Welcome to the BOP Actors Studio & Rātā Studios Film Festival

What you'll find below are original films created, written and performed by our students as part of our annual screen acting challenge.

This year we've introduced two exciting categories. The first challenges students to create an entire short film from scratch—developing the concept, writing the script, directing, filming, editing and acting. The second focuses purely on performance, with professional crew supporting the production so students can concentrate on delivering authentic, screen-ready performances.

Our goal is simple: to give students an experience that reflects the realities of the film industry. Acting isn't just about learning lines—it's about collaborating with writers, directors, cinematographers and editors, solving creative challenges, working to deadlines and bringing stories to life as a team.

This festival is a collaboration between Bay of Plenty Actors Studio in Tauranga and Rātā Studios in Wellington, bringing together talented creatives from across New Zealand to learn from one another, celebrate storytelling and experience the excitement of having their work judged by some of Aotearoa's leading film and television professionals.

We hope you enjoy watching these films as much as our students enjoyed creating them. Public voting will open soon, so be sure to subscribe and follow along to support our filmmakers and discover this year's winners.