Congratulations to the winners of the 2011 APFEI video compeition, which was open to all students currently enrolled in educational institutions in the Asia Pacific region. The winners were announced at the 5APCEI conference at the Univeristy of Western Australia 26-29th September. The competition was coordinated by Dr Ruth Walker (Learning Development, UOW) and the expert plagiarism and zombie judges included Dr Andrew Whelan (Sociology, UOW), Dr Chris Moore (Media, Deakin University) and Dr Lucy Reilly (Learning, Language and Research, UWA).

 Video competition theme:
The videos could have been in any horror genre - it might be about students' experiences at school or university dealing with learning about academic integrity, ethical research and writing practices, or anything else related to the theme of plagiarism and ‘zombies’. For instance, do you think plagiarism is contagious? What is the dark side of good research and referencing? Have you been infected? Are you now running scared of the plagiarism vigilantes?

1^st place winner:  “Plagiarism” 
Director: Jeremy Arimado (Macquarie University)
Film crew and cast: Fergus Wilson (UTS); Jess Ahn (Macquarie University); Min R Choi (University of Sydney); Paolo Arimado (Killara Highschool)  

Film reviews:
“Bloody retribution is served in a taut and economical thriller. Through tight editing and an evocatively spare aesthetic, the story unfolds to Vivaldi. Without dialogue, a sequence of close ups and shots of searches and browses reveals the crimes: plagiarism, deception, and the denouement: revenge. Or is it justice? Such is the calibre of the acting that a single sigh at the end of the film serves as the perfect end to a complex tragedy, the ultimate interaction between the plagiariser and the plagiarisee.”  (Dr Andrew Whelan, UOW)

“It was clever to bring together plagiarism (as a kind of scholarly crime) with murder (a legal crime) to explore the moral implications of both. A really impressive effort that, although not referencing zombies explicitly, depicts a mindless feeding upon the 'brains' of another. The theme of being infected is also evident. It also shows the contagion as the individual plagiarism spreads to the institution and society more broadly when the student is awarded for the plagiarised work. For me, the focus on the time, deadline, assignment draws the viewer into the mindset of the overwhelmed student and also the common methodology of academic misconduct via the internet.’ (Dr Lucy Reilly, UWA)

2^nd place winner:  “Plaguerism”  
Director: Cassandra Acevski Linda Hallinan and Holly Lawrence (Macquarie University)
Film crew and cast:  Matt Bradbury (Newcastle); Natika Newing-Stern (UNSW); Nick McFarlane (Newcastle); Jimmy Bentley (Macquarie); Emma Vlatko (Macquarie); EJ Chatfield (Macquarie); Lee Connor (University of Sydney) as well as Kate Haddad, Jason Haddad and Monique van Vogt

Film reviews:
“This is a really smart and well put together short film. It's funny, the editing is sharp and the camera setups are effective - a lot of thought has gone into this.
The music is all sourced from the Creative Commons and it all comes together perfectly. The quote counter is inspired and the infection by plagiarism is an idea that channels the brilliance of the linquistic zombie virus in the  zombie movie and radio play Pontipool. Most of all, the lightsabres versus zombies battle (FTW), that is just awesome.” (Dr Chris Moore, Deakin University)

“A hilarious zomcom which masterfully deploys classic genre tropes - the run through the woods, the barricaded last stand, the contagious friend growing sicker, the final onslaught. Heteroglossic catastrophe ensues as speech itself carries the virus. Also, as indicated below, In the face of zombie/light sabre combat, resistance is futile.*
*Damn - I have this problem myself”   (Dr Andrew Whelan, UOW)

Equal 3^rd place winner:  “Cheating death”  
Director: Darren Marner (University of South Australia)
Film cast and crew: Jack Harford (UniSA); Josh Willis (UniSA); Justin Bartlett (UniSA); Kate Williams (UniSA); Zoe Duffy (UniSA); Katie Fenoughty (UniSA); Scott Stanton (UniSA); Michael Marner (UniSA); Jason Marner (UniSA)

Film reviews:
“This movie was "straight out cliché zombie fun. I enjoyed the sounds taken from the Left4Dead2 video game (one of my favourites) and thought the cameo of a pile of dishes and washing up completed the sharehouse setting perfectly. I could imagine this one as a big budget frat house horror movie. It also had that brilliant line when faced by the oncoming hordes one of the characters responds: "I can't believe all these people plagiarised" (Dr Chris Moore, Deakin University)

Equal 3^rd place winner   "The Apolcalypse: Dude, Where's My Brain?"
Director: Mike Varati  (Macquarie University)
Film cast and crew: Steph Mernimen (Macquarie U); Rob Ephreums (Macquarie U); Michelle Orpilla (Macquarie U); Stacey Yanen (Macquarie U); Sean Bell (USyd); David Burrones (UNSW); Callum Butler (Macquarie U); Michelle Edwards (Macquarie U); Francesca Erriquez (Macquarie U); James Huang (Macquarie U); Shayen Malik (Macquarie U); Amy Lego (Macquarie U); Nathen Miller (Macquarie U); Kely Sherperd (Macquarie U); Jenny Stericken (Macquarie U); Alex Sneck (Macquarie U); Canoon Tsui (Macquarie U); John Uesi (Macquarie U); Anita Wehbe (Macquarie U); Caleb Winch (Macquarie U); Jack Yip (Macquarie U); Jennifer Brenner (Macquarie U); Oona Benorgi (Macquarie U); Brendan Kinge (Macquarie U); Reench Lampert (Macquarie U); Julien de Meyrick (Macquarie U); Emily Sheppard (Macquarie U); Rhian Webb (Macquarie U), Dona Ceyetana (Macquarie U)

Film reviews:
“A survival horror in which endemic exam plagiarism becomes pandemic zombie apocalypse. An ensemble horde pursues our heroes to the library, which, as has long been suspected, cannot be entered by plagiarizombies. Through the skillful deployment of camouflage clothing and books, the horde is dispelled to the aggressive rhythms of German industrial metal band Rammstein. Only one student survives - plagiarizombies are often closer than you think.” (Dr Andrew Whelan, UOW)

For any enquiries about APFEI or the student video competition requirements, please email Dr Ruth Walker (rwalker@uow.edu.au)