Curious director Tammy Davis wins best film at Flickerfest with his debut short ‘Ebony Society’

January 20 2012, 11:51 am | BY Lynchy | 2 Comments

Bondi’s Flickerfest is the only short film festival in Australia accredited by BAFTA and the Academy.

This year Flickerfest accepted just 108 films for official competition from 2,200 entries.

From those entered, Tammy Davis’s debut short film Ebony Society won the ING Direct Award for Best Film.

Davis’s Flickerfest award follows Ebony Society’s official selection at 14 of the world’s top film festivals, including the Berlin Film Festival, Aspen Film Festival, and Sao Paulo International Film Festival.

Davis (pictured above), joined Curious shortly following Taika Waititi’s signing for Trans-Tasman commercial representation.

Waititi’s acclaimed feature film Boy is now the single highest-grossing Kiwi movie ever, eclipsing Once Were Warriors and The World’s Fastest Indian after taking in NZ$9.3 million at the local box office.

Ebony Society premiered at Sundance in January 2011. Since then, the film has gone on to win awards and be recognised around the world, convincing Davis to pursue a career telling stories. He has directed two 90-minute dramas for Maori television, and is currently working on a feature based on his first short.

taika 1.jpg Waititi (pictured left) wrote and directed Boy after his 2003 short film Two Cars, One Night was selected at Sundance, and was later nominated for an Academy Award. In 2007, Variety magazine named Waititi as one of “10 directors to watch” – a prediction that was validated when Waititi’s first feature film BOY became the highest-grossing NZ film of all time in September last year.

Davis and Waititi both began their careers as actors. Davis starred in the hit TV series ‘Outrageous Fortune’; Waititi is a comedian/actor whose first standup comedy partner was Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords. .