Hamish Bennett (director)
{{Short description|New Zealand filmmaker and screenwriter}}
{{use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{use New Zealand English|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Hamish Bennett
| image = Hamish Bennett director.jpg
| caption = Hamish Bennett in 2019
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1978}}
| birth_place = New Zealand
| occupation = {{hlist|Screenwriter|director}}
| years_active =
| known_for = {{unbulleted list|Bellbird|Uproar}}
| spouse =
| father =
| mother =
| children =
| signature =
}}
Hamish Bennett is a New Zealand filmmaker born in 1978.{{cite web|url=https://issuu.com/thescreenguild/docs/nztecho_90_18_web_singles/s/17895085 |title=in Focus Hamish Bennett Q & A | publisher=Thescreenguild |date=2021 |accessdate=2023-11-11}} He is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed film Bellbird (2019). His second film Uproar was released in 2023.
Early life and education
Bennett is of Māori descent, of the Ngāti Whakaue, Patuharakeke and Kati Waewae peoples. He grew up in a small rural town in Northland.{{cite web| url= https://www.transmissionfilms.com.au/uploads/media/Bellbird_Press_Kit_(1).pdf| title= Bellbird press kit| page=6| publisher= Stella Maris Productions Ltd}}
He earned a BA at Massey University in 1998, majoring in English and Media Studies at the Manawatū, and played rugby for Manawatū in 1998 and 1999. His elder brother, Simon, is a psychology lecturer at the university.{{cite web | title=BA to ‘Bellbird’ - film director cites Palmy days | website=Massey University | date=18 October 2019 | url=https://www.massey.ac.nz/about/news/ba-to-bellbird-film-director-cites-palmy-days/ | language=mi | access-date=26 May 2022}}
{{as of|2019}}, Hamish was working full-time as a school teacher. Hamish now has two children.
Career
Bennett's first short film, The Dump (2012),{{cite web | title=Hamish Bennett | website=New Zealand Film Commission | url=https://www.nzfilm.co.nz/talents/hamish-bennett | access-date=26 May 2022}} won Best Short Script at the NZ Writers Guild Awards in 2012.
Hi second short film, Ross & Beth (2014), won many awards, including the Jury and Audience prizes at the 2014 New Zealand International Film Festival.
His first feature film, Bellbird, had its world premiere at the Sydney Film Festival in 2019, won an audience award at the Melbourne International Film Festival and screened in the New Zealand International Film Festival as well as other international film festivals. It screened at Palmerston North on 20 October 2019, as a preview before its nationwide release on 7 November, screening at 70 cinemas around the country. Bellbird won the Jury Grand Prix at the 2021 Antipodean Film Festival in Saint Tropez, France.{{cite web | title=2021 Palmares | website=Rencontres Internationales du Cinéma des Antipodes | date=25 May 2022 | url=http://www.festivaldesantipodes.com/index.php/en/ | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220525041920/http://www.festivaldesantipodes.com/index.php/en/ | archive-date=25 May 2022 | url-status=dead | access-date=26 May 2022}}
He co-directed his second film Uproar with Paul Middleditch. Uproar was released in October 2023,{{cite web | title=NZFC Spotlight - Hamish Bennett | website=nzfilm.co.nz | date=28 November 2023 | url=https://www.nzfilm.co.nz/news/nzfc-spotlight-hamish-bennett| access-date=28 November 2023}} to glowing reviews.{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/uproar|title=Uproar|publisher=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=26 November 2023}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{imdb name|4025545}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Hamish}}