A jury of three have been announced to judge the New Zealand’s Best Short Film Competition. Briar Grace-Smith, Rosabel Tan and Luke Murray will decide the winners of the Madman Jury prize and Creative New Zealand Emerging Talent Award, to be announced on Saturday 4 August.

Six short films have been selected by Leon Narbey as finalists for the annual Short Film Competition, NZIFF’s only competition section. The total prize pool is now valued at over $17,500 with the addition of a new Creative New Zealand prize for emerging talent. 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).

The jurors are:

Briar Grace-Smith (Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Wai), ONZM, is an award-winning author and screenwriter. Her debut feature-length film The Strength of Water screened at NZIFF 2009, and her film was one of the eight stories in Waru which had its world premiere at NZIFF 2017.

Rosabel Tan is the founding editor of arts and culture journal The Pantograph Punch and director of Satellites, a series of events, exhibitions and encounters showcasing the most exciting contemporary Asian artists in Tāmaki Makaurau. 

Luke Murray has been the Theatrical Sales Manager for Madman Entertainment NZ for the past year. Before that he was at Rialto Channel for 14 years, 10 of those as the Programming and Acquisitions Manager.

The four prizes to be won at New Zealand’s Best 2018 are:

The Madman Entertainment Best Short Film Award. The cash prize of $5,000 is donated by the Australasian distribution company. The winner is selected by the three-person jury appointed by NZIFF and Madman Entertainment.

The inaugural Creative New Zealand Emerging Talent award. The cash prize of $4,000 recognises a fresh voice: film-making that gives life to stories of those less often represented in film, or that speaks to new or existing audiences in different ways. The winner is selected by the three-person jury appointed by NZIFF and Madman Entertainment.

The Wallace Friends of the Civic Award. The cash prize of $4,000 and a Golden Elephant Trophy are awarded to the film or contributor to a film deemed to merit special recognition. The participation of Sir James Wallace together with the Wallace Foundation and Wallace Productions Ltd 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.

Audience Award. 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.