High School student Elizabeth Cullen has been crowned Best Filmmaker at the Bond University Film and Television Awards for her short film The Artist.
The 17-year-old, from Cairns State High School, won Best Overall Filmmaker and Best Directing at the BUFTA Gala Awards ceremony on Saturday night (November 28), earning her a full scholarship to Bond University on the Gold Coast to study a Bachelor of Film and Television.
She is one of only two females to win the top award in the event’s 20 year history.
The most awarded film of this year’s Awards was After Tracy, by Darwin High School student Nathaniel Kelly who took home the prizes for Best Drama, Best Cinematography, the Dean’s Choice Award and the Jury Prize, which included a 25 per cent scholarship to Bond University to study a Bachelor of Film and Television.
The event was hosted by Academy Award winning Australian 'clayographer' Adam Elliot, who is best known for his animation film Harvie Krumpet for which he received an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 2004.
Previous winners of Best Overall Filmmaker at BUFTA have gone on to achieve blockbuster success, with 2006 winner Eric So working on numerous Hollywood films such as Captain America, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and The Great Gatsby, and 2011 winner Matthew Thorne taking home the Young Director Award at last year's Cannes Lions Film Festival.