Young filmmakers have the chance to make environmental movie magic

Young Palmerston North filmmaker Sarah Risdale was 14 when she made the multi-award-winning claymation film Whenua Finds a Future about the whio or endangered blue duck.

An earlier claymation film Cows and Cleaner Dairying had won Sarah top spot in the 7 to 13-year-old section of the 2012 Reel Earth Environmental Film Festival.

Entries for this year's Reel Earth Young Filmmakers Award in three categories for under 23-year-olds are open now with film festival project co-ordinator Julia Pantfylova​ from the Palmerston North City Environmental Trust encouraging creative youngsters from around the country to give it a go.

"We want to share the views of kids and youth, and filmmaking is a fun activity that young people can share in with their friends or family."

Films should promote conservation, sustainability or deal with other environmental issues, and summer is an ideal time to get out and start filming.

"We want to know how young people see the world that they will be living in, and what they would do to improve things. Kids have innovative and clever ideas and often bring different perspectives to issues that concern them.

Pantfylova said a PNCET winter survey last year found the biggest environmental concerns for over-18s in Manawatu were waste management and fresh water quality.

"What do younger people in other places think? Are these major problems, or are there other issues they see as important?"

The under 10-minute environmental films can be individual efforts or group and classroom collaborations, and needn't restrict themselves to being documentaries.

"Film is a great tool for expressing ideas and personality. Entries can be comedy, drama, documentary, horror, sci-fi, animation, or music video - and entries are free, with prizes for each category, along with a People's Choice as well as other awards."

Awarded by a jury of industry professionals, filmmakers, environmentalists and educators, the top prize in the tertiary section is valued at $800, with subsequent prizes valued at $500 and $300. There is a range of prizes for the junior and youth sections. 

If the quality allows, submitted films will get the big screen treatment at the Reel Earth festival in May.

Entries need to be submitted by March 31. Entry conditions and forms can be downloaded from the PNCET website