Animation draws cities closer

The capital of film and TV animation in Germany is honouring the capital of film animation and special effects in the Southern Hemisphere - New Zealand.

In June 2008, Hamburg will honour New Zealand with a special host country award for aspiring animated cartoon artists. The award is part of the annual Hamburg Animation Awards 2008, a prestigious international film accolade designed to stimulate creativity amongst young, up-and-coming animators. New Zealand is the fourth host country since the inauguration of the awards in 2003.

The host country award carries a prize of EUR 2,000 (approximately NZ$3,900). New Zealand entrants to the award are automatically permitted to go forward to the wider Hamburg Animation Awards, which have three more categories of winners with the top prize package of EUR 5,000 (approximately NZ$10,000). All awards are judged by a jury which includes European film studio executives.

Auckland City Council's strategic alliance with Hamburg (signed in May 2007) which is part of Auckland City's international partnerships programme has led to this recognition and support of New Zealand's aspiring animators.

Auckland city Mayor Dick Hubbard says that this is an outstanding opportunity for young New Zealand animated film makers.

"These are precisely the kinds of opportunities we sought with Hamburg when we signed the alliance," he says.

"Hamburg is the epicentre of German media including film, TV, advertising and music production employing 62,000 people, and the sector has increased in size by over 50 per cent since 2000. Auckland's city's creative industries account for 40 per cent of national creative sector employment and we employ over 13,000 people in the creative industries. This is an area that is burgeoning for us too."

The awards will be presented in the historic Hamburg Schmidts Tivoli Theatre. The audience also votes for the most popular film. In entering, film-makers consent to allowing their short film (up to 15 minutes long) to be used on the internet, and exhibited as a preview to a feature film or by the North German Broadcasting Corporation for three months after the competition. This potentially gives the New Zealand entries far wider exposure.

Chairperson of Auckland City Council's Partnerships Committee John Hinchcliff says "Auckland city's screen production sector is the second largest employer in our creative sector, and we also contribute hugely to the tertiary education area which trains young animators. This award could be the event of a lifetime for a budding animator."

The Hamburg award is open to students and graduates within three years of leaving college. They are asked to submit animated cartoons that were made during their studies, and they are judged on the basis of a well told story and unique or novel style.

"Hamburg is a gateway to Europe," says Mr Hinchcliff. "Auckland is the only city in the New Zealand with a formal relationship with a German city and to engage with a city of Hamburg's prestige and business activity is a superb opportunity. After the signing of the agreement with Hamburg, we have been consulting with Hamburg in a number of areas, including the creative sector. We held a video conference with the city recently on climate change and showcased a number of New Zealand initiatives which Hamburg specifically requested, such as eco housing. Hamburg is also rebuilding its waterfront, in a colossal redevelopment of its port frontage dubbed the largest urban re-development currently in Europe. They are even redeveloping a waterfront site similar to Wynyard Point, which is of intense interest to us. Auckland is also working to actively engage our biotech industry with Hamburg's."

Detailed information and criteria for the competition will be available at the end of October from the Goethe Institut www.goethe.de/nz.