News
AND THE AWARD GOES TO....
24th January 2012
Gongs were awarded to SAE Institute Byron Bay students at the recent screening of the 4th Annual Byron All Shorts - Northern Rivers Short Film Competition. The awards were presented with iQ over a 'shorts packed' weekend that coincided with Flickerfest screening the best of the world's short films - the first leg of the National Tour program kicking off in Byron Bay on Friday night. 14 finalists films were screened in the highly competitive local program from over 50 local entrants, showcasing why the region's renowned for its creatively aspirational community and its cultural richness expressed through the short film medium.
The iQ-Flickerfest Jury Award for Best Short Film went to SAE students for 'The Cottage', a moving story about the homeless of Byron Bay, Dir: Lorraine Bell / Prod: Rani Willis / Assit Editor-Sound-Music: Andrew McGlone & Grace Larkin, Credits:Patrick Spencer. Lorraine recalls, 'We made this documentary to promote the wonderful work of the FletcherStreet Cottage Drop-In Centre, which has been supporting the homeless and underprivileged people in the Byron Bay region since it opened its doors in April 2010.'
The altruistic motivations of Rani, a volunteer at the Fletcher Street Cottage, and Lorraine, a Social Researcher combined with documentary filmmaking became a platform to bring personal stories and social issues to the foreground and hopefully provide a catalyst for social reform. They hope the film's award will garner it ...'exposure so that potential funders may decide to help this vital and worthwhile service that makes a difference to the lives of so many in the region..[and that]... this film can be shown in other regions too so that they may be able to learn from the model adopted at the Cottage and apply this in other regions.'
For Lorraine, her award brought her full circle when she first became aware of SAE Institute through a trailer screened at Flickerfest some five years ago.
The Essential Energy Audience Award went to 'Shall We Dance' the Tommy Franklin story (Byron's own dancing man) by Kurt Mayes & Travis Hanley. Honing their strengths in story telling and directing, and the more technical elements respectively, meant the collaborative process between Mayes and Hanley organically complimented and supported each other.
All credit the accessibility to industry calibre staff (with over a decade of experience between them) as priceless to enriching their learning experience and informing their career aspirations. Kurt says, 'It's not just the classes where you can get a wealth of knowledge at SAE, to me the open door policy that the film lecturers have really helped Trav and I get this documentary to a standard we wanted it to be. The help that Erik and Laurie gave us on this project was invaluable and it's those kind of lessons that encourage you to push on with your career aspirations.'
What piece of advice would they all offer to someone considering studying film? Film everything and anything. Do as much as you can to gain experience to inform your formal studies which will deliver both the theoretical and practical foundations for film production, and develop upon your knowledge, skills and technique. Your dedication to the hard work that is filmmaking can pay off to make the experience all the more enjoyable. Just as these winners have recently experienced.
The SAE Institute Emerging Talent Award, a newly developed prize category in twenty twelve, was awarded to 'Zombie Taco' a very creative music video clip by the Kamikazi Katz clan, Max Quinn, Callan Brunsdon, Scott Sowter. They were awarded a 2hr consultation with the SAE Film Department.
For more information about The Cottage and to view the short film, click here.
