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Avonside Girls' High School

Eva Rose in the centre and Stella Nixon on the right – receiving their ARA film awards. by Rob Lay

Film and Media Studies Department Review

Mr Rob Lay - November 13, 2022

2022 saw several changes to Media Studies at Avonside Girl’s High School, with the introduction of a new Year 10 English/Media semester course 'Change through the Media' and a new Year 9 English/Media semester course 'Heroes vs Villains'. The Year 10 course was a popular semester choice, attracting three classes in semester 1 and another three classes in semester 2, and is on course to do the same in 2023. My thanks to Ms Cann for taking on board many of these Year 10 semester classes and Ms Sutherland for taking the Year 9 semester course. Once again Term 1 saw a repeat of the previous Covid interruptions with students learning from home via a hybrid learning model. Fortunately, senior media students had become accustomed to online learning and were not adversely disadvantaged this time around.

I was again impressed with the quality and range of film products created by media students this year from short trailer films (Year 11) to short documentaries (Year 13). I thank the students for the time and effort they put into completing their short films this year. Freya Carson and Georgia Rainbow (Year 13) were awarded the Year 13 Helen Brew Cup for her short documentary film - ‘Eco Action – Saving our City’’, about a the Eco-Action Nursery Trust that focuses on using local school students and community groups to help restore natural habitats in many of Christchurch’s eastern wetlands. I also congratulate Mia Edkins and K’Lee Kamara (Year 11) for winning the Helen Brew Cup (Best Narrative Short Film) for their original film trailer – “Thank You for your Donation‘’.

The Media Department also congratulates Eva Rose and Stella Nixon (Year 13 in 2021) for winning the 2022 Ara-Te Pukenga New Zealand Broadcasting School (NZBS) School Shorts Screen Competition with their mature and sensitive handling of hardship in their documentary – Kairos Free Store. They beat out 42 other high school entries. One of the judges (film academic and arts critic Dr Erin Harrington) described Eva’s and Stella’s film as “an impressive piece of work”. She went on to say: “It has a story and characters that you care about, and a clear point of view. You can see the rapport the filmmakers had built with their subjects, and the work they put into crafting the final film from raw footage in the edit.” NZBS Screen Production Tutor Masen Ma also said of the documentary: “It’s not easy to get people to share such stories, so we commend Eva and Stella on providing us with this privileged access and insight into everyday hardship and the efforts to alleviate it.”

Once again, I thank all the 2022 media students for their perseverance in coping with another round of Covid interruptions earlier this year and congratulate them for their successes in their media productions. I wish all the departing Year 13 media students success in their NCEA examinations and their future endeavours.

Avonside Girls’ High Media Studies teacher Rob Lay accepted the premier award for Eva Rose and Stella Nixon — Image by: Mr Rob Lay

Mr Rob Lay  

TIC Film & Media Studies