Nayland students had a very successful outing at the Briefs Short Film Festival on Wednesday, winning many of the major prizes in the Drama section, including best overall film, which went to Jet Jones. The festival celebrates films made by media studies students from Nayland College, Nelson Boys College and Nelson College for Girls.

Held at the Suter Theatre, a packed house watched a selection of documentaries and 'drama' films. To be eligible for the competition, films had to have a running time of 5 minutes or less, hence the name 'Briefs'. 

The festival is the brainchild of NCG Media Studies teacher Anna Hickman, who coordinates students from the three schools to organise and run the night. While there is a competitive aspect to the festival, the main drawcard is for students to enjoy seeing their cinematic work on a big screen, surrounded by their friends and whanau. 

The first section of the festival was the documentary section, which included films that dealt with such diverse topics as mental health, the joys of reading, the best car from 1984 and a popular second-hand clothing store. Emma Barnes Wetere, in Year 12, won the X-factor award (recognising films that were intriguing and original) in this section with her film Normalise Normal Bodies, a mature and intelligent look at how teenagers have come to terms with body image issues.

The drama section encompassed any genre that wasn't a documentary. The audience was treated to a diverse range of films that included horror, mockumentary, romance, comedy and dystopian science fiction genres.

Year 12 student Jet Jones, won overall best drama for his wonderfully imaginative dystopian film The Management, which impressed the judges with its slick editing, attention to detail, special effects and its ability to immerse the viewer into the world of the film.

Year 13 Iris Garstang's mockumentary about a middle-aged rock band, Heavy Metal Hip Replacement, won the runner up prize for best drama.

The youngest entrants in the festival were Year 10 students Amy Wilson, Molly Clarke, and Tyler Curtis, who won the award for best screenwriting for their drama Heartbeat, a powerful film that dealt with the aftermath of a tragedy.

Lily Wiegand in Year 12, won the best editing award, for her surreal take on the horror genre Perpetual Surveillance.

Year 13 student Toby Sussex won two awards - the X-factor award and the audience choice award for his crowd-pleasing Toby Sussex and the Quest for the Golden Guitar.

Fellow Year 13 students Sophie Hampson and Tom Moreu both received X-factor awards. Tom's comedic take on the science fiction genre, Robochump, created one of the best audience responses of the night, and Sophie's dark family comedy, The Tooth Hurts, was an original and surprising look into the life of the Tooth Fairy.

Congratulations to all our talented students and a huge thank you to Anna Hickman and her team for putting on this fantastic event for our young filmmakers.