It's a great time to be a New Zealand filmmaker.

Well, in fairness, it has been for quite some time now. As a nation, Aotearoa has long punched above its weight when it comes to filmmaking talent - in front of and behind the camera - on an international stage.

New Zealand likes to brag about its 'per capita' medal hauls at the Olympics - but the same can be said for our contribution to the world's film industry.

But the only way that keeps happening is if the grassroots are watered. By keeping an eye on who's coming up and giving them an opportunity to expand their skills, their imagination and opportunities.

One of the proven breeding grounds is the iconic 48Hour Film Festival - where filmmakers from around the whole country are tasked with writing, shooting, and editing a short film within a 48-hour window. 

The sold-out Grand Final event brought together longtime competitors and newcomers in what has been called one of the strongest festivals yet.

And it was one of the newcomers coming out on top - a team of young Māori creatives from Hamilton, collectively called Nuggets - Arohanui Watene, Tyla Tuala, Nopera Watene and Valerie Lui.

Their film -  Chicken - landed in the Splatter genre (a 48Hour favourite) - and centred on two young women playing chicken while waiting for their Ubereats.

Made up of mostly first-time competitors, their entry was the first drama film that this group has ever made and earned the attention of filmmaking royalty - handpicked as a Sir Peter Jackson wildcard and taking out both the top prize and the Viva La Dirt League Comedy Award with their inventive camera work and performance energy.

Lui beamed "So grateful just to be here - we entered the competition as newbs pretty much, just having fun as friends. So to even be here and share this space with you all is such a privilege." 

Team-mate Arohanui Watene added “The Behind-The-Scenes of the journey was crazy! Last-minute run arounds, as well as getting lost on the way home, limited space on camera, getting a black eye, a 30-minute slot for the beautiful sunset God blessed us with, and only having our actress until 6pm Saturday. Hectic and fun!

 "I just want to say a big thank you to Sir Peter Jackson for even considering that our film would be worthy for Grand Finals and this competition."

Let that sink in.

Film Industry professionals from all over the world would kill for the opportunity to get Sir Peter's attention. And a group of self-proclaimed 'newbs' from Hamilton have one of the world's most acclaimed directors not only watching their work, but right in their corner.

"Fran Walsh and I have been asked to judge the wildcards for 20 odd years, and we get very very attached to our wildcard selects, and occasionally some years, our wildcard select actually wins the Grand Final," reveals Jackson.

"One of the very first times we judged it, there was a young guy who would submit a film every year and the next year we recognised his name, and there was another film the next year, and this guy never gave up. And his name was Taika. 

"This 48Hour film competition, even though it's a lot of fun and it's just something that's open to everyone, it can have consequences.

"The standard this year was absolutely superb, and I've just got to say congratulations to all of the teams. The ones we saw were very very good. It was exciting, it was entertaining.

"Congratulations to Nopera, Aroha, Tyla and Valerie, team Nuggets...I've just got to say that Chicken was our top pick for the wildcards and it's been judged the winner. That's fantastic, we're very very proud of that. So well done team Nuggets - thank you for competing and I hope that all of you compete again next year because the talent that we saw was really really amazing."

While Team Nuggets get their name on the marquee, there are plenty of others sharing in the spotlight.

Julie Zhu has proven one to watch, winning both Best Director and the Dame Gaylene Preston and Wift Best Female / Gender Diverse Director for Monster State's entry Sad Jackie.

Zhu noted "There are so many beautiful filmmakers here and for a lot of our team, it was our first time making a 48Hours film. It's just overwhelming to see what a big and amazing community this is.

"In Tāmaki, I think almost all of the nominees for best director were wahine as well, or non-men, so just want to acknowledge all of the other directors and filmmakers in the room". 

Longtime Wellington-based competitor Tim Hamilton's - AKA Disqualified Tim - innovation was also recognised, named the Grand National Runner Up for Sweets, (which also won Best Production Design and the incredibly strange award) about a man catching a train to buy sweets in a landscape created using just images of him - no costumes, no sets - just the support of AI.

Hamilton's 48Hour journey is a movie in itself, he explains. 

"I started this competition with a string of disqualifications a decade ago, earning the unfortunate name 'Disqualified Tim'. There is no heartbreak quite like it.

"Since then I have tried redemption by winning many other film competitions in small countries like France, America and China.. but it didn’t work. The culture of competitive filmmaking is so much worse off internationally. I learned we don’t get disqualified here because we suck. We get disqualified because this competition is great.

"Second place means I am one step closer to shedding the traumatic disqualified brand. I can look at ten years of entries and see my common failures (weak scripts) and highest achievements (production design). It has been a bloody uphill struggle for second place but I am almost free of this curse.

"This year, I proved that any individual can create a winning film with nothing but their skin and a camera. Literally. My film consists exclusively of images of my skin, with no other help or input.  What a career highlight. What a battle. I’m over the moon!"

It's worth noting the sheer size of the 48Hour competition in 2024 - which has been running for 21 years.

570 teams registered, with 499 eligible films submitted. Nationwide there were 162 School teams and 86 Tertiary Teams involved, with 30 teams giving the solo/duo a go.

Wellington had 181 teams this year, having seen year-on-year growth in competitors since 2021. This year the region had the highest turnout of teams in the country, surpassing Auckland at 171 and cracking a new record for the capital.

48 hours might not sound like a long time - but it's a proven window to building a community where filmmakers can grow and be nurtured by the best this country has to offer.