Macleans College filmmakers achieve outstanding success at national awards

Year 12 Macleans College student Isaac Uammuang (Kupe House) has secured third place in the national On Screen filmmaking competition for the third consecutive year, continuing an impressive run of success at the prestigious awards.

Isaac's animated film Drawn to You told the story of a family robot whose desire to connect with and imitate a child takes a dark turn. His film also received the Best Story award, with one judge praising its storytelling, comparing it to the standard of a Pixar short.

Fellow student Nita Murali (Mansfield) was recognised with the Best Script Writer award.  Nita received the award for the screenplay of her film I’m Sorry, I Love You, which she co-directed with classmate Olivia Coupe (Mansfield).

Both students' achievements reflect the high standard of filmmaking demonstrated by Macleans College students in a competition attracting thousands of entries from across New Zealand.

The final was held at Event Cinemas Newmarket, where the top narrative short films, documentaries and music videos were screened. Student filmmakers travelled from around the country to attend the awards ceremony.

Macleans College also received the School Spirit Award for the third consecutive year. The award recognises the school with the highest number of competition entries and includes $500 for the Media Studies department.

Several Macleans College films were recognised in the shortlist announcements ahead of the final. In the music video category, two entries made the top ten:

• Ease My Mind – Bradley More (Te Kanawa) and Luca Deac (Batten)
• The Moon is Watching u…!!! – Elena Askin (Batten)

Elena also received a technical award for Best Visual Effects in the music video category.

Macleans College had more narrative films shortlisted than any other school in the country, with six entries recognised:

• Dear Detective – Marianna Wang (Rutherford), Candy Liu (Rutherford), Hannah Hagglund (Mansfield) and Roni Zhu (Upham)
• Echo – Emily Lou (Hillary) and Tony Tian (Hillary)
• Reel for Real – Poppy Jackson (Mansfield)
• Priceless – Weida Lin (Hillary), Emily Lou, Jason Te (Rutherford), Amber Wang (Te Kanawa) and Tim Yu (Snell)
• The Watching Dark – Balin Kenworthy (Rutherford) and Alex Lister (Mansfield)
• ENCOFFIN – Daisy Taylor (Kupe) and Madi Arellano (Mansfield)

Several of these films were also showcased at the Macademy Awards and can be found on the Media At Macleans YouTube channel.

The results celebrate the creativity, technical skills and dedication of Macleans College’s young filmmakers - highlighting the strength of the school's Media Studies programme and the talent of its students.