Rhys Duncan

Evoking the style and pace of the Noir genre, the film is essentially a murder mystery with Stanley (Gareth Reeves) the prime suspect. Stanley's success as a novelist has been largely due to his style where he writes from the first person perspective of the central characters, who are always the killers in real-life cases. Troubled with writer's block, his agent suggests a tramping trip "to clear his mind". However, when he wakes up on the first morning of his tramp, he finds his fellow tramper dead.

Cameron Duncan wrote, directed and starred in this short film, the same year a lump in his knee turned out to be cancerous. Aged only 16, Duncan had already showcased his filmmaking talents on a series of award-winning short pieces made for Fair Go's annual programme devoted to commercials. With DFK6498, he channels his recent experiences into a short, stylishly-shot memoir of incarceration, frustration and freedom lost. The film went on to win a trio of awards at Wanganui's River City Film Festival and win praise from director Peter Jackson.