Earth Protect Blog

New Zealand's Southland schoolchildren have shown their film-making talents in a competition to raise awareness of environmental matters.

The red carpet was rolled out for the second annual Green Screen Environmental Short Film Awards at Centrestage, Invercargill, on Thursday night.

The film project, an Environment Southland initiative, encouraged Southlandschool pupils to combine film-making with an environmental message.

Environment Southland communications co-ordinator Adrienne Henderson said the quality of the entries was exceptional.

"The judges were really impressed with the level of film-making, acting and the ability to explain technical information in an understandable way."

The Green Screen short film competition was part of Enviro Week and the upcoming Southland Environment and Conservation Awards, Ms Henderson said.

"The short films are a great way to reach a broader audience and engage the younger generation."

The competition drew 13 entries in two categories, years 1 to 8 and years 9 to 13.

Judges awarded top prize to Woodlands Full Primary School in the first category, while Verdon College pupils Liam van Eeden and Jean-Martin Fabre claimed top honours in the year 9 to 13 section. Dipton and Lumsden primary schools were also highly commended by judges for their films.