Nurturing sustainability storytellers

For 10 years now The Outlook for Someday film challenge has helped grow a generation of sustainability storytellers.

The challenge gives young New Zealanders a voice, and enables them to tell conservation stories in their own words.

DOC is a project partner, and supports The Outlook for Someday through the DOC Community Fund. We also sponsor the ‘Big Picture Award’ – a Special Award for a winning film focusing on one or more of DOC’s Big Ideas and Values.

2016 Big Picture Award winner – Dog Island Motu Piu
(Sarah Ridsdale, 15 years old)

Award winner Sarah Ridsdale (middle right)

‘Dog Island Motu Piu’ is a claymation about two young tuataras (named Tua and Tara) learning from their grandfather about how Peter Ridsdale (Sarah’s uncle), who died in June this year, founded the Dog Island Motu Piu Charitable Trust to preserve and promote the conservation of the island.

“I made the film for him and he got to see it three weeks before he died,” wrote Sarah when she entered her claymation docudrama into the film challenge. “It was played at his funeral which was special.”

Sarah’s film exemplifies the importance of community groups working throughout the country to restore and protect our natural environments and historic places. It encapsulates DOC’s Big Picture values of Manaaki and Aroha.

Watch the film:

Read the NZ Herald interview with Sarah Ridsdale about her film.

In 2016, the 20 winning films were made by individuals and teams aged 7 to 21 from all over the country: Roxburgh, Timaru, Christchurch, Wellington, Otaki, Masterton, Palmerston North, Hastings, Rotorua, Te Puke and Auckland.

Thirteen of the 20 winning films in the 2016 Outlook for Someday Challenge have been made by young women film-makers or teams.

Six of them have been made by Māori film-makers or teams.