V are excited to announce the top spot in the V48Seconds 2010 competition has been awarded to RoundNRoundNZ productions for their short film "District V", a reenactment of a scene from Hollywood Blockbuster, District 9.

V48Seconds calls for budding film-makers to choose an epic movie clip from their favourite film, re‐shoot it in 48 seconds with a savvy 'V' twist, and slap it up on You Tube. V48Seconds is for anyone - whether you're a budding James Cameron, busting to show the world your directing talent or you just want to dip your toes in to prepare for V48Hours, New Zealand's biggest film competition.

Judges Jaquie Brown, V48Hours organiser Ant Timpson and Rachel Glucina chose "District V" out of 206 entries - and it was a unanimous decision. According to the judges, actor Marc-Andre Monten "nailed" the South African accent and played a convincing Wikus Van De Merwe.

"District V perfectly encapsulates the spirit of V48Seconds and we were really impressed by the performance," says Ant Timpson. Jaquie Brown adds, "This was a great reenactment of the District 9 scene and it gave us a complete story from beginning to end."

Judges found that the quality of films had really stepped up from previous years; production values, sophisticated editing and overall creativity resulted in films of an incredibly high standard and the top five entries are testament to this.

And in an interesting twist, District 9 - the critically-acclaimed film that inspired RoundNRoundNZ - was produced by Peter Jackson who is also the judge of the Wildcard category for the big brother competition V48Hours.

The RoundNRoundNZ team - Sam Cardy, Troy While, Ari Baker, Marc-Andre Monten and Kevin MacLeod - will receive the top prize which includes a year's supply of 'V', $1000 cash, four iPod Shuffles, a 42" Panasonic LCD TV, a 'V'48HOURS 2009 DVD, and a whole lot of V merchandise.

"Making District V was heaps of fun from start to finish and we're so stoked to have won," says RoundNRoundNZ team leader, Sam Cardy.

"We're entering V48HOURS so it's a great way to get ready for that - a good team bonding exercise!"

Close in the running for first place were the four Runners' Up - "The Hurt Locker" (Halcyon Entertainment), "Transformers" (Badaboom Badabing), "Pork Fiction" (Slapstick Surgery) and "Two cans, one night" (Billandbull). The runner up teams each walk away with four cases of V, four iPod Shuffles, a Panasonic DVD Home Theatre System, a V48HOURS 2009 DVD and V merchandise.

Judges also paid special mention to "Footloose" (TooManyCookesNZ) for its amazing dance performance and "The Good, the bad and the V. Ugly" (Hard and Fast).

The V48HOURS film competition kicks off this weekend, April 16-18 when over 600 teams around New Zealand will attempt to write, shoot and cut a short film in 48hours.

www.Vrepublic.co.nz