Celebrating 5 years of bringing the best in locally produced short films to the people, this year wasn't going to be let down by the lack of the annual Queenstown Mountain Bike Festival. Calling on entrants to again produce a short film celebrating the summer lifestyle found here in the Southern Lakes, the standard again continued to impress and the audience were treated to an epic selection of local action.
Long term stalwart and veteran of the competition in spite of his years, Scott Robb again proved himself to be a force to be reckoned with delivering a slick edit that got the audience pumped and showcasing exactly the reason why this competition exists in the first place. Growing alongside Scott ever since he entered his first edit in 2014, the opportunity to showcase the incredible local talent is what keeps us coming back for more. Scott has proven himself to be a master behind the lens and is helping the world see what incredible locations and talent exist in this mecca of the south.
Take a look at Scott's winning entry below.
Not to be outdone, DKT Edits and the team from Huss partnered up to produce another strong edit showcasing a raft of local pinners and epic southern scenery in a selection of the best Queenstown has to offer. Take a look at their edit, 'Desire' below.
Rounding out the competition is another Through the Lens stalwart, Pete McGnarly (nee McInally) with his fitting tribute to the late, great Kelly McGarry. Our deepest respects go out to one of our biggest mountain biking icons and it was our deepest regret that he couldn't be be with us for this years show. Combining thanks to Kelly for his inspiration to all those he touched with an irreverent style that only Pete can pull off, take a look at his entry below.
To celebrate the 5th anniversary of THrough the Lens, this year also saw the introduction of the Skyline MTB Photo Showdown which ran online in the weeks after the live show. With a massive reach and huge voter turnout, our congratulations go to Matt Wood for his winning entry.
A big thanks to all those who took the time and effort to craft their entries for this years competition. To watch the rest of the great films from 2016 check out the Through the Lens Summer Sessions 2016 playlist on YouTube.
Both the Summer Sessions and the Photo Showdown will be back in 2017 and hopefully part of a new and invigorated Queenstown bike fest celebration... Watch this space!!