Film-maker
Biography
Mark Albiston - Film-maker"I went to film school at Canterbury University in the early nineties but didn't learn much about making film till I worked at New Zealand's first cable TV station, Saturn TV. I learnt my craft by trial and error directing, editing and shooting short stories about local people in the Kapiti community - shooting them and editing them that day for the programme that night. We had massive audiences! I think in the early stages only 50 houses were cabled and there were 50 channels including our local one..."
"I love the challenge of writing and directing drama and it's what I'm focusing full time on now."
Mark Albiston was awarded an Arts Foundation New Generation Award with his colleague, friend and co-producer Louis Sutherland in 2010. The Six Dollar Fifty Man is the third short film that Mark & Louis have collaborated on and the first that they have officially co-directed.
Mark and Louis grew up together in the small Raumati Beach settlement, just north of Wellington. They began working together for a cable televison network. Louis then went to drama school and Mark went to film school developing their skills in production and performance. The two have now worked together in the industry for over 15 years.
Mark Albiston started the production company Sticky Fingers in 2000, with his lawyer wife, Amelia Bardsley. The independent production company works across a range of genres including arts-based documentaries, short films, music videos and commercials.
Mark initiated, and worked in a range of roles on three award-winning series of The Living Room (2002 - 2006). The series focussed on celebrating Kiwi creative people, delving into their art practices and lifestyles. A follow-up show The Gravy began profiling New Zealand artists in 2007.
In 2007 Mark also directed the short film Run, from a script by fellow artist and actor Louis Sutherland (joint recipient of a 2010 New Generation Award). Selected to compete at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, this tale of a Samoan brother and sister struggling with an oppressive father while growing up on the Kapiti Coast, received a special mention from the jury.
Run was also picked as the opening film for the French Cesar short film festival, a selection of the world's best shorts that year. The film has gone on to win awards (including New Zealand Screen Awards for Best Short Film and Best Screenplay) and screen at numerous festivals worldwide.
Mark directed the documentary The Magical World of Misery, about artist Tanya Thompson (aka Misery), for TV One's Artsville series. He won the 2006 Qantas NZ Television Award for Documentary Directing for this documentary.
Mark has also directed two films for the Blood Earth & Fire exhibition at Te Papa, War of the Words (a documentary on spelling bees), the X-Air television series (for Sky, TV3 and C4), and a Shihad music video.
At the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, Mark and Louis were again awarded a special distinction - this time for their short film The Six Dollar Fifty Man. The film tells the story of an eight-year-old boy compelled to emerge from his make believe world after being bullied.
The film's impressive festival awards tally includes The Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking at the 26th Sundance Film Festival in Utah; qualifying for consideration for an Academy Award nomination; Best Drama at the Aspen Shortsfest in the USA; the Excellence Award by the LA BAFTA association at the Aspen shortsfest; a special mention at Berlin; it scooped three awards at the 2009 Qantas Film and Television Awards - including Best Short Film - and won top prize at the 2010 Flickerfest festival in Australia. The film has made the long-list for the 2011 Academy Awards.
The latest projects for Mark and Louis include developing their debut feature Shopping and work on the third series of arts show The Gravy.
"New Zealand's short films are often the training ground for future stars, think former New Generation Award winner Taika Waititi. [For 2010] it's Louis Sutherland and Mark Albiston who have taken the world's film festivals by storm with The Six Dollar Fifty Man. It's set in 1970s New Zealand and tells the story of eight year old Andy who is one of those kids who are different, and made to pay for it at school. He lives in a make believe superhero world where his imagination allows him to perform extraordinary physical feats, to deal with playground bullies. Evenutally though he understands that he must face up to the real world. Mark and Louis' film has won prizes at Cannes, Mexico, the Middle East, Sydney, the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, and won Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Short Film at 2009 Qantas Film and Television Awards here in New Zealand. They are poised to move into a feature film and I hope this Award will make that transition easier, because I can't wait to see what they come up with next."
Lynn Freeman, Broadcaster and Curator for the 2010 New Generation Awards
