When a Fiji born Indian, raised in the US and domiciled in New Zealand, is shortlisted as a finalist in an international film competition, with accolades from celebrities, that person must have what it takes to tick in Tinsel Town.
If 31-year-old Rajneel Singh believes that he is on top of the world, he would be justified; for, his Blank Spaces was among the five films chosen out of 1100 entries to the Big Break Competition organised by Tourism New Zealand.
Working Day, produced by Andres Borghi of Argentina was declared winner.
New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler said, “The film captures New Zealand’s stunning landscape, diversity of people and richness of culture. With this and other completed films, we now have five wonderful assets to promote the country to potential visitors.”
Shooting a three-minute film is in itself a tall order but the contestants had to face a few other challenges, including making it in Queenstown in 14 days, with preproduction, filming and postproduction completed in respectively five, two and seven days.
Most important of all, the contestants had to conform to the central theme of the current campaign of Tourism New Zealand – 100% Pure New Zealand, the Youngest Country on Earth.
Awarding Winning Director Sir Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings, Return of the King) made available his preproduction facility in Wellington for the finalists and chose the winner.
Producer Barrie Osborne, who won the Academy (Oscar) Award for his 2003 film Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Best Picture) and a member of the judging panel helped the finalists in their shooting schedule.
Among the other members of the panel were Christian Rivers (Lord of the Rings series), David Coulson (Whale Rider) and Philippa Campbell (Black Sheep).
Each of the finalists received $100,000 from Tourism New Zealand towards the cost of production.
While the five films that made it to the finals were on You Tube and Facebook since March, Blank Spaces was perhaps the most popular, with more than 20,000 views to its credit, predominantly patronised by fans in India.
Rajneel said he was ecstatic about the film’s popularity in India but was equally surprised, since it had an international perspective of a New Zealander.
“The film has clearly found resonance with people who share my cultural heritage.”
Sir Peter described the standard of the five movies as high and paid tributes to their producers.
“There were a variety of tones and different ways to feature the natural landscapes, but the technical polish was equally high. It really was a situation where any of the five finalists deserved to win. It came down to personal choice,” he said.
Sir Peter said Blank Spaces was “a beautifully told short film with an understated and delightfully wry sense of humour.”
“It was a very assured piece of storytelling, with an interesting use of location. I enjoyed watching it immensely,” he said.
Photo :
1. Rajneel Singh and his hero Dev in Blank Spaces
2. Winner Andres Borghi shooting for his Working Day.
