An evocative Claymation on breaking down barriers has seen Yianni Rowlands aged 15 win Trop Jr 2016.
His film, Chess People, is set in an imaginary chess world where everything is split in two by a great wall and two boys either side of the wall protesting against a call for war.
Tropfest Founder and Director, John Polson said, “Today we saw an incredible range of films from the next generation of film industry leaders. The level of skill and creative storytelling that these talented kids bought to Trop Jr was just amazing. The future of Australian filmmaking is bright if these kids have anything to do with it!”
Yianni received $1,000 cash thanks to Trop Jr, $1500 worth of AFTRS Open School Holiday Courses and an HP Pavilion x360 convertible laptop bringing the individual prize pool to over $3000.
Isaac Haigh was awarded Second Prize for his film Ding Dong while friends Oliver Bailey and Oliver Crawford-Smith took Third Prize for their film The Suburban Luchador.
For the first time ever this year Trop Jr awarded the best male and best female actor, with the trophies going to Oliver Crawford-Smith and Hannah Isaacs respectively.
You can watch Rowland’s winning short film below:
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