Three young filmmakers were recognised for their work at the 2024 North Bellarine Film Festival (NBFF) Emerging Filmmaker Awards.
Brie Bartleet, Jackson Hayat and Sam Sungmin Lee won the top awards from a field of 10 finalists.
Korean-Australian Lee won the Portarlington Film Society Emerging Filmmaker Award for his film White Lies, which tells the story of a migrant’s first day in Australia.
Written, directed, edited and mixed by Lee, it is the VCA honours graduate’s second Korean short film.
Hayat, originally from Apollo Bay, won the Geelong Waterfront Emerging Documentary Award for Declutter, a character-led documentary following cleaner Marsa, who specialises in helping clients with mental health battles.
Melbourne-based filmmaker and Swinburne University student Bartleet won the St Leonards Film Society’s People’s Choice Award for her documentary Sink or Swim.
Sink or Swim subject Bree-Arne Manley lives with multiple sclerosis and, despite losing the ability to walk, continues to carve her own path through life as a partner, mother, surfer and musician.
NBFF Chair Bill Lussier said the festival was highly committed to fostering emerging filmmaking talent and had increased the number of awards from two to three this year to provide more recognition, support and pathways for talented new filmmakers.
“We have been highly impressed by this year’s entrants; the quality of storytelling and filmmaking by young Victorian filmmakers is incredible,” Mr Lussier said.
“We look forward to supporting more filmmakers again next year.
“We congratulate Sam, Jackson and Brie on their remarkable achievements and can’t wait to see what they create next in their careers.”
