forbidden Fruit
  • Disqualified Tim - Sweets
  • Silver Noodle Soup - HEARTH
  • The Beige Menace - Night Whispers

Best Director

Berger King - The Lurhman Brothers

Nominees: 

  • Kākāpō - YES, AND?
  • Videoshop - Nightlight
  • Pixel Pixies - Lover's Got the Runs
  • Couch Kumara - Gutted
  • Disqualified Tim - Sweets

Best School

Evil Cutlery - We Scream

Nominees: 

  • Dreamvine Films - Black Dog
  • FCL - Ave Mortem
  • HVHS For the Wings - Dead But Not Gone
  • Break the Mould Films - Memoirs of a Teddy Bear

Best Performer

Videoshop - Jane Nye

Nominees: 

  • Couch Kumara - Conor Cameron
  • Goo Productions - Charlie Faulks
  • Silver Noodle Soup - Ensemble
  • Cinetrance - Emma Hayward

Best Script

Couch Kumara - Gutted

Nominees: 

  • Videoshop - Nightlight
  • Berger King - The Lurhman Brothers
  • Kākāpō - YES, AND?
  • Pixel Pixies - Lover's Got the Runs

Best Cinematography

Cinetrance - The Crowning

Nominees: 

  • Videoshop - Nightlight
  • Kākāpō - YES, AND?
  • Couch Kumara - Gutted
  • Pixel Pixies - Lover's Got the Runs

Best Production Design

Disqualified Tim - Sweets 

Who then gave it to: Cinetrance - The Crowning

Nominees: 

  • Honey, I 8Ked the Kids - Tale of the Rolling Wanderer
  • Kākāpō - YES, AND?
  • Infinity Pup - The Bureau

Best Animation

  • Swan Ronson - Licky Business

Nominees: 

  • Squint Eastwood - Demetri's Law
  • Salad Dressing - Out Of This World
  • Goo Productions - Magic Mic
  • Chowder on the Rocks - Doom Scroller

Best Editing

Videoshop - Nightlight

Nominees: 

  • Kākāpō - YES, AND?
  • Couch Kumara - Gutted
  • Disqualified Tim - Sweets
  • Pixel Pixies - Lover's Got the Runs

Best Sound Design

Underwater Dreams - S(p)lash

Nominees: 

  • Couch Kumara - Gutted
  • Videoshop - Nightlight
  • Infinity Pup - The Bureau
  • Pixel Pixies - Lover's Got the Runs

Best Original Score/Song

Pixel Pixies - Lover's Got the Runs

Nominees: 

  • Cinetrance - The Crowning
  • Infinity Pup - The Bureau
  • Kākāpō - YES, AND?
  • Videoshop - Nightlight

Incredibly Strange

Disqualified Tim - Sweets

Nominees: 

  • ScAvengers - In the Hampers of Madness
  • Bag of Rats - In & Out
  • SPLITelevision Productions - Prank Monster
  • Stun Seed - The Cream Crusader

Best Disqualified Film

Mahi Dogs - Redbelt

Nominees: 

  • Crew 36 - Piracy Police
  • Geriatric Prod - Spirit Service for Sloths and Oafs
  • 1st Nine Primes - Neko's Neighbour
  • Lamps and Plants - The Neighbour

Best Use of Genre

Dreamvine Films - Black Dog

Nominees: 

  • Pixel Pixies - Lover's Got the Runs
  • Disqualified Tim - Sweets
  • Underwater Dreams - S(p)lash
  • Berger King - The Lurhman Brothers

Best Use of Warning

PuppyGuts - Creature Comforts

Nominees: 

  • Underwater Dreams - S(p)lash
  • Infinity Pup - The Bureau
  • Disqualified Tim - Sweets
  • Kākāpō - YES, AND?

Best Use of an Exit

Silver Noodle Soup - Hearth

Nominees: 

  • Infinity Pup - The Bureau
  • Honey, I 8Ked the Kids - Tale of the Rolling Wanderer
  • Bag of Rats - In & Out
  • Cinetrance - The Crowning
  • The Passer-by - Shapes in the Grass

Best Use of a Neighbour/Traveler

Twotors - Front Yard

Nominees:

  • Kettle of Fish - CATASTROPHIC
  • Ugly Fruit - Walcom to New Zillund
  • Silver Noodle Soup - Hearth
  • Honey, I 8Ked the Kids - Tale of the Rolling Wanderer

Best Use of a Match Cut

Bus Stop Productions - Keepsake

Nominees:

  • Squint Eastwood - Demetri's Law
  • Videoshop - Nightlight
  • Kākāpō - YES, AND?
  • Cinetrance - The Crowning

City Manager

Your Te Whanganui-a-Tara / Wellington City Manager is Thomas Coppell.

 

Thomas Coppell

Thomas Coppell (they/them) is a proud Hutt kid, producer & storyteller passionate about empowering rangatahi and under-represented humans to make cool screen art. They have extensive experience producing factual & scripted content for big and small screens, substantially for rangatahi, the young at heart, and the rainbow community. Their producing credits include two NZIFF NZ’s Best Short finalists, most recently, teen drama Gate Crash, and four NZ On Air funded series; including Little Apocalypse, New Zealand’s first children's drama by, for and about rainbow young people currently available on TVNZ2 & TVNZ+. Thomas also co-wrote and co-created the series. 

Contacts

Email Thomas Coppell

Call Thomas on 027 741 1967

Join our Facebook Group

Judges

Mia Maramara

 

Mia Maramara is a Filipino filmmaker with work that has screened both locally and internationally. Her passion for authentic, trailblazing stories has led her to wear different hats in the industry, most notably as a writer and director. 

She most recently wrote and directed Beyond the Veil: Albularyo for TV2, which earned her the distinction of being the first Filipino director to helm a prime-time drama on New Zealand TV. In 2021, she won the SPADA New Filmmaker of the Year.

Mia recently wrote for anthology feature film Kāinga, the third film in the trilogy of Waru and Vai, which has gone on to screen at the New Zealand International Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, and Hawaii International Film Festival. Her feature film Grafted, co-written with Hweiling Ow, was recently picked up by UK-based sales agent Mister Smith Entertainment.

Mia has participated in Philippine National Artist Ricky Lee's Cinemalaya Masterclass as well as the Directors and Editors Guild Female Director Incubator.

Armağan Ballantyne

 

Born in Aotearoa, Armağan studied film making in Prague her award winning short films have screened at festivals around the world including Venice, Berlin, New York, Telluride, Palm Springs and Melbourne.

Along with screenwriter Briar Grace-Smith she attended the Sundance Lab with her first feature THE STRENGTH OF WATER.

Her latest film NUDE TUESDAY recieved a 5 star review in the Guardian and earnt five nominations at the AACTAS Awards.

Armağan has recently directed an episode for Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s latest series TIME BANDITS for Paramount.

Ben Powdrell

 

Ben Powdrell is a writer, producer, and editor with 20+ years of experience in television and feature comedy and drama and documentary. He most recently edited the comedy drama series MILES FROM NOWHERE (Sky Open/Neon) and feature comedy RED WHITE AND BRASS (Piki Films). Ben is the writer and lead story editor on the animated series LITTLE BIG THINKERS (Rascality Studios) and is currently developing animated series STINKY PITS (Floating Rock Studios) and BLOKE OF THE APOCALYPSE (Suite Habana Productions). Ben has competed in the 48hrs intermittently in various teams over the years, making it to the Wellington and National Finals and credits entering the 48hrs with helping to land himself the editor role on Emmy and Qantas award winning series Reservoir Hill, way back in 2010.

Ramon Te Wake

 

Ramon Te Wake (Te Rarawa, Ngati Whatua) – is a writer, director, producer actor and singer songwriter with more than 20 years in the TV industry. She works in both the drama and factual world. She is the creator of the comedy series The Boy The Queen And Everything In Between which screened on TVNZ+ in 2024. She is the co-director of the critical and commercial success, Inky Pinky Ponky (2023). And she Executive Produced Transgenerations, best web series winner at the Berlin Short Film Festival in 2023.

She is one of the first trans woman to present, direct and produce content in Aotearoa. Ramon has created hundreds of stories with a strong focus on Māori, queer and the marginalised as the backbone to her extensive catalogue. Ramon’s first presenting/directing job was in 2004 for Māori Television, where she fronted the award winning show Takatāpui the world's first indigenous queer series.

In 2024, Ramon directed Season 2 of Queer & Here and the long awaited documentary, Trans & Pregnant is scheduled for release in September on TV1. Currently, she is in development for a feature length documentary, Denied – 50 Years Of Gay Pride in Aotearoa.

Rachel Fawcett

 

Rachel Fawcett (she/her) is a Pakeha-Chinese producer from Auckland, New Zealand. She launched her career as a co-producer on Roseanne Liang’s award-winning series, FRIDAY NIGHT BITES (season 2), and in 2020, produced Steven Chow’s award-winning short thriller, MUNKIE.

In 2021, Rachel launched her production company, Lusty Productions with actor and producer, JJ Fong, which focuses on female-centric storytelling and uplifting pan-Asian voices in front of and behind the camera. Under this banner, she has produced the Te Reo Maori short Loading Docs documentary, WIND, SONG AND RAIN, plus the Hindi-language short drama, ANU, from Indian writer-director Pulkit Arora, which made its international premiere at MIFF. 

In 2022, she co-created and produced the hit TikTok series, N00B (supported by the NZOA/Screen Australia/Tik Tok Every Voice initiative), and served as Associate Producer on the feature film biopic, JOIKA, a NZ/Polish/US/UK co-production which stars Diane Kruger and Talia Ryder, set for NZ release May 16, 2024. 

Rachel has recently completed production for her NZFC-funded Catalyst short, CHRYSANTHEMUM, with writer-director Jolin Lee, and is currently in post-production on the half-hour version of n00b with Great Southern Television.

Chillbox (Team Chillybox)

Chillbox is an Auckland-based production company with over 11 years of experience producing quality film and video projects for audiences around New Zealand. Their 48Hours team, 'Chillybox', has claimed multiple awards through the years, including Grand National wins in 2016 and 2018. To date, they are one of only three teams in the competition's history to have been named Grand National Champions more than once, and are the only "Peter Jackson Wildcard" to have taken out the top prize.

In 2023, Chillbox released an independently produced feature horror called Loop Track, which was in part funded by prize money from their past 48hours wins. Loop Track premiered at the NZIFF, where it was the best selling NZ film of the festival, and went on to receive a wide cinema release around New Zealand - with the NZHerald calling it "...a new national classic."

Chillbox are long-time 48Hours enthusiasts, and are excited to give back to the community that has inspired them so much.

Paloma Schneideman 

 

Paloma Schneideman is an award-winning multi-hyphenate artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa. She has been an active member of the film and music industries since 2016, with a focus on the female, queer, and diasporic experience. Paloma's debut feature film script was picked up by Pop Films and is set for production in 2024. Her film work has been screened across numerous International film festivals like NZIFF and Melbourne International Film Festival, as well as in 2023 being mentored by Dame Jane Campion and Philippa Campbell in the pop up intensive ‘A Wave In The Ocean’.

As a musician, she produces and performs music under the alias PollyHill. Self taught, she makes what Spotify algorithms would label as 'lo-fi alternative trip hop', using cinematic samples, multilayered word play, and instinct based production. PollyHill has played some of the country's biggest music festivals like Splore, Laneway, OthersWay, and supported international acts like Arlo Parks, Kae Tempest, and Wiki. At the end of 2023, Paloma (PollyHill) released collaborative album 'AQUARIES' with Samara Alofa, which has already attracted attention from NZOnAir, Rolling Stone magazine, and Vice. As a composer, she recently completed the sound design for Silo Theatre’s 2022 season of ‘The Writer’, and in 2020 won the Best Sound Design award at Auckland Fringe Festival for her work in Sofia McIntyre's 'Faceless Hair Cry'.

Ngawaero Maniapoto

 

Ngawaero Maniapoto is of Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngai-te-Rangi/Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāti Kahu descent, based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa. She’s a proud Māmā and finds joy and purpose in nurturing and supporting her family while pursuing her passion in developing the film and television industry. In 2009 she studied production at South Seas Film and TV School and this is where she garnered a wide range of skills from problem-solving, working productively within a team but most importantly, understanding the creative process. Ngawaero has had over a decade in experience within the industry ranging from roles as runner to line producer, and now a Network Executive at TVNZ.

In this time, Ngawaero has worked at many independent production companies and networks in Aotearoa, with a specific focus on Māori programming. As a Network Executive she currently commissions Tamariki and Rangatahi content which she finds extremely fulfilling. A big part of her role is to identify talent so it’s an absolute honour to be a judge for this year’s 48 Hour Film Competition.

Success to Ngawaero looks like sustainable pathways for underrepresented, underserved and often over looked, creatives, to ensure we have a thriving industry in years to come. It also looks like seamless integration of Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles, in our everyday lives and what we (as Producers, as Directors as practitioners in this industry) strive to make every day we are graced with the warmth of the sun! Kaua e mate wheke, me mate ururoa.

Tihema Bennett

 

Tihema Bennett (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue) is a composer for film and television based in Te Whanganui a Tara. He has over 10 years experience working on local and international series, commercials, features and short films. He is currently composing the score for a physical theatre production due to debut later this year. He is a longtime fan of the 48 Hour Film Festival and is constantly in awe of the level of craftsmanship and creativity of the work that is produced in such a short amount of time.