MovieFest was conceived by a group within the Wellington Macintosh Society Incorporated to showcase what could be done with digital video editing tools and a bit of creative inspiration. In particular the focus was on the excellent Apple iMovie software, and the first name for the event mulled over, was iMovie fest. In order to be all-inclusive, MovieFest was born in 2003.

MovieFest is a short movie competition designed to increase awareness and interest in digital and computer arts and sciences and to screen the entrants work in an effort to encourage and inspire amateur movie-makers and to give them the feedback or their peers and the general public.

MovieFest aims to promote excellence in artistic expression, by rewarding creativity, technical achievement and innovation. The first event in 2003 was targeted at schools and hobbyists, and in order to ensure a fair competition the 2004 event saw the school section being split into primary and secondary categories.

With the aim of encouraging a wide range of expression with common New Zealand based themes, and to encourage original work, MovieFest entrants are asked to produce a movie in a given timeframe.

As part of the process they need to somehow use or incorporate a creative interpretation of a specified topic into their movies; this could be a phrase, several words, or an emotive theme.

One key element is that each movie must be made specifically for the MovieFest competition, thus ensuring all entrants have the same criteria and time to make their movie.

MovieFest is unique in that entrants from Primary School students to senior citizens can reference their work and ideas against that of a wide range of other aspiring amateur moviemakers, all with working within the same set of rules.

Here is our prospectus detailing the goals of the Trust and some of it past activities.