Peter Jackson pick wins film comp

A Wellington team let their fingers do the walking to victory, grabbing the top prize in the 48 Hours film competition.

About 600 teams entered the 48 Hours: Furious Film-making Challenge 2008 where they had to make a short film in two days using the same prop, line of dialogue and character.

The competition was held in Auckland, Wellington, Gisborne, Christchurch and Dunedin and regional finalists went up against each other and three wildcard entries chosen by Peter Jackson in the grand final
which was judged by an international panel of judges.

The winning team's film was a wildcard entry.

Corie Geerders' team Puppy Guts had the dance genre for their film and made a quirky short with young adults having a dance battle with their fingers.

A woman and man kneel on the floor of a carpark gyrating their fingers around on the ground until the man - using supernatural powers - wins the match by detaching his hand and letting it flip through the
air before reconnecting with his wrist.

The international panel of judges included programmers and organisers from the UCLA Film Archive, New York Museum of Moving Image and LA Film Festival.

Jackson said F*Dance was "Inventive and smart - lots of fun".

Geerders and his team receive a prize package worth over $60,000 which included everything needed to make a film - cash, free equipment hire, audio services, travel.

Last year's winners, Team Lense Flare, were a wildcard entry in 2007 and again in 2008.

The team's short this year Beyond Belief was runner up, netting $15,000.

-NZPA