Lloyd Davis
The University of Otago's Centre for Science
Communication has gone from newest kid on the block to the
institution's third most popular master's student programme in
less than four years.
Its students are producing award-winning films and the centre
is backing Dunedin's new international Scienceteller Film
Festival, to be launched at this week's WildSouth Film
Festival in Wanaka (April 12-15).
The centre evolved from a postgraduate diploma natural
history film-making course in the zoology department and
opened for business in 2008.
In that year, just one student enrolled for a master's degree
but by the end of last year, 24 master's theses were handed
in.
This year, 26 students are enrolled in the centre's master's
programme.
Centre director and Stuart chair in science communication
Prof Lloyd Davis said he was proud of what the centre had
achieved in such a short time.
Only the departments of science and arts had more master's
enrolments.
"It explains why we are working so hard." Otago University
was the co-founder, in 2005, of Wanaka's two-yearly WildSouth
Film Festival, held in conjunction with the Festival of
Colour. The much larger film festival, Scienceteller, will
screen in Dunedin from November 15-19. Top United States,
Australian, Austrian and New Zealand film-makers and
storytellers will attend.
Some the "best bits" would be at the WildSouth "launching
pad" this week, Prof Davis said.
The WildSouth festival partners are Natural History New
Zealand, Tele-Natura (a Spanish festival) Tales From Planet
Earth, and Cinema Paradiso.
"One of the exciting things this year is that one of our
student films was made by a Wanaka local, a celebrity and
local hero, Hugh Barnard, a climbing guide.
It's called In The Shadow of the Mountain and is about
being a climber and why they take risks and it won best
direction at the Mammoth Mountain Film Festival," Prof Davis
said.
US student Max Segal (27) was Mr Barnard's co-director and
co-producer. Mr Segal has an undergraduate degree in biology
from Santa Barbara University and had worked on a sports
television show before studying in Dunedin last year. In
June, he returns to California with an award-winning film and
his Otago University master's degree to look for jobs in the
US film industry. Mr Segal also plans to promote In The
Shadows Of The Mountain at other North American film
festivals.
Mr Barnard has just returned from Alaska and will be at
WildSouth's launch tonight and give a presentation about his
film on Thursday night.
• The WildSouth Film Festival launch is a ticketed event
hosted by the Otago University Alumni at Cinema Paradiso
tonight from 6pm.
The full programme is available on the festival and Cinema
Paradiso websites.
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