August 05, 2014
Tai Tokerau short film a winner
An Auckland school teacher has picked up a brace of awards for his short film about aspects of life in Tai Tokerau.
Hamish Bennett from Te Arawa, Ngapuhi, and Kai Tahu made the 15-minute Ross and Beth with funding from the New Zealand Film Commission’s Fresh Shorts scheme.
It won the Audience vote, Judges' prize and Cinematographer prize for short films shown at this year's New Zealand International Film Festival.
It’s based on Bennett’s neighbours when he was growing at the remote rural settlement of Tauraroa near Whangarei.
"They’re just the kind of couple who don't really have a lot of nice things to say to each other but you know beneath the hassling and the banter, they are very much in love with each other and they very much depend on each other, and I suppose I started with that," he says.
Bennett and producer Orlando Stewart are taking Ross and Beth to the Melbourne Film Festival next week, and he hopes it will have the sort of run his first short The Dump had on the festival circuit.
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