They have done it again.
Taupō’s resident short film enthusiasts – the Great Lake Film Society – have won another regional final in the 48Hour Film Festival.
On Saturday night the group tuned into the online Across Aotearoa Regional Final to discover they have again progressed to being shorlisted for the National Grand Final on October 25.
The final list for this is due out after the Auckland Regional Final on October 5.
It’s becoming something of a habit for the group.
Their 2019 effort, the first they had made, got through to the National Grand final, their 2021 entry won Best Cinematography and Best Editing for the Bay of Plenty region and last year’s Loose End was also a Bay of Plenty Regional winner and then was a Wildcard film selected by Sir Peter Jackson for the National Grand Final where it won a 3rd Place.
This year’s film, The Hat Trick, co-written and co-directed by Joel Corbett and Denise Edmonds is about an art thief who bites off more than she can chew.
Edmonds said the group operates more organically than having some success formula in mind.
“On the Friday night we don’t go in thinking how do we win, it’s ‘What’s our genre? What do we want to make?… What stories do we love?’ So we throw stuff around and then whatever builds from there and turns into something that we get really excited about, that’s the one we’re going to make. I think that helps…”
Corbett’s input as cinematographer and film editor was instrumental in GLFS also winning the regional award for Best Editing, said Edmonds.
Though having picked up none of the other awards in which they were nominated before the big announcement meant the regional win left them “quite shocked.”
GLFS was also nominated in Best Production Design, Best Script, Best Director, and Outstanding Female / Gender Diverse Filmmaker for Denise Edmonds and Best Performer for Dervla Murtagh, but Edmonds said it was always good to be able to “celebrate the awesome success of all these other incredible film makers.”
And while the GLFS core group seem to have the Midas touch, it is not shy about sharing its secret, Edmonds said.
“We try to involve other people… and this year we had some students who are hoping to study film that came along from Napier and lots of newbies who had no idea what to expect but they learnt quite quickly that it’s all hands on deck and lots of fun.”
The win however means The Hat Trick can’t be released until the announcement of which filmmakers have made the finals.
If GLFS aren’t in it, the film can be shared, but if they are though locals will have to wait a little longer – until after the Grand Final.
“We want to share it, but we just have to wait,” said Edmonds.
This story previously appeared on LakeFM Great Lake Film Society wins regional final
