Monday 18th April, 2011

A moving drama about a Croatian refugee making a new life for herself in Australia, has won the 2011 Gold Shorts Awards at the SHORTS Film Festival.

The story of Iskra, is the work of New South Wales Director and Screenwriter Lucy Gaffy. The film tackles the feelings of a refugee whose memories keep her distanced from her world.

Announced as the Gold winner at the festival’s closing awards on Saturday night (April 16), the film was recognised by the judges as a perfectly told drama.

Her award follows the film winning the Audience Choice Award for the Best Short Film at last-week’s 11th Annual Beverly Hills Short Film Awards in the US.

As the Gold Winner sponsored by Hyundai, Lucy receives a trip to Cannes Film Festival – including return airfare, festival registration, accommodation and $1,000 spending money.

The Inaugural Black Shorts Award sponsored by Beach Energy, which was launched to encourage more indigenous films to be made, went to Minnie Loves Junior, another brilliant film directed by Victorian filmmaker Andy Mullins.

The film was recognised for its originality and as the winner of the Black Shorts Award Andy receives $10,000 to further his filmmaking career.

Perth filmmaker Keir Wilkins took out the Silver Shorts Award for his film, Bystander, which tells the story of a man who is pushed into a dangerous spiral, and forced to find answers to the questions he has run from his entire life.

As the Silver Winner sponsored by Kojo Group, Keir receives post production services – including editing and colour grading to the value of $7000 and equipment hire and production services to the value of $3000.

Sydney filmmaker, Christopher Kezelos, received the Bronze Shorts Award for his film Zero. The film was recognised by the judges as ‘an amazing film with great technique and production values’.

Other award-winners were Punch Drunk (Directed by Melbourne filmmaker Sam Wark), Futility (Directed by Queensland filmmaker Wayne Bradford) and Ronan’s Escape (Directed by AJ Carter).

The judging process is completely independent involving a total of 52 judges. Each film entered is judged by a panel of five judges, consisting of arts and media professionals. This year, judging sessions were held in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.

The SHORTS Film Festival which ran over the past week (April 9 -16) attracted record attendances, with a total of 1600 people attending the eight screenings and viewing 70 films from Australia and overseas.

The festival was held for the first time in its new home at the Norwood Concert Hall, which will host the event again in 2012.

Established in 2003, the SHORTS Film Festival is the only national dedicated short film festival to be held in South Australia and continues to grow its reputation among filmmakers and audiences alike..

For more information, visit the SHORTS Film Festival website located at www.shortfilmfestival.com

18 April 2011

Sniper Elite™, one of the world’s best-selling ‘Action/Adventure Sniper Simulators’ is being brought to the Wii™ this June.

The original Sniper Elite was launched in 2005 on PS2, Xbox and PC and quickly set the standard for in-game sniper techniques and bullet physics which may have influenced games such as Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Software-wise, Sniper Elite is a tactical shooter set in the Battle of Berlin in 1945.

The simulator, based on sniping gameplay, puts you in the shoes of an American OSS agent, Karl Fairburne, disguised as a German sniper, with the objective of obtaining German nuclear technology before the Soviet NKVD does.

Never before on Wii has the art of sniping been taken to the extreme, with options for enabling realistic ballistics, such as bullet drop, wind strength and breathing when attempting a shot. When you make an ‘extreme’ sniper shot, the view follows the path of the bullet in slow motion, while the camera rotates around the bullet, making for exceptionally satisfying kills.

The game will be exclusively bundled with a white Sniper Rifle to enhance the gaming experience. The Wii controller is installed towards the front of the rifle, and the nun chuck is installed just above the rifle’s trigger.

David Provan of Bluemouth Interactive said “Sniper Elite will be an essential purchase for all shooter fans on Wii. The bundled rifle makes full use of the Wii’s control system with movement and gestures”.

David concluded, “Sniper Elite represents a terrific retail opportunity. It immerses Wii gamers into Berlin 1945, plus the rifle accessory makes the game as realistic and exciting as possible. We believe this will be one of the most fun shooter titles launched in 2011”.
The Sniper Elite on Wii™ will be distributed via Bluemouth Interactive exclusively on Wii™ in June 2011 and will be available from leading videogaming retailers Big W, JB Hifi and GAME. Software is compatible with Wii Zapper.

Suggested Retail Price: $79.95. Bluemouth website landing page:
http://www.bluemouth.com.au/products/707
A trailer for the software is available to view at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMHLmIkgTXA

About Bluemouth Interactive
Bluemouth Interactive is the #1 supplier of video gaming accessories throughout Australia and New Zealand. Bluemouth is at the forefront of enhancing, improving and personalising the video-gaming experience and lifestyle. Bluemouth holds preferred partner status within the video game licensed accessory category with major retailers: Big-W, EB Games, Kmart, Target, JB Hi-Fi, and GAME stores.

Bluemouth’s range includes officially licensed Nintendo® DS and Wii™ products, officially licensed PlayStation® products and officially licensed Prima® strategy guides.
For the full range visit www.bluemouth.com.au  / www.bluemouth.co.nz

WEAR THE FRUITS OF YOUR GAMING PROWESS!

April 19th, 2011 – With over 25 million downloads worldwide and hundreds of billions of fruit sliced, Fruit Ninja is one of the biggest names in mobile gaming. To kick off a new partnership with developer Halfbrick and licensing agent HAP Consulting, the first range of awesome Fruit Ninja products have now arrived in Hot Topic stores all over the United States!

The current lineup includes both men’s and women’s shirts, with many new designs becoming available over the coming days and weeks. You can slice fruit like a boss, cry for help about your Fruit Ninja addiction or proclaim your undying love for Sensei! The shirts can be purchased both in-store or online via the Hot Topic website:

http://www.hottopic.com/hottopic/PopCulture/FruitNinja.jsp

Full licensing press release is attached, outlining current work and future Fruit Ninja partnerships and products to be sold in retail stores.

About Halfbrick

Halfbrick is a professional game development studio based in Brisbane, Australia. Founded in 2001, it has developed popular titles including Fruit Ninja, Age of Zombies and Raskulls for XBLA, PSN and iPhone. For further information, please visit www.halfbrick.com and follow on Twitter, Youtube and Facebook!