Short Film Awards

We're proud to recognise excellence in filmmaking, and highlight outstanding work with awards and prizes.

We love all of the films in our programme, but we also want to recognise those that stand out in a particular category like directing, or acting. These award winning films present something special.

Our Best New Zealand Film and Best International Film awards are Oscar® accredited, meaning the winning films become qualified to enter the Academy Awards®.

Awards & prizes

  • Department of Post Best New Zealand Film

    $3,500 cash prize.

    Eligibility for entry to the Oscars®.

    $12,000 post-production services from Department of Post.

    $5,000 gear rental from Rubber Monkey.

    Flowers from Enchanted Rose.

    Engraved bronze winner's badge.

    Certificate.

  • Best International Film

    • $2,000 cash prize

    • Eligibility for entry to the Oscars®

    • Engraved bronze winner's badge

    • Certificate

  • NZ on Air Best Music Video

    • $1,500 cash prize

    • Flowers from Enchanted Rose

    • Engraved bronze winner's badge

    • Certificate

  • Toi Whakaari Best Actor

    • $500 cash prize

    • Flowers from Enchanted Rose

    • Engraved bronze winner's badge

    • Certificate

  • DEGANZ Best Director

    • $500 cash prize

    • One-year membership to DEGANZ

    • Flowers from Enchanted Rose

    • Engraved bronze winner's badge

    • Certificate

    • (Finalists also receive a one-year membership to DEGANZ)

  • DEGANZ Best Editor

    $500 cash prize

    One-year membership to DEGANZ

    Flowers from Enchanted Rose

    Engraved bronze winner's badge

    Certificate

    (Finalists also receive a one-year membership to DEGANZ)

  • Studio Butter Best Cinematographer

    • $500 cash prize

    • Flowers from Enchanted Rose

    • Engraved bronze winner's badge

    • Certificate

  • Best Screenplay

    $500 cash prize

    Flowers from Enchanted Rose

    Engraved bronze winner's badge

    Certificate

  • People’s Choice

    $500 cash prize

    Engraved bronze winner's badge

    Certificate

  • To be eligible for awards, films must not have previously been shown publicly on the Internet.

    This excludes films shown overseas as part of a ticketed online or hybrid film festival, for no longer than four weeks, and with New Zealand geo-blocked, which are still eligible for awards. New Zealand music videos that have shown publicly on the Internet are eligible for the Best Music Video award.

    Qualifying international films are only eligible for the Best International Short Film Award and the People’s Choice Award.

    Music videos are only eligible for the Best New Zealand Music Video award.

    Best NZ Short Film

    • The director or producer is a New Zealander citizen or resident
— And your film must meet two of these four fundamental criteria:


    1. At least three different key collaborator roles are NZ citizens or residents

    2. The film is shot in New Zealand

    3. The story is based in New Zealand

    4. Post-production was carried out in New Zealand

    Best Actor

    • The actor is a New Zealand citizen or resident

    Best Director

    • The director is a New Zealand citizen or resident

    Best Editor

    • The editor is a New Zealand citizen or resident

    Best Cinematographer

    • The cinematographer is a New Zealander citizen or resident

    Best Screenplay

    • The writer is a New Zealander citizen or resident

    A copy of the script must be sent to Show Me Shorts by 1 September

    Best Cinematographer

    • The cinematographer is a New Zealander citizen or resident

    Best Music Video

    • The director or producer is a New Zealand citizen or resident

    And your film must meet two of these four fundamental criteria:

    1. At least three different key collaborator roles are NZ citizens or residents

    2. The video is shot in New Zealand

    3. The story is based in New Zealand

    4. Post-production was carried out in New Zealand

    Best International Short Film

    • Your film does not qualify as a New Zealand short film as per the Best NZ Film criteria above.

    People’s Choice

    • All eligible New Zealand and International films can be voted for by our audience and compete for this award.

2024 jury members

National Jury

  • Manukaroa Anderson (Ngāti Rangiwewehi)

    Head of Content Curation, Whakaata Māori

    Manukaroa is a passionate storyteller and creative who has dedicated her career to bringing Māori stories to screen. As the Tumu Kohi Kaupapa (Head of Content Curation) at Whakaata Māori, she plays a leading role in commissioning, acquiring, and scheduling authentic content with powerful narratives that resonate with audiences.Her career has been marked by a balanced commitment to storytelling and a strategic approach to content development across both factual and scripted genres, spanning digital and linear platforms. Notable achievements include directing the award-winning documentary Making Good Men (2018), serving as a Jury Member at FIFO and DocEdge, and acting as the Chair of Playmarket NZ. At the heart of Manukaroa’s work is a desire to create content that not only entertains but also educates, inspires, and empowers. She is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of traditional content creation and curation and ensuring that the stories of her people are not just told but celebrated.

  • Professor Sun Lijun

    Vice Chair, Beijing Film Academy

    Sun Lijun (pen name Fan Beilu) is an animated film director, professor at the Beijing Film Academy, and a judge for the China Golden Rooster Awards and the Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival in South Korea. Professor Sun Lijun has been engaged in the creation of animated feature films and shorts for over 30 years. His well-known works include animated feature films such as Little Soldier Zhang Ga, Legend of a Rabbit, and Journey to the Moon, as well as animated shorts such as Harvest, Untitled, and Fighting in the dark. He has received numerous international awards, including selection in the Generation section of the 70th Berlin International Film Festival. Professor Sun Lijun also edited The History of Chinese Animation, which has been translated into multiple languages and published overseas. He has made outstanding contributions to the development of Chinese animation creation and education.

  • Anna Feistel

    Programmer, Hamburg Kurzfilm Festival

    Anna Feistel is a programmer, curator and arts mediator based in Hamburg. She studied Literature, Art and Media Studies at University of Konstanz and Sapienza Università di Roma. Her passion for short films ignited many years ago organizing a student short film festival and working in a communal cinema. She worked as art mediator for Art Basel, MKG Hamburg and Kunstverein Konstanz. Since 2016 she has worked in several positions at Kurzfilm Agentur Hamburg including the distribution department, festival administration and school cinema week. Since 2019 she is part of the international competition selection committee and the programme coordinator of Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg.

International Jury

  • Christina Andreef

    Funding Executive, NZ Film Commission

    Christina Andreef is a Funding Executive at NZ Film Commission Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga.  She is also an award-winning filmmaker whose films have screened in over 80 festivals around the world - "Excursion To The Bridge of Friendship” (in official selection at Sundance & Cannes), "The Gap" (Sundance & Telluride) and "Shooting The Breeze” (Sundance & Berlin).  Her debut feature "Soft Fruit” opened the World Cinema Section of Sundance, screened in Critics’ Week in Cannes and released theatrically in the U.S. through Fox Searchlight.   Christina has worked on screenplay adaptations and has taught screenwriting and directing at Sydney Film School, Sydney University and UTS. 

  • Bo Li

    Chairman, NZ Asia Pacific Film Festival

    Bo Li, the chairman of New Zealand Asia Pacific Film Festival since 2013, he is an art director contracted with New Zealand Post for lunar year stamps design for 10 years and a TV/Film producer especially for leading Chinese crews filming in New Zealand.

  • Dale Corlett

    Executive Director, Script to Screen

    For the past 9 years Dale has been the Head of Talent Development at the NZFC. During this time over 80% of the filmmakers supported through the various NZFC short films programmes have progressed into development or production on their feature films and tv shows. Prior to joining the NZFC Dale was the CEO/Creative Director of GMAC Film in Scotland, responsible for identifying and developing high quality emerging talent and supporting their progression from shorts to features and developing careers. He was also proactive in the creation of innovative, diversity-led and gender focused talent development programmes across Scotland and the UK. He is a graduate of Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School who has worked as a director, actor, producer and writer. He was nominated for a Scottish BAFTA as Best Director in 2009 for his debut feature film, Running in Traffic.   

Screenplay Competition Jury

  • Steve Newall

    Editor, Flicks.co.nz

    Steve Newall is the editor of Flicks, overseeing a team of contributors who create news, reviews and feature content for readers in Aotearoa, Australia and the UK. Steve's been writing about film and music for over 20 years, for a number of once-beloved publications no longer on newsstands - like Rip It Up and Real Groove (RIP). He can be heard on the radio talking about what he's watching and other entertainment news on 95bFM and Newstalk ZB, and also programmes and produces the NZ International Fraud Film Festival.

  • Steve Barr

    Producer, writer, commissioner

    Steve Barr moved to New Zealand in 2010 after working for 16 years in the Hollywood industry. He has been a studio suit for Universal Studios, a feature screenwriter for Walt Disney Pictures, and the vice president of development for indie production company SMASHfilms. Steve has been hired to write over a dozen screenplays in the New Zealand, American, and Chinese industries, two of which have been produced - Timeslow and Born To Dance. He has produced 20 short films and two features - Chronesthesia and Hang Time.

    Steve has a BFA in Theatre from the University of Southern California, and has taught screenwriting for the New Zealand Film and Television School, the New Zealand Writers Guild, Massey University, and Victoria University. He is a member of the WGA, WIFT, SPADA, the NZ Comedy Guild, and served as president of the New Zealand Writers Guild. From 2019-2023 he was the commissioner for drama and scripted comedy for Television New Zealand.

Ready to showcase your film?