Student successes on the silver screen
On the eve of its tenth anniversary, the Department of Film,Television and Media Studies at The University of Auckland continues to launch its successful stars.
Since its inception in 2000, the Department has produced numerous award-winning student filmmakers whose work has been screened at home and abroad.
The Department is celebrating two significant achievements in 2010. One of its first masters graduates, Roseanne Liang, has directed her first full feature romantic comedy, “Girl Meets Boy,” co-written by fellow classmate Angeline Loo. Liang’s film is scheduled to be released early in 2011.
Two current students—Marina McCartney (already a winner of the 2010 Audience Award at the Pollywood Film Festival) and Zanna Gillespie—have been selected to participate in a UNESCO funded international documentary series “To be a Human Being” at EIC TV, one of the world’s most elite film schools. Marina and Zanna are presently in Cuba undertaking a three-week directing workshop at the film school renowned for its founder, Nobel Laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and its remarkable range of guest lecturers such as Steven Spielberg and Mike Lee.
Professor Annamarie Jagose, Head of Department, says: “We have quickly developed a strong and consistent reputation for creating great work. Every year our students successfully compete to get their films in to prestigious national and international film festivals.
“It’s a tribute to the strength of the teaching on the programme that Marina and Zanna have been selected for an internationally collaborative project with one of the world’s top film schools. Only eight schools were selected to participate, which puts the Department up there with some of the very best.”
Other students from the Department of Film, Television and Media Studies have also enjoyed success this year. Graduate Adam Luxton’s thesis project, A Glorious Morning, a short film based on Maurice Gee’s story of the same name, has been selected for the MIC Toi Rerehiko section of Homegrown at the New Zealand International Film Festival 2010.
Graduate Shirin Brown has been selected for the 2010 Women in Film and Television (WIFT) Writing Mentorship with Jan Prettlejohns, an experienced television writer who began her career in the early days of Shortland Street. The young director Jack Woon, who graduated last year with a BA (Honours), has had his project, Empty Swan Song, which he wrote as part of his screenwriting course, selected for three festivals including the 2010 New Zealand Film International Festival, as well as the Shanghai International Film Festival 2010 (China) and Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival 2010 (Korea).
