The next Kiwi film makers could be on display at the International Youth Silent Film Festival New Zealand finals at the Baycourt Community and Arts Centre, on Wednesday, November 16.

The top two films from the New Zealand final will represent the country at the IYSFF Global Awards 2023 in Portland, Oregon, US.

The IYSFF is an annual global competition challenging young filmmakers, aged 20 and under (as of April 15, 2022) from across the United States of America, Montenegro, Hungary, Australia, The United Arab Emirates, and New Zealand to create a three-minute silent film set to one of 10 musical scores composed specifically for the festival.

This year there are prizes for the top three placed films, plus seven ‘Best Of' category awards to be won.

A panel will select the top 15 films to be screened and celebrated at the IYSFF NZ National Awards Final.

Following two years of online ceremonies due to the challenges of the pandemic, the Aotearoa regional competition finally returns to its Kiwi home, the Baycourt Community & Arts Centre.

'We love it when the entries start rolling in, and we're blown away every year by the superb quality of the films. Ever since the IYSFF's New Zealand debut in 2016, the films and their stories have gotten bigger and bolder every year,” says Baycourt manager Reena Snook.

'On behalf of the IYSFF NZ team and Baycourt I want to wish all our filmmakers the best of luck.”

IYSFF NZ organisers are thrilled to announce American philanthropist and IYSFF founder Jon ‘JP' Palanuk will be attending the NZ finals.

He'll be joined by official IYSFF composer Nathan Avakian who will perform the top 15 films' soundtracks live on Baycourt's mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Organ.

The pair last attended the NZ finals in person in 2018.

'We were delighted when JP confirmed he'd be travelling from America to Aotearoa to attend our ceremony in person. His passion, dedication, and genuine love for this competition is truly inspiring, and we can't wait to show JP that the New Zealand section of the IYSFF is the best section of them all!

'To have the official composer performing at the finals is also superb. If you have never witnessed Nathan performing live on Baycourt's Mighty Wurli theatre organ in the past, get ready to have your mind blown because he's the very definition of a true maestro.”

IYSFF is also hosting a poster competition this year.

The NZ Poster Competition, was introduced to the global competition by the Aotearoa section in 2018, and gives filmmakers another chance to flex their creativity by designing a poster that captures and distils the essence of their films in one image.

'You've heard the saying, ‘a picture is worth a 1000 words', and that's true so true for movie posters,” says IYSFF NZ coordinator Jannine Spier

'A movie poster is there to summarize the film in one image to help draw attention towards the upcoming flick and generate some hype.'

Submissions for the IYSFF NZ Poster Competition closed this year at 11.59pm on Saturday, October 1.

For more information about the IYSFF NZ National 2022 competition visit www.baycourt.co.nz/iysffnz.