After the Wet West Film Festival made a splash and the prizes were being handed out, what audio bite could have been more fitting than the sound of rain falling on the roof of the Regent Theatre. As the rain drops fell, perhaps it meant the weather gods were giving their personal blessing to the festival, of sorts named in the honour of the God of rain.

From white water adrenalin action and adventure footage from all corners of the globe, to a bit of black comedy and social commentary, the Wet West Film Festival had it all.

Audiences who attended the event over the last four days were treated to an enthralling selection of long and short movies, including serious dramas filmed by the world’s best, to self funded adventures made by novice film makers.

 The festival was a personal triumph for organisers Dave Kwant and Jo Kearns, who first discussed the concept over a quiet drink at a local bar.

One of the successes of the Wet West Film Festival was maintaining sizable audiences entertained throughout, and no doubt the high content of water sports appealed to the many kayakers and thrill seekers domiciled in these parts at this time of the year.

That white water-outdoor flavour was recognised when a new category was added to the festival format: the Adrenalin Award. “The judges came up to me and Dave and said, why haven't you got a category for adrenalin, and we didn't know what to say. But we had to be flexible, and we knew that from the outset, so we went with the adrenalin award.''

Kearns was also quick to praise the support staff who helped run the first Wet West Film Festival. “Hokitika has been such a supportive community to start something like the Wet West Film Festival, we have had a positive response from the Westland District Council and huge support too from the locals in the audience,” Kearns said.

Next year the organisers anticipate making a few changes to the festival format, but really it will be a matter of fine tuning. For Dave Kwant, that means building on the initial festival success, to entice more films, more quality, and encourage an even broader range of subject matter.

''I'm pretty amazed at how well it's gone, it went really smoothly and that's down to all the people who helped out, the theatre staff, the judges, and lighting and projection people.''

“We had about half the movie makers turn up too, they were fun to have here and I hope they will get the word around and encourage more film makers to get involved next year.”

From polished professional productions, to adventure films shot on handicams and shoestring budgets, the four day movie menu served up a veritable smorgasbord of viewing, which even the judges struggled to chew through.

Judges Bill De Fries, Mick Hopkinson, Paul Caffyn and Richard Bell were certainly handed a tough assignment. “It was a really interesting process, being locked in a small room for 20 hours to watch 40 films. I had no idea what to expect, it wasn't easy and I was actually surprised by the quality offered by the material.”

“At the start we agonised about the potential gap between, perhaps more part time practitioners as against professional film makers. We thought it would be an issue, but in the end it wasn't,” De Fries said.

When it came to selecting the best the festival had to offer, the judges were unanimous in their top award. “We hoped a film would emerge above all others, and it did,'' Bell said.

Bell was talking about Kambala, the self financed movie filmed by Andrew Scott on a trip to India.

Kambala scooped the prestigious Judges Choice award, which bought Scott and producer Phillip Rock back to the winners’ podium. Minutes before Kambala had won the Environment and Culture award, beating off the challenge from Midnight Sun, and Waterfowl and Wetlands.

Greymouth surfer Jonnie Harris received a special cheer when his movie, Off the Lip, was named as the people choice, well ahead of second placed Midnight Sun.

A modest Harris said he only set out to make the movie after he learnt about the Wet West Film Festival, through talking to Kwant six months earlier. “It really makes it all worthwhile, the audience reception on the first screening was special, it was so well received,” he said.

Kwant was also pleased with the local success. “I'm so happy that he won, it was perfect West Coast, it had fantastic action, and it was the first film to come about as a result of the festival.”

“Hopefully people who have seen it and the whitebait movie, the fishing movie, the rafting movie and the movies about snow and water and ice have come away inspired,” he said.

Other category winners were The Yenisey River Expedition judged best adventure film, and Water the best short film.

Overall the festival made a great impression on those who attended, including one local movie goer who said the Saturday night audience was the best crowd she has seen in the Regent for a long time. “And to see our own landscape on the big screen was wonderful . . . . really, it's a great credit to the people who ran the show,'' she said.