Friday 17 December 2021

Meri Kirihimete

End of year newsletters are a chance to wrap up the year’s achievements. This year has been full of challenges, successes, uncertainty and change, both for New Zealand and the world. So, I’ll start this newsletter by acknowledging how hard it has been for many in our sector, both personally and as an industry. However I have been  impressed and humbled by the perseverance, guts and passion you have all shown for the art and craft of filmmaking. To everyone who has been involved in making a film this year, supporting a film being made, or supporting whānau who work in and around the industry, thank you.

Over the weekend I was sitting at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington with my family and it was packed. I could sense the buzz of people happy to be back in the cinema with others. It was great to have the freedom of gathering together as a community. This is not the case in many other countries. In recent weeks I’ve met virtually with a number of my fellow agency heads in Asia, Europe, the UK and North America, many of whom are still working from home after two years; they are concerned for their industries’ survival and are uncertain of their prospects for next year. So, thank you for working in difficult conditions and helping to keep the health and safety of colleagues and whānau front of mind.  I hope our collective efforts will stand our industry, and country, in good stead for 2022.

For Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga New Zealand Film Commission, we too have had to adjust the way we work. I want to acknowledge our staff at the NZFC who have worked hard to support our industry through the pandemic. There have been significant successes, especially around securing key production personnel into MIQ and keeping productions running. I’d also like to thank our colleagues at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment particularly for their COVID-19 relief funding support.

While COVID-19 has thrown curve balls, we have still managed to achieve great things. My congratulations to every filmmaker who has successfully released a film this year. This is something to be proud of.  I understand that 14 New Zealand feature and short films have been accepted into major international film festivals. A special mention to Dame Jane Campion and The Power of the Dog, which has been nominated for seven Golden Globe Awards and is an early Oscar contender.  

As you are aware, the Government announced there will be a review of funding of the screen sector, with particular focus on the New Zealand Screen Production Grant (NZSPG). The NZSPG is a foundation of our film industry.  The screen sector contributes $3.3 billion to New Zealand's economy and employs around 16,000 people. We have a good story to tell so it is important everyone contributes to the review so government funding remains and works for all parts of the sector.

The review aligns in content and timing with the strategic approach to change the NZFC will shortly commence. Over the next 12 months we will look closely at screen trends and their impact on our industry, and the Commission’s role and opportunities to create a sustainable and thriving industry, and how we change to become a modern, fit for purpose crown entity. We intend on publishing a new Statement of Intent towards the end of next year.

The 2022 production landscape is looking more positive than it was a few months ago. There are upwards of 18 domestic productions next year, including those from the Premium Fund. Three projects received conditional offers at the December Board meeting and details of these will be published in the next newsletter, once the conditional offer letters have been executed.

There are a number of international projects moving into production in early-mid 2022 and we are working with several major prospects in the second half of the year. We’re trialling a new initiative in this newsletter - publishing the 2022 confirmed and potential productions. This is an early iteration and we will refine it in the coming months.

Finally, I would like to wish you all the very best for the holiday season. Enjoy your time with friends and whānau. Look after yourselves and each other and I look forward to seeing you in 2022. May it be a happy and prosperous new year!

Ngā Mihi,

David

Upcoming Productions

To give insight into the production pipeline next year, we have captured currently known local and international screen productions (crew size of 50+) currently confirmed to shoot in the first half of 2022 in the above graph. Scheduled dates and estimated crew numbers are indicative only and the aim is to expand on this data to include productions pending confirmation over the calendar year. NZFC’s Data Room will host this information which will be updated at regular intervals. We welcome industry insights and feedback.

The confirmed productions captured in this January-July 2022 graph are made up of:

• 4 x International series
• 1 x International features
• 8 x Domestic series
• 9 x Domestic features

Millie Lies Low to Screen at Berlinale

Millie Lies Low will have its International Premiere in the competitive Generation section of the 2022 Berlin International Film Festival. 

The film, directed by Michelle Savill, written by Savill and Eli Kent and produced by Desray Armstrong and Angela Littlejohn, recently premiered to New Zealand audiences in the Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival.

Set in Wellington, the film stars Ana Scotney as the titular Millie, an anxiety-ridden architecture graduate who, after missing her flight to a prestigious internship, fakes being in New York while lying low in her hometown and scrounging for another ticket.

Headed by Berlin-based New Zealander Maryanne Redpath since 2008, Berlin's Generation section focuses on film that take the lives and experiences of contemporary young people seriously.

The Berlin International Film Festival will run 10-20 February, 2022.

New Zealand Projects Sundance Bound

Two New Zealand projects, short film Breathe and augmented reality installation Atua, will premiere at next year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Funded through the NZFC's Catalyst He Kauahi short film fund, Breathe was written and directed by Stephen Kang and produced by Mhairead Connor. Breathe will screen In Competition in the Sundance Film festival’s Midnight section. 

Breathe tells the story of Jaehee, a twelve-year-old girl with a special yet unorthodox ability to heal those who claim to be possessed. Her father has exploited her gift, readily accepting money from those seeking peace from their tormented lives.  Jaehee’s growing unease with the situation, puts her and her domineering father on a collision course of love, duty, connection, and something much darker.

Funded through the NZFC’s Whakawhanake Te Ao Niko Interactive Development Fund, ATUA was co-written by Tanu Gago and Jermaine Dean, and directed by Gago. Featuring a digital sculpture modelled on performance artist Dean, the augmented reality installation was produced by Nacoya Anderson and executive produced by Carthew Neal for Piki Films in collaboration with Auckland-based creative collective FAFSWAG and Wellington interactive company Wrestler, with Kat Lintott as the Interactive Creative Director. The installation has been selected for Sundance’s New Frontier programme.

ATUA reimagines the realm of Pacific gods in this new sculptural AR experience, asking “If your Gods could whisper into your ear, what would they say?”, claiming space for gender diverse communities impacted by colonial contact, to see themselves reflected as vital to their cultural heritage and an intrinsic part of the cosmos.

This year the Sundance Institute is celebrating 40 years of short film programming and Roseanne Liang's Do No Harm, Alison Maclean’s Kitchen Sink and Taika Waititi’s Two Cars, One Night have been included in the Sundance Institute’s 40th Anniversary Short Film Programme.  The Sundance Institute runs year-round programmes and activities to provide space for artists to create and share their stories.  Maclean developed her feature film Crush at a Sundance Institute Lab in 1991, while Waititi’s Eagle vs Shark was developed through labs in 2005 before debuting at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007.

The 2022 Sundance Film Festival will be held 20-30 January as a hybrid event with both in-person and online events and screenings. More...

Māori Screen Excellence Award and Special Recognition Awards

Producer Desray Armstrong is this year’s recipient of the NZFC's Te Aupounamu Māori Screen Excellence Award.

Awarded by nominations from their peers, Te Aupounamu Māori Screen Excellence Award provides a $50,000 grant in recognition of the recipient’s significant contribution to the Māori screen industry.

Desray Armstrong (Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti/Ngāti Porou) is an award-winning producer with 17 years’ production experience beginning in 2004 making content for broadcast on the newly launched Māori Television Service.

Her short films and web series have screened In Competition and won awards at multiple prestigious festivals around the world including Cannes, Berlin and SXSW.  Dustin Feneley’s bold art house debut Stray, premiered at Moscow in 2018 launching her feature film producing career. Her second feature, James Ashcroft’s thriller Coming Home in the Dark, premiered in the Midnight Madness section at Sundance 2021 and was released in cinemas across Aotearoa in August 2021.  Matthew Saville’s familial love story Juniper is in New Zealand cinemas now and Michelle Savill’s comedy drama Millie Lies Low recently premiered at Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival.

Through her production company Sandy Lane Productions, she is active in creating pathways for more women and Māori to step into key creative roles and her film and television development slate has a strong indigenous focus, including several projects with Māori women at the helm.

In addition to the main award, Christina Asher (Ngāti Tuwharetoa, Ngā Rauru, Te Atihaunui-a-Paparangi, Ngāti Pūkenga, Ngāti Rangiwewehi) and Guy Moana (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau ā Takimoana, Te Whānau ā Hinepare, Ngāi Tane me Te Whānau ā Apanui, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Wai) were recognised for their contributions to the sector and will each receive $25,000 grants. More....

Festival and Market News

Poppy, written and directed by Linda Niccol and produced by Robin Laing and Alex Cole-Baker, will screen at Slamdance in January 2022.  Poppy will feature in the curated Unstoppable section. Unstoppable, in its second year, is programmed by alumni with visible and non-visible disabilities - an initiative “aiming to eliminate prejudices and gate-keeping that have historically kept disabilities from being represented in the entertainment industry.” Lead actor Libby Hunsdale had her performance singled out for praise as a young woman with Down syndrome who takes control of her life in order to follow her dreams – as well as for her onscreen chemistry with fellow performers Ari Boyland, Seb Hunter and Kali Kopae.

Three New Zealand feature films screened at the Sydney Film Festival: Night Raiders, written and directed by Danis Goulet and produced for New Zealand by Ainsley Gardiner, Georgina Conder and Chelsea Winstanley, The Power of the Dog, written and directed by Dame Jane Campion and produced by Campion, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Tanya Seghatchian  and The Justice of Bunny King, written by Sophie Henderson, directed by Gaysorn Thavat and produced by Emma Slade. 

Dame Jane Campion's An Angel at My Table screened at the Lumière International Film Festival in Lyon as part of a tribute programme celebrating her work. Campion also accepted the 2021 Lumière Award, saying, “I’m really moved – I’m a New Zealander: we don’t do this stuff, we don’t do emotion about ourselves. I’m going to get arrested when I get home for having a big head.” You can read the full article here.

International success continues for The Power of the Dog which has recently screened at the Virginia Film Festival ( 27-31 Oct), Leeds International Film Festival (3-18 Nov) and AFI Fest (10-14 Nov). The film will screen at the Palm Springs International Film Festival next month  (6-17 January), where The Palm Springs International Film Awards will present Campion with the 2022 Director of the Year Award, for The Power of the Dog.

Juniper, written and directed by Matthew J Saville and produced by Desray Armstrong and Angela Littlejohn,  screened at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival as part of the Current Waves programme, a curated selection of films that have premiered and won awards at renowned international film festivals. The film will have its US premiere in January at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Coming Home in the Dark, directed by James Ashcroft, written by Ashcroft and Eli Kent and produced by Catherine Fitzgerald, Desray Armstrong and Mike Minogue, continues its successful festival run with screenings at the Fancine Malaga Film Festival, Cineuropa-Santiago de Compostella Film Festival, Razor Reel Film Festival and Saskatoon Fantastic Film Festival. 

In addition, the film picked up Best Director Awards for James Ashcroft at the Terror Molins de Rei and Isla Calavera Film Festivals.  Miriama McDowell received a Best Actress Award at the Terror Molins de Rei Film Festival and Eli Kent and Ashcroft received the award for Best Script.

Cousins is in Official Selection for the 2021 Golden Rooster Awards Foreign Film Section, including Best Foreign Film, Best Director, Best Script, Actor and Actress. The film will screen as part of the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival, December 28-30.

Aotearoa New Zealand shone at the Hawai’i International Film Festival in November, with nine programme selections including feature films Night Raiders, The Power of the Dog, James & Isey and High Tide, Don’t Hide; short films Disrupt, Fire in the Water, Fire in the Sky, Milk; and series The Panthers and TEINE SĀ: The Ancient Ones.

High Tide Don't Hide has been selected for the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights Industry programme Impact Days. The film is one of 16 documentaries to be chosen out of the 110 entries from around the world.

Directed and produced by Niva Kay, Emily McDowell, Nia Phipps and Phil Stebbing High Tide Don't Hide is about striking teenagers who discover that activism, authority, and awareness make for a steep learning curve in the race for existence.

The teams from the selected films will develop their impact campaigns through an Impact Lab and will be able to connect to strategic partners to put them effectively in place during the Impact Days in Geneva in March 2022.

Short Films

Kōpere Hou - Fresh Shorts funded Daddy's Girl (Kōtiro), written and directed by Cian Elyse White and produced by Tweedie Waititi,  screened at the Sydney Film Festival.

Kōpere Hou - Fresh Short film Fetch, written and directed by Sam Gill and produced by Evie Mackay was nominated for the Best Children's Film Award at  the Uppsala International Short Film Festival.

Vaspy, written and directed by Hweiling Ow and produced by Rachel Jean has been selected to screen at the 2022 Melbourne Women in Film Festival in February. 

Congratulations go to...

The winners of Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival's NZ's Best Shorts and  Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts Competitions;

The Vista Group Award for Best Short Film went to Catalyst He Kauahi funded When We Were Kids (written & directed by Josephine Stewart Te Whiu and produced by Sarah Cook) and Washday (written & directed by Kath Akuhata-Brown and produced by Verity Mackintosh and Julian Arahanga). 

The Auckland Live Spirit of The Civic Award went to director Josephine Stewart Te Whiu , with the  Creative New Zealand Emerging Talent Award going to Awa Puna for Tūi.

The Audience Choice Award in the 2021 New Zealand's Best Competition went to Catalyst He Kauahi funded Datsun, directed by Mark Albiston.

The Wellington UNESCO City of Film Award for Best Film, as well as the Letterboxd Audience Choice Award in the 2021 Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts Competition was awarded to Disconnected, directed by Maruia Jensen.

We are very proud to have supported these films.

Dame Jane Campion for being named Best Director at the New York Film Critics Circle 2021 Awards. Also recognised for The Power of the Dog were Benedict Cumberbatch as Best Actor and Kodi Smit-McPhee as Best Supporting Actor. Winners will be honoured at the NYFCC’s gala awards dinner planned for January. The film has been included in the American Film Institute’s AFI Awards’ Top Movies of the Year, 10 films deemed culturally and artistically representative of this year’s most significant achievements in the art of the moving image. 

Other 'best of' lists that have chosen The Power of the Dog as their top film of 2021 include the IndieWire Critics poll, The Southeastern Critics Association, and the New York and Boston Film Critics, among others.  The film has been nominated for seven Golden Globes including Best Picture and Best Director.

Hamish Bennett, Orlando Stewart, Catherine Fitzgerald and the whole Bellbird team for being awarded the Jury Grand Prize at the Cinéma des Antipodes in Cannes. And to actor Kahukura Retimana for receiving a special mention from the Jury.

Hweiling Ow, Morgan Leigh Stewart and Mia Maramara for their series, New Zealand-Philippines co-production The Witch Doctor, being the winner at the SEAScreen Project Market at the Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) in Singapore. SEAScreen Project Market is an annual summit that brings together the best content concepts from Asia and Europe, to meet with international co-producing partners, festival programmers, distributors, commissioners, and financiers.

Catalyst He Kauahi funded short film Green, written and directed by Rachel Ross, produced by Morgan Leigh Stewart, which won the 2021 Show Me Shorts SAE People’s Choice Award. Runners up were Song For Serbia, Bear With Me, A Hole and Milk.

All the 2021 finalists of The New Zealand Television Awards. The NZFC is pleased to have supported nine productions that received a combined 21 nominations:

The Gulf Season 2,  Popstars, Mystic, The Sounds, The New Legends of Monkey, Kiri & Lou, Colours of China, Loimata: The Sweetest Tears and Rūrangi

The nine projects were supported through several NZFC grants and funds, including the New Zealand Screen Production Grant, the Screen Production Recovery Fund, International Co-Development Fund and the Feature Film Finishing Grant.

The Green Fairy team who were nominated for 'Best Narrative Experience' at the Raindance Film Festival.

CONICAL, the company behind The Green Fairy, is the first company in New Zealand to have created a movie in Virtual Reality. The studio was awarded an NZFC grant for their ground-breaking achievement in innovation for – Virtual Reality Storytelling.

Filmmaker Opportunities

NZFC News

New Portal Information for Applicants

To improve the application and funding experience of our filmmaking whānau, a revamped portal which offers a collaborative workflow will be launched in the new year.

 The target release date is 23 February 2022. 

Here are the key things important to know: 

Key changes for applicants 

• Existing portal users will be sent a link inviting you to sign up to the new portal. Users will need to sign up for an account. Links will be sent out in mid-February.  
• Assessors no longer need two logins. You will be able to switch between acting as an applicant and acting as an assessor. 
• The new portal navigation bar has been strategically arranged to reflect the NZFC application life cycle so users can logically work through their projects. 

Impact to application rounds 

• Funds that are ‘always open’ will close 7 February 2022 and will re-open in the new portal. Applications cannot be made to these specific funds between 7 – 23 February 2022. 
• Any unsubmitted applications should be submitted before the temporary portal close date as unsubmitted applications will not be migrated. 
• All other funds will run as per their published dates.  

If you have concerns about any of the upcoming changes, you can contact the Resources Team who will be happy to help (resources@nzfilm.co.nz).

News and updates about the new portal can be found here.

 Masterclass Update

We intend for the Dame Jane Campion and See-Saw Films Masterclasses to be re-scheduled in 2022 and we will be in touch with applicants as soon we have confirmed dates. Applications will re-open, but previous applicants will be able to reapply, withdraw, or keep their original application in the mix.

Thanks for keeping up with what's going on at the NZFC. Got a suggestion? Email us at feedback@nzfilm.co.nz. 

Ngā mihi,

The NZFC Team