A night of lights, cameras and creativity: The 2025 Macademy Awards
Posted on October 21, 2025
The red carpet was rolled out once again for the annual Macademy Awards, celebrating the creativity and skill of Macleans College’s young filmmakers.
Students arrived to the flashes of the paparazzi and a full house, marking another standout year for the school’s thriving film community.
Eighteen diverse student films were showcased over two days after the first night sold out in two days. The event was supported by Progear, Letterboxd and Monterey Cinemas.
The films were judged by three expert judges from the New Zealand film industry: Tom Augustine (filmmaker/film critic), Melinna Liang (writer) and Tom Clarke (actor).
Congratulations to:
- Best Film: Isaac Uammuang (Kupe House) for ‘Killer Code’
- Best Direction and Best Production Design: Maegan le Roux (Rutherford) for ‘Croc’
- Best Script: Marianna Wang (Rutherford) for ‘The P Movie’
- Best Performance: Dani Gonzalez Castro (Mansfield) for his performance in ‘Locked In’
- Best Editing: Kate McKeen (Hillary) for ‘Brake Line’
- Best Cast: Lara Alsaffar (Mansfield), Jaime Hornblow (Kupe), Benjamin McLaren (Rutherford) and Sophie Hazel (Mansfield) as featured in ‘Clue’
- Best Cinematography: Emily Lou (Hillary) and Jesse Liu (Mansfield) for ‘Mind Lock’
- Best Sound: Cullen Campbell (Batten) for ‘Disconnected’
The Audience Choice Award, supported by Progear, came with a $500 voucher prize and proved to be a close contest. Ultimately, the animated film ‘Killer Code’ by Isaac Uammuang took the title, impressing both judges and viewers alike. The film tells the story of a worker trying to escape a building after a security breach unleashes a wave of killer robots.
All films from the event are available to watch on the Media At Macleans YouTube channel. Several entries have also progressed to national film competitions - a testament to the talent and dedication of the students involved.
