'The Professor', Middle (Year 5-8) Live Action Special Mention.
The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) has revealed the winners of its annual Screen It competition, the largest of its kind for school-aged filmmakers, animators and game makers.
This year’s competition – with the theme ‘mystery’ – saw an unprecedented 287 entries created by 2,521 students across Australia: a 20 per cent jump on the number of entries received in 2015.
ACMI education manager Christine Evely said she was thrilled with the quality of this year’s entries.
"Screen It welcomed many new entrants from around Australia this year, which is so exciting. We congratulate all entrants on the quality of their work. The judges enjoyed discovering the amazing talents of both primary and secondary age moving-image creators,” she said.
“The core purpose of Screen It is to celebrate the creativity and imagination of young people, and to help unleash this through a program that fosters students to develop new skills. Our judges and the Education team at ACMI thrive on seeing the inventive ways that ideas are conveyed to audiences, and the diligence shown by young creatives in learning, practising and applying these new skills.”
“A huge congratulation to the teachers and parents who mentor and guide students through their learning journey. We appreciate the immense amount of time, thinking and effort that goes into every Screen It entry."
Judges on the Live Action panel were: Screen It Ambassadors Benjamin Law (The Family Law) and Bethany Whitmore (Girl Asleep); ACMI Director and CEO, Katrina Sedgwick; VCA lecturer and filmmaker, Adrian Holmes; multimedia screen program producer at Federation Square, Kelli Keating; Little Big Shots Film Festival artistic director, Ben Laden; and ACMI education manager, Christine Evely.
Judges on the Animation panel included the artistic director of the Melbourne Animation Festival, Malcolm Turner, artists Ghostpatrol, and animators Leo Baker and Susan Earl. And for the third year running, the Videogame category was judged by the hosts of ABC2’s Good Game, Steven “Bajo” O'Donnell and Stephanie “Hex” Bendixsen.
For the first time this year, entries for the three categories – Animation, Live Action and Videogame – were judged in three separate age groups: Junior (Foundation to Year 4), Middle (Years 5 to 8), and Senior (Years 9 to 12). In addition the judges handed out several Special Mentions across select categories and gave four Encouragement Awards for the first time.
An official red-carpet award ceremony will be held on November 18 at ACMI, to be hosted by O'Donnell and Bendixsen.
Winning entries will be exhibited in the recently revamped Kids’ Space within ACMI’s free and permanent exhibition Screen Worlds. Audiences can also view the 2016 finalists and winners on the ACMI website and in the Australian Mediatheque, a view-on-demand facility housed inside ACMI and run in conjunction with the National Film and Sound Archive.
The full list of winners:
JUNIOR (Foundation – Year 4) ANIMATION
Winner: My Brother’s Bedroom; Table Cape Primary School; Wynyard, TAS
JUNIOR (Foundation – Year 4) LIVE ACTION
Winner: Amazing Mums; St Anthony’s Primary School; Noble Park, VIC
Special Mention: The Genie; Cabramatta Public School, Cabramatta, NSW
JUNIOR (Foundation – Year 4) VIDEOGAME
Encouragement Awards:
The Mysterious Cannonball, Essex Heights Primary School, Mount Waverley, VIC
Basketball, Hallett Cove South Primary School, Hallett Cove, SA
The Mystery of Harold Holt, Mentone Grammar, Mentone, VIC
MIDDLE (Year 5-8) ANIMATION
Winner: The Black Hood Strikes; The Essington School; Nightcliff, NT
MIDDLE (Year 5-8) LIVE ACTION
Winner: A Wilted Flower; Blue Mountains Grammar School; Wentworth Falls, NSW
Special Mention: The Professor; Ryan & James T (Home School), Berry, NSW
MIDDLE (Year 5-8) VIDEOGAME
Winner: Day One; Kingswood Primary School, Dingley Village, VIC
Special Mention: Mots’ Mansion; Doreen Primary School; Doreen, VIC
SENIOR (Year 9-12) ANIMATION
Winner: The Mysterious Mister E; Tom B; Mansfield, QLD
Special Mention: The Ballerina; Takin N; Mount Waverley, VIC
SENIOR (Year 9-12) LIVE ACTION
Winner: Extrasensory Perception; Tallulah C; Karrinyup, WA
Special Mention: The Shackles You Cannot See; Robyn F; Karrinyup, WA
SENIOR (Year 9-12) VIDEOGAME
Winner: The Adventures of the Lost Treasure; Bailey M; Point Cook, VIC
ENCOURAGEMENT AWARD
Recognising the below entrant for his outstanding achievement as part of Screen It:
Harrison T, QLD