Six short films have been selected by Leon Narbey as finalists for our annual New Zealand’s Best Short Film Competition. 

The finalists will compete for a total of three prizes, with winners to be announced at the closing night event of the Auckland leg of NZIFF.

The six finalists are Charmer (dir: Judah Finnigan), Falling Up (dir: Chelsie Preston Crayford), My Friend Michael Jones (dir: Ian Leaupepe, Samson Rambo), No Shame (dir: Brendan Donovan), Run Rabbit (dir: Robyn Paterson), and Sail Away (dir: Ella Becroft, Tama Jarman).

“I was given an excellent cluster of films, each so different with their social concerns and visual poetry triggering emotions and making observations about us. Choosing the best six was an extremely hard decision,” says Leon Narbey.

Audiences at the New Zealand’s Best screenings in Auckland and Wellington will be asked to vote for their favourite short. The Audience Award winner takes away a 25% share of the box office takings from the New Zealand's Best screenings in the four main centres. In 2017 this prize was valued at $4,500.

Madman Entertainment will again support the title award, the Madman Entertainment Best Short Film Award. The cash prize of $5,000 is donated by the Australasian distribution company. The winner will be chosen by a three-person jury appointed by NZIFF and Madman Entertainment.

The participation of Sir James Wallace together with the Wallace Foundation and Wallace Productions Ltd will continue the Friends of the Civic Award. The Wallace Foundation stepped in three years ago to fund the award after the dissolution of the longstanding donors, the Friends of the Civic. The Wallace Friends of the Civic Award will be a cash prize of $4,000 and a Golden Elephant Trophy awarded to the film or contributor to a film deemed to merit special recognition.

Guest selector and filmmaker Leon Narbey selected the six finalists from a shortlist of 12. NZIFF programmers Bill Gosden, Sandra Reid, and Michael McDonnell viewed 84 submissions to prepare the shortlist.

For more information on the six finalists, visit the New Zealand's Best 2018 film page.

NZ films at NZIFF are proudly supported by Resene.