Young directors have shorts picked for film festival

SCOTT HAMMOND/STUFF

The big screen beckons for young film-makers Tyler Redmond, left, and Solomon Panoho as their movies are picked for the Top of the South Film Festival.

A pair of young movie makers have been picked to show their directorial debuts on the big screen.

Tyler Redmond,14, and Solomon Panoho, 12, of Blenheim, will see their films premiere at the third Top of The South Film Festival.

Judges from an independent selection committee in Auckland were impressed with Tyler's entry, The Controller, and Wrecked Robot by Solomon.

It is the first time the boys, who are both home-schooled, have entered. The judges did not know what age they were.

Tyler says "funny memories" of his late father, former Kiwi racing car driver Stan Redmond who died following a crash in 2013, inspired his film.

Tyler wrote and directed his movie which features a family fighting for control over the only television in the house.

"When my dad was alive, he was king of the remote control and kept it while he watched Top Gear or the news.

"I thought it would be a funny idea to do a comedy about it," he says.

Tyler, who is dyslexic, says he wrote the script straight to computer.

"It's easier for me to type. I knew when I'd finished it that I'd done a good job, it was a bonus to get the film in.

"I think my dad would be really proud as not many people my age have made a movie. My mum loved it," he says.

Solomon's movie, which he also stars in, is about a robot struggling with a power shortage and needs a new battery. He says he recorded it in just one session.

Now in its third year, 10 movies from Marlborough have been selected for the popular festival which was started in 2015 by Phil McKinnon and Aaron Falvey from Blenheim.

Top of the South Film Production Society president Aaron Falvey says getting 10 movies from Marlborough in the festival is a big moment.

"It makes us incredibly proud as it's quite significant for such a small town.

"We are a really active region in terms of film-making and to get so many films selected is confirmation that we are going about it the right way," he says.

All proceeds from the festival go back into the Top of the South Film Production Society. In 2016, the Top of the South Film Festival raised $7584.

The Top of The South Film Festival gets underway at the ASB Theatre Marlborough on November 11.

For tickets visit ticketek.co.nz ticketek.co.nz.

- The Marlborough Express