The Op Shop wins the Regional Audience Award for Best Short Film

Director Lee Rogers and wife Kate CeberanoThe votes are in and the people have spoken - 800 voters from 20 towns in regional NSW voted Lee Rogers’ film The Op Shop to the top of the tally to win the 2012 Young At Heart Short Film Regional Audience Award!

The Op Shop, a cheeky comedy about three ladies working in a charity shop who come across a mystery donation, won by a significant lead, with second place going to Punch Drunk, the winner of the Sydney Audience Award.

Director Lee Rogers, who takes away the $1000 award cash prize, said, “I'm extremely chuffed about the great response to The Op Shop! And am very proud of our wonderful cast and crew, who brought the film to life!

“The Op Shop just made its international debut at Aspen Shortsfest in the USA and looks set to have a long life on the international festival circuit. Closer to home, SBS has secured the Australian TV broadcast rights, so it's very exciting that more Australians will get more chances to see the film.

“The cash prize will help to keep promoting the film and getting more audiences around the world to see the film. I dedicate the Audience Award to all the wonderful people who work in op shops around Australia, who help find homes for our treasures great and small, and in turn generate significant donations for many charities and groups in our community.”

At Young At Heart, our thanks go out to everyone who came along to the regional screenings of the Short Film Awards and put your vote in the box. We’d also like to thank Ageing, Disability and Homecare, Department of Family and Community Services, whose generous support made the regional screenings possible.

Look forward to seeing you all at a Young At Heart Short Film Awards screening next year!

Congratulations to our raffle winners!

Congratulations to Aura Beudaua, J E Chivell and Bev Spring, the winners of our 2012 Young At Heart raffle!

Aura won first prize and now has a double Sydney Film Festival subscription and a $1500 travel credit with Globus, while J E Chivell won the second prize of tickets to Sydney Theatre Company and the Seymour Centre, as well as a case of premium Cellarmasters wines. And Bev Spring collected tickets to IMAX cinema, Sydney Comedy Festival and a case of Cellarmasters wines for third prize.

A huge thanks to our prize sponsors once again for making the raffle possible - the money raised goes towards making sure that next year's Young At Heart is even bigger than this year.

Congratulations as well to all three winners, and commiserations to those who missed out this time - but never fear, we have plenty more to give away, with tickets for four different movies to win in this week's enewsletter! Make sure you're signed up here!

Punch Drunk knocks over the Young At Heart Short Film Awards

It was a closely fought contest, with audience and judges alike concurring that the standard of the short films in competition was exceptional.

However, in the end the moving drama Punch Drunk knocked out the competition, taking away both the Audience Award for Best Film, and the jury-awarded NSW Seniors Week Award for Best Senior Talent, presented by Ageing, Disability and Home Care, Department of Family and Community Services, which went to actor Reg Gorman for his role as Joe Sparro, a former boxer suffering Dementia Pugilistica.

(Watch the trailer here.)

Punch Drunk director Sam Wark (far right) with Jury Members Bruce Elder, Claudia Santangelo and Barry Watterson (L to R)Jury member Bruce Elder said, “I last judged the Young At Heart Short Film Awards four years ago, and the calibre of the films in competition this year is simply astounding. It was a near impossible task to pick the best actor out of so many amazing performances, and special mention must be made of Sue Jones in Adam’s Tallit, both Bill Young and Graham Rouse in Two Laps, Brenda Palmer in Punch Drunk and the entire ensemble cast of The Adviser.  But for his incredible performance in Punch Drunk, we must award Best Senior Talent to Reg Gorman.”

Punch Drunk writer and director Sam Wark was at the ceremony to accept the $1000 cash prizes for Best Film, and Best Talent on behalf of Reg Gorman, pledging his Best Film cash prize to assist with the medical treatment of a crew member suffering MS.

Our congratulations go to both Wark and Gorman, and indeed to all the filmmakers and actors in this year’s outstanding Young At Heart competition – and thank you as well to all the audience members who attended. Here’s to another fantastic competition in 2013!

Sam Wark accepting the Audience Award for Best Film for Punch Drunk
2012 Young at Heart Short Film Awards Winners

Best Senior Talent (presented by Ageing, Disability and Home Care, Department of Family and Community Services)
Reg Gorman for Punch Drunk

Audience Award for Best Film
Punch Drunk
Written & Directed by Sam Wark
Produced by Leah Hallis & Karate School Films

Bakelite Broadcasters play The Deep Blue Sea screening

The Bakelite Broadcasters
Young At Heart is about so much more than just great movies – we’re also about interacting with the filmmaking community. This year we’ve got Q&As with the documentary filmmakers of I Am  Eleven (10am this Sunday at Dendy Opera Quays) and I’m Not Dead Yet (3pm this Thursday at Casula), and the chance to meet the filmmakers in our Short Film Awards at the Gala Evening this Thursday.

But it’s not just about film – we’re also into a bit of live music. We’ve invited Sydney’s only authentic 1920s-30s swing-jazz band singer, Greg Poppleton of the Bakelite Broadcasters, to bring his band down to the screening of war-time romance The Deep Blue Sea, to play at 3pm before the screening this Friday.

That means with your $6 cinema ticket you not only get to see the enigmatic Rachel Weisz in acclaimed film The Deep Blue Sea, but you also get a free half hour performance of live swing-jazz by the world-renowned Bakelite Broadcasters!

Tickets for this session are selling very quickly – grab yours now by clicking here!

Win big with the Young at Heart Raffle!

The Young at Heart Raffle is back for 2012 and we have some fantastic prizes to win this year, with tickets just $2 each or 3 for $5.

Win a $1500 credit towards a Travel Package from Major Sponsor Globus, a double subscription to Sydney Film Festival’s fantastic 2012 programme, tickets to Sydney Theatre Company’s production of Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood, tickets to The Theatre Troupe’s production of Breaker Morant at the Seymour Centre, tickets to comedy show Alzheimer’s the Musical (2011 Edinburgh Fringe sell-out), tickets to IMAX cinema, and two cases of delicious Cellarmasters wines.

First Prize
$1500 credit towards a Globus Travel Package
Double Subscription to Sydney Film Festival (value $450)

Second Prize
Double pass to Sydney Theatre Company’s Under Milk Wood (value $136)
Four tickets to Breaker Morant at Seymour Centre (value $120)
Cellarmasters case of Premium Chardonnay and Shiraz (value $347)

Third Prize
Four tickets to Sydney Comedy Festival’s Alzheimer’s the Musical: A Night to Remember ($132)
Two tickets to IMAX cinema (value $51)
Cellarmasters case of Shiraz and Sauvignon Blanc (value $274)

Huge thanks go to all our raffle sponsors for providing these amazing prizes – you can buy tickets to the raffle at all film sessions at Dendy Opera Quays and Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre.