Hero

Wow!!! The emotion in this movie!!! I have never cried during a 48 hour film before, but this one did it! Such an impacting movie.

Great shots awesome acting. Great script.

FUCK YES FUCK YES. Holy shit this is the kind of film you promised us with your entry last year. The first thing to note is the lighting - it's perfect the whole way through. Dusk on the road, the lights around the outside of the tent are so good. It's beautifully shot; very competent filmmakers who, like last year, make us connect with the characters on screen. We feel for them. Then there's the narrator (think James Rolleston from Boy), who beautifully presents the chasm between what we hear and what we see on screen. Easily the best film of the night, lowkey hoping this gets to Nationals and beyond. All aboard the hype train.

A young boy reflects on what sort of hero his dad is. This was one of the better films from the entire first night. Very well planned, shot, edited and acted - it's got it all going on. It certainly had an impact on the audience with its serious subject matter told in an honest, brave fashion. My only note is that films like these often play more like a PSA - the kind of hard-hitting family violence advert that plays on TV. It doesn't diminish from its quality or impact - it's just an observation! Should make the cut for the finals and do pretty well at that event.

Duuuuuudeeee this one hit me haaarddd man I thought last year you guys did incredible but this one just topped that another punch straight to the gut I LOVED it. Beautiful shots, beautiful dialogue, BEAUTIFUL take on the genre. Can't wait to see this one again at reading cinemas June 14th buy your tickets now ;)

Amazing film. Fantastic story which was presented in a very professional way. Great acting and cinematography. This film was my favourite of the night.

Excellent photography, and powerful use of the silhouette. Clearly a stand-out film for the heat (and presumably Christchurch). Like MistaTeas, my only observation is it felt similar to other things we've seen but that's easily overlooked for something of this quality.

Absolutely beautiful, terrific take on the genre too. Strong Understated performances make this sing.

Great movie, great storey well shot a good use of shadow that added to the storey my one note would be a bit more time at the start to tell which kid was talking as I thought that the kid talking was lying to the other kid about his life that we were seeing flashes of until the end when it all made sense, however that might have been just me writing down notes to soon Also as a note this was a better Ultra than a lot of the ultra teams so well done I look forward to a second viewing as this is a likely finalist

This was my fave of the Thursday night. I sad little film, but a solid story. Superbly done.

This film was just terrific. Great concept, incredible performances from the two kids, top notch direction. Heartfelt, powerful. Submit it to festivals. You nailed it.

Truly incredible film, deeply moving and tragic. Super powerful themes coupled with very high quality camera work, editing and of course acting. Rico's performance here is so genuine and real- he fit so perfectly into all of these scenes that a lot of the time it's so natural it's almost invisible. I would love to see Rico again in future films, potentially expanding his abilities and trying on different kinds of roles, because I think this kid is gonna soar. I love how this film is kind of a one-two punch. At first, there's that slow burning realization that our main character's father isn't the man he's building him up to be to his buddy, and then the absolute kick to the guts as we realize it's not even him talking. This is the art of filmmaking at it's very finest, combining visual imagery with implication and revelation- we slowly begin to understand just how truly miserable this situation is without any obvious sign post explaining it to us. This is SO good guys. Every time this has screened with an audience there has been an audible wave of gasps across the room. Very much a revered HARD drama, which is pretty rare in 48hours, but whenever there is one that truly hits, it's pretty amazing. I'd recommend checking out the film "Glow" by team Del Sur from a few years back for a similarly gripping drama. A couple of commenters have said the film kind of feels a bit too much like a PSA or a commercial- with it's short duration and quick visual storytelling, and while I personally prefer more standard approaches to short films, this definitely isn't detractor necessarily- I would encourage you guys at Blood and Bone to actually submit this to as many short film contests as you can- or even see if you can air it as a commercial or a PSA. A few statistics at the end about family violence and you have yourself a pretty effective awareness piece. If I did have any real gripe with this film, I would say that while it's firing on all cylinders to say what it's saying and get its message across, this isn't exactly a story I haven't heard/seen before, and is actually surprisingly common subject matter across a lot of NZ film. But, with that being said, I've never seen it done with such an effective bait and switch that you guys pulled off. Really cool to see as well that the top 2 films this year were both "Wish" films executed VERY differently. As for your title, "Hero" is pretty good and pretty effective. It doesn't quite pop, but it doesn't necessarily have to.

WOW. Just wow. This is right up there as one of my top 5 all time 48 hours dramas! And I love me a good 48 hours drama! First up Rico! WOW! Well deserved acting award. Keep acting forever and ever dude. Now as for this film I have to say that the day after the finals and every day since there was only one film that my brain kept coming back to. And it was Hero! I couldn't get it out of my head. This film was beautiful, emotional and so genuine. Often I look at most 48 hours films and check how many times there is a shot or piece of acting or line of dialogue that takes me out of the movie world I'm in for a moment. Its almost impossible to ever make a 48hours film and complete that consistency 100% from start fo finish. This year there were at least 3 CHCH finalists who achieved this for me. Who made films that weren't just good for being made inside 48 hours but were flawlessly good! And this one was right at the top of that group. And lastly, I discussed the reason my brain kept coming back to this film with others who all said the exact same thing I said about it. When the twist at the end happened I instantly said "WHAT?! How'd they do that?" I was so sure I saw Rico's character talking at the start. Maybe he was. Maybe he wasn't. If he wasn't then you sold us one of the best 48 hours magic tricks I've ever seen. But even if he was talking and you perhaps overladed the other actors voice over him to misdirect us ( I honestly can't remember ) it wouldn't have mattered. By the time the end rolls around we are so invested in the fact we are hearing Rico exaggerate his life to his friend that the audience can't remember exactly how it started and can easily go with the ending no matter the start. Its brilliantly done. So BRAVO! I can not wait to watch this again and again. It's going to go up there with Carousel by the Good Fellas as my most watched 48hours drama. Congrats on all the well deserved awards and am super Proud for this to represent CHCH at the nationals! Come on national Judges be the HERO Chch needs right now.

Beautifully sad. A film that I'm sure I will watch many times when it is in the screening room. As Clayton said above, a real Goodfellas vibe, which is something to be proud of. Rico absolutely knocked it out of the park with his performance. (Kudos here must also go to Andrei for his directorial debut - great work man!) The subtle nuances of Rico's character are not often seen from child actors, and I really hope he continues to use these talents as he matures. In the meantime, maybe someone should send this film to Taika? He's made a couple of kids fairly famous. Another element worth mentioning is the use of shadow/silhouette - I imagine a lot of teams would have chosen to directly show violence to make the film edgier/grittier. Your choice to depict it with silhouettes was clever, and certainly no less gripping. A perfect choice for the tone of your film. Really well done guys, and congrats on your well deserved City Runner Up award!

So I couldn't help but look at the reviews for this film before the grand final and it STILL got to me. FUCK....

Wonderful, well deserved runner up! Really pulls on your heart strings.