Tasmanian filmmaker wins international award. 

Local filmmaker, Pawel Achtel, has won at the prestigious StudioDaily Prime Awards judged at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show in Las Vegas. His  DeepX and 3Deep underwater camera housings took out the Production Innovation Prize.

Pawel beat multi-national companies including Canon and Sony to take out the award in what is the technical equipment makers' equivalent of an "Oscar".

"Up until now, capturing cinema-quality images underwater, especially in 3D, had meant large cumbersome and expensive equipment, large camera crews and images dramatically degraded.

"With this systen you can film pristine 3D images using a rig that weighs not 120 kilograms like other systems, but a mere 20 kilograms. You can go places where no one has gone before.

"I created these new housings so that I could make the best possible films underwater and to capture images of sea creatures that look astounding on the big screen.

"That's what I'm really passionate about, but to get such an award is something I never imagined," said Pawel.

Premier Lara Giddings has congratulated Pawel saying, "This is a wonderful achievement for a Tasmanian filmmaker.

"He has dedicated his time developing this innovative underwater camera system that produces outstanding 3D vision for film and television.

"The government, through Screen Tasmania, has supported Mr Achtel to attend the Australian International Documentary Conference where he successfully pitched documentaries which will be filmed using his underwater technology.

This international win will not only bring him worldwide attention, it will also generate interest in these exciting documentaries and shine another light on a rarely seen aspect of Tasmania's natural beauty," said Ms Giddings.

Pawel is currently working on a film about sea lions off the coast of South Australia.  he is also developing a documentary which will include vision of underwater reefs off the south-east coast of Tasmania.

For more information: http://achtel.com/index.htm