New Zealand's original High Schools' short film competition is back for its fourth year and with a new category: Best Original Music Score.New Zealand's original High Schools' short film competition is back for its fourth year and with a new category: Best Original Music Score.The competition - Cut! - is driven by the School of Media Arts at Wintec (Waikato Institute of Technology), and has produced some remarkable work by young talent according to moving image tutor John Mandleberg.

"It's a fantastic chance for students to make and show work which is challenging to produce, provides audiences with a stimulating viewing experience and which succeeds as a piece of film or video making," he said.

Awards will be given in the following categories: Best Doco, Best Drama, Best Director, Best Editor, Best Cinematographer, Best Script, Best Performance, Best Music Score.

This year's competition encourages students to use local musicians and bands for their soundtracks. Entrants will also have the opportunity to utilise a CD of great copyright-free music, "Exposition IV", composed and performed by third-year Wintec music students.

Twelve finalists will have their films screened at the Hamilton Rialto Cinemas, with the winning entry receiving an Apple eMac computer complete with editing software.

The competition is free to enter and open to any production team of students who are currently enrolled in and attending a New Zealand secondary school.

Entries should be no more than five minutes and can be submitted on video or DVD. The closing date is 15 July, with the winner being announced at the Rialto Cinema screening on 15 August.