Young Film Journalist of the Year 1995

The winner of the Independent / Sight and Sound competition to find our Young Film Journalist of the Year is Max Schaefer for his review of the New Zealand film Once Were Warriors.The judges (Sheila Johnston and John Lyttle of the Independent and Philip Dodd and Nick James of Sight and Sound) were impressed by the vigour and energy of the writing, its willingness to take risks and its ability to combine vivid detail with sophisticated argument. Max Schaefer wins a Macintosh Performa 630 multimedia computer with an integrated TV tuner and CD-Rom drive, plus a week's placement on the Independent and Sight and Sound.

The overall standard of the entries was fair, but few writers succeeded in combining an elegant (and grammatically correct!) prose style with an original and insightful approach to their chosen film. However, the judging team would also like to commend two close runners-up, Carlos Grande and Angela Pertusini, both of whom reviewed the basketball documentary Hoop Dreams.