2022 Screenplay WINNERS

Selecting the top three scripts in the BBFF2022 Screenplay Contest was a real challenge, according to the Festival’s new contest director Alex Mankiewicz.

“All the finalists in the Contest were very well written, with characters, dialogue, pace and structure well realised,” Alex said.

“Importantly, all have engaging narratives, ranging from fresh takes on familiar genres to utterly original stories. Finally, all eight are eminently makeable on a practical and budgetary level – a consideration screenwriters too often overlook.

“Selecting the top three was very challenging.”

Top of those top three is Pamela Van Amstel, a filmmaker from Margaret River, Western Australia. Her screenplay for a film called Fantabuland was “excellent”, Alex said.

Pamela’s tale about a mouthy expat Londoner living in his own ‘Little England’ in Australia is “in the Guy Ritchie vein, but with heart and a broader, more human story to tell”, she said.

Second place goes to British-born Australian resident Jack Lewis Caswell, for the comedy One Hit Wonderland, a “superb effort with great potential. Hilarious but touching. The work has an original concept and visualisation and the mix of live-action give it potential for Extended Reality development”.

Third equal are: Yayboy written by Melbourne-based Franco/Australian filmmaking couple Nicky Murphy and Zeïna Thiboult about how a biracial girl’s desire to fit in is tested by her Senegalese mother and her new town. “Well-written and well-paced as well as relevant, interesting and original,” Alex said. “It takes a fresh approach to the value of culture and the pressure on second generations to fit in.”

Here I Am, a dramedy from Buderim’s Taylor Bennett, is “very well written, funny while also thoughtful.” The story of an inner city psychologist’s quest for meaning in the face of a 50th birthday escapes cliché with a twist, Alex said. “Satisfying. Original. Relevant to now and eminently makeable.”

All 4 finalists received a subscription from Final Draft the best-selling screenwriting software in the world.

Runners-up
Maconochie (Italy) by Antonio Messina is a “well-done slice of history, with dialogue that’s believably of the period but natural – a rare achievement”.

The Man Who Knew Poe from Sydney actor, writer and cartoonist Steve McGrath, is “smart, surprising and moves at a cracking pace. It is ‘Waititi-esque’. “, said Alex.

Skywalkers, written by British-Australian Alexandra Billington, tells the story of the gutsy New York ironworkers walking on beams hundreds of feet high in 1929. “The dialogue, characters and historical details are all very well done. It’s a gentle film that could belong to another era.”

Salience, from Queenslander Craig Cauchi, packs “a clever surprise ending, which is also believable.” Alex found.

For more photos or further comment contact pr@bbff.com.au