Cinema of New Zealand

Template:Oceanian cinema New Zealand cinema can refer to films made by New Zealand-based production companies in New Zealand. However, it may also refer to films made about New Zealand by filmmakers from other countries. In addition, due to the relatively small size of its film industry, many New Zealand-made films are co-productions with companies based in other nations.

New Zealand Cinema has been hailed by Mexican film director Guillermo del Toro, who will be producing The Hobbit film duology alongside Peter Jackson, as "Hollywood the way God intended it" . Peter Jackson has produced in New Zealand four of the highest grossing movies of all time, with The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001, 2002, 2003) and King Kong (2005).

Defining New Zealand Film

In October, 1978 the New Zealand Film Commission was formalised by Parliament under the National Party. The functions of the Commission under Article 17 New Zealand Film Commission Act (1978) were to;

• Encourage and assist in the making, promotion, distribution and exhibition of films
• Encourage and promote cohesion with NZ film industry
• Encourage and promote maintenance of films in archives

With this Act the New Zealand Film industry became more stabilised. Article 18 “Content of Films” New Zealand Film Commission Act (1978) would serve to define which aspects a film had to have in order for it to be labeled as a New Zealand Film. To qualify as a New Zealand film all the aspects listed below must be of New Zealand in origin;

• The subject of the film
• The locations at which the film was made
• The nationalities or places of residence of: The authors, scriptwriters ,composers producers, directors, actors, technicians, editors, etc.
• The sources from which the money is derived
• The ownership and whereabouts of the equipment and technical facilities

These defining aspects have in recent years caused debate on whether films like The Frighteners and the Lord of the Rings qualify as New Zealand Films. The impact of the New Zealand Film Commission on the industry was in getting films made, coming to a definition of NZ Film, and helping establish a Screen Industry in New Zealand.

Most New Zealand films are made by independent filmmakers, often on a low budget and with sponsorship from public funds. Relatively few New Zealand-made films have been specifically commissioned for the international market by international film distributors.

Recently, international film companies have become more aware of the skills of New Zealand filmmakers, and have increasingly used the New Zealand film industry as a base to shoot and also sometimes finish their feature films.

Private funding for New Zealand films has often been in short supply, although for a period in the early eighties tax-breaks resulted in a rush of money and a production boom. Although the trend seems to be changing for the better, some New Zealand directors and actors have been ignored in large part by their own country, despite success overseas, and often had to work in the USA,Australia, and the UK as a result.

History

Early film

The first public screening of a motion picture was on October 13, 1896 at the Opera House, Auckland and was part of a show presented by Charles Godfrey’s Vaudeville Company.

The first screening of a colour film (colour process, not just a colourised black and white film) was on Christmas Eve in 1911. It was a simutaneous showing at the Globe Picture Theatre, Queen Street and the Kings Theatre, Upper Pitt Street (now Mercury Lane).

The first filmmaker in New Zealand was Alfred Whitehouse, who made ten films between 1898 and mid-1900. The oldest surviving New Zealand film is Whitehouse's The Departure of the Second Contingent for the Boer War (1900).

The first feature film made in New Zealand is arguably Hinemoa. It premiered on August 1, 1914 at the Lyric Theatre, Auckland.

The Classical era

New Zealand film was a small-scale industry during the 1920s-1960s. During the 1920s and 1930s, director Rudall Hayward made a number of feature films on New Zealand themes. Rewi's Last Stand was probably his best, but little of this 1925 film survives. The film was remade with sound in the 1930s. Independent filmmaker John O'Shea was active from 1940 to 1970 making New Zealand cinema; his company Pacific Films produced numerous short films as well as the three New Zealand feature films made in that period: Broken Barrier (1952) with Roger Mirams, Runaway (1964), and Don't Let It Get You (1966).

However, during this period, most New Zealand-made films were documentaries. The National Film Unit was a government-funded producer of short films, documentaries, and publicity material. This is New Zealand, a short film made for the World Expo in 1970 was extremely popular there and subsequently screened in New Zealand cinemas, to much public acclaim. It used three projectors onto a wide screen, and was restored in 2004-05 and later rereleased.

The 1970s revival

During the 1970s, the New Zealand Film Commission was established to fund the production of New Zealand cinema films. A number of film projects were funded and this led to a revitalisation of the New Zealand film industry.

One of the first New Zealand films to attract largescale audiences at home - and also see release in the United States - was Sleeping Dogs, directed by Roger Donaldson in 1977. A dark political action thriller that portrays the reaction of one man to the formation of a totalitarian government, and subsequent guerrilla war in New Zealand, it introduced Sam Neill as a leading actor. While its local images of large scale civil conflict and government repression were unfamiliar to most viewers, they became a reference point after the 1981 Springbok Tour protests and police response, just a few years later.

1981 saw the release of the road movie Goodbye Pork Pie, which made NZ$1.5 million (a figure comparable with major Hollywood blockbusters of the time like Star Wars or Jaws). Director Geoff Murphy accepted movie offers from Hollywood.

The release of Goodbye Pork Pie is considered to be the coming-of-age of New Zealand cinema, as it showed that New Zealanders could make successful films about New Zealand. Before Murphy was lured away by Hollywood, he made two other key New Zealand films, Utu, (1983), about the land wars of the 1860s, and The Quiet Earth (1985) a science fiction film. Both films featured Bruno Lawrence, who became a local movie star. In 1987 Barry Barclay's film Ngati was released to critical acclaim and some box-office success. 'Ngati' is recognised as the first feature film to be written and directed by a member of a minority indigenous population (in this case Maori) anywhere in the world.

The Coming of Age of The New Zealand Short Film

During the late 1980s a trend developed that saw the reinvention of the New Zealand short film form. Alison McLean's landmark short Kitchen Sink came to typify the trend. Instead of trying be short features focused on dialogue and character the new shorts tried instead to push the envelope in terms of visual design and cinematic language. The result saw an explosion of visually rich and compelling works that seemed to aspire more to the best of European cinema than the mainstay of Hollywood fare.

Key examples of these are: The Lounge Bar (1989) (Directed by Don McGlashan and Harry Sinclair as The Front Lawn), 12 Min, 35 mm, colour; Kitchen Sink (1989) (Alison McLean), 14 minutes, 35 mm, b/w; A Little Death: A Modern Day Fairytale (1994) (Simon Perkins and Paul Swadel), 11 minutes, 16 mm, colour & b/w; Stroke (1994) (Christine Jeffs) 8 Min, 35 mm, colour; La Vie En Rose (1994) (Anna Reeves), 7 Min, colour; A Game With No Rules (1994) (Scott Reynolds), 16.30 Min, colour; Eau de la vie (1993) (Simon Baré), 13 Min, colour.

International success

The early 1990s saw New Zealand film gain international recognition, most obviously with Jane Campion's The Piano (1993), which won four Academy Awards. Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures (1994) and Lee Tamahori's Once Were Warriors also gained international critical acclaim and high grosses in a number of countries. The first two examples showed an increasing tendency for New Zealand films to be partially or completely overseas-funded, and also star non-New Zealand actors (Holly Hunter and Harvey Keitel in The Piano and Kate Winslet in Heavenly Creatures). This did not stop the migration of New Zealand talent to the United States: Tamahori, Melanie Lynskey of Heavenly Creatures and Canadian-born Piano star Anna Paquin are now all primarily based in America, and some of the Warriors cast also found work there.

A notable exception to the migration tendency is Peter Jackson, who has continued to make films in New Zealand. Jackson's career began with low-budget horror movies, such as Bad Taste (1987). He gradually became noticed by Hollywood, and directed the phenomenally successful Lord of the Rings films. Although made with mainly American money (and some from the New Zealand government) and a primarily international cast, Jackson filmed the movies in New Zealand, using a largely Kiwi production crew, helping create an enormous skill base in the New Zealand film industry.

This has led to a number of prominent Hollywood films being made in New Zealand, with major international productions not only filming here but also using the various post-production facilities and special effects companies on offer. The resulting films include The Last Samurai and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. While the funding for these movies is largely American, it has helped New Zealand film studios and filmmakers develop their skills and improve their facilities.

However, some industry figures claim that having large international productions employ New Zealanders has its downside. One New Zealand filmmaker recently highlighted how difficult it was to employ cameramen when working on a low-budget New Zealand film, as cameramen are now used to receiving large wages [1]. Other film makers find that the opposite is true, and argue that the greater number of local professionals may actually have driven wages down from the relative heights of the 1980s. Another alleged downside is that the big-budget internal productions swallow up any funding New Zealand has available, making it far more difficult for local productions to find money.

Despite this, local content has also significantly increased with notable films including In My Father's Den (directed by Brad McGann - 2004) and The World's Fastest Indian (directed by Roger Donaldson - 2005). Both films have done very well at the New Zealand box-office, most notably The World's Fastest Indian, which beat the record held by Once Were Warriors to become the highest grossing New Zealand film at the domestic box-office, taking in over $6.5 million.

The latter part of this decade saw the expansion of Peter Jackson's filmmaking empire with Jackson optioning the rights to The Lovely Bones, Halo, Dambusters and the fantasy dragon series Temeraire. Major productions such as James Cameron's Avatar and the 2007 summer blockbuster The Waterhorse are also utilizing Jackson's Wellington studios and enlisting special effects giant Weta Digital.

An important and accessible retrospective of New Zealand film, Sam Neill's Cinema of Unease was made in 1995. The film presented the history of New Zealand film from the personal perspective of Sam Neil.

New Zealand Film Archive

Main article: New Zealand Film Archive

The New Zealand Film Archive was founded and incorporated on March 9, 1981. Film enthusiast, critic and historian Jonathan Dennis (1953 – 2002) was a primary driving force behind the archive and became its first director. The archive was set up to preserve and restore significant New Zealand film and television images. It now holds a collection of much of early New Zealand cinema film and holds public screenings of its collection.

Much of the early cinema film made in New Zealand has been lost, as it was printed on unstable nitrate film base. In 1992, when film enthusiasts and the New Zealand Film Archive realised how much of New Zealand's film heritage was being lost, they mounted the Last Film Search and found 7,000 significant films, both in New Zealand and around the world.

Recently Released New Zealand Movies

For films in prior years, see: List of New Zealand feature films

2003

Name	Director	Starring	Other
The Last Samurai	Edward Zwick	Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe	Co-production with the USA
The Locals	Greg Page	Kate Elliot, Dwayne Cameron
Perfect Strangers	Gaylene Preston	Sam Neill, Rachael Blake
The Return of the King	Peter Jackson	Viggo Mortensen, Karl Urban	Academy Award winner for Best Picture And Best Director 2003

2004

Name	Director	Starring	Other
Fracture	Larry Parr	Kate Elliot, John Noble
In My Father's Den	Brad McGann	Emily Barclay, Matthew Macfadyen	Released internationally
Spooked	Geoff Murphy	Ian Mune, Cliff Curtis
Without a Paddle	Steven Brill	Seth Green, Burt Reynolds	New Zealand locations

2005

Name	Director	Starring	Other
50 Ways of Saying Fabulous	Stewart Main	Andrew Patterson, Jay Collins
Boogeyman	Stephen Kay	Barry Watson, Lucy Lawless	Co-production with the USA
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe	Andrew Adamson	Liam Neeson, Tilda Swinton	Made with American funding
King Kong	Peter Jackson	Naomi Watts, Jack Black	Academy Award winner For Best Acheivement In Visual Effects 2005
Memories of Tomorrow (NZ Film)	Amit Tripuraneni	Richard Thompson, Rachel Gilchrist, Ray Trickitt	Independent Film
River Queen	Vincent Ward	Samantha Morton, Kiefer Sutherland
The World's Fastest Indian	Roger Donaldson	Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Cauffiel	Highest grossing NZ film

2006

Name	Director	Starring	Other
Sione's Wedding	Chris Graham	Robbie Magasiva, Nathaniel Lees	(or Samoan Wedding)
No. 2	Toa Fraser	Ruby Dee, Nathaniel Lees	Audience Award winner at Sundance
Out of the Blue	Robert Sarkies	Karl Urban, Paul Glover	Based on a true story
Meet Me in Miami	Iren Koster	Carlos Ponce, Tara Leniston	Independent film

2007

Name	Director	Starring	Other
Black Sheep	Jonathan King	Oliver Driver, Peter Feeney	Best Reviewed New Zealand Horror Film
Bridge to Terabithia	Gabor Csupo	Robert Patrick, Zooey Deschanel	Filmed in Auckland
Eagle vs Shark	Taika Waititi	Jemaine Clement, Craig Hall
FIVE	Amit Tripuraneni	Richard Thompson, Andy Sophocleous, Marjan Gorgani, Anita Crisinel, Amit Tripuraneni	Independent Film
Perfect Creature	Glenn Standring	Saffron Burrows, Dougray Scott
Suzie	Warren Matthews	Warren Matthews	Independent Film
The Tattooist	Peter Burger	Jason Behr, Michael Hurst
The Devil Dared Me To	Chris Stapp	Chris Stapp, Matt Heath

2008

Name	Director	Starring	Other
The Ferryman	Chris Graham	Amber Sainsbury, John Rhys-Davies, Kerry Fox

To Be Released

Name	Director	Starring	Release date
Dambusters	Christian Rivers		2008
Men Shouldn't Sing	Michael Bell		2007
Halo	Neill Blomkamp		2008
The Lovely Bones	Peter Jackson	Rachel Weisz, Mark Wahlberg	2009
Temeraire			2009
Tintin	Peter Jackson	Andy Serkis	2009
Untitled Charles Upham biopic			2008
Untitled Bruce McLaren biopic			2009

Titles filmed or to be filmed in New Zealand

Name	Director	Starring	Filming location
10,000 BC	Roland Emmerich	Steven Strait, Camilla Belle	Queenstown
Avatar	James Cameron	Sam Worthington, Zoë Saldaña	Wellington
The Waterhorse	Jay Russell	Emily Watson, Ben Chaplin	Wellington
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans	Patrick Tatopoulos	Rhona Mitra	Auckland
Wolverine	Gavin Hood	Hugh Jackman
Silvaticus 3015			Wellington

Notable feature directors

Name	Notable For	Other
Andrew Adamson	Shrek 1 and 2, The Narnia film series	Academy Award-winner
Martin Campbell	Casino Royale, The Mask of Zorro, GoldenEye	BAFTA-winner
Jane Campion	The Piano	Academy Award-winner, Golden Palm-nominee
Niki Caro	Whale Rider, North Country	BAFTA- winner
Roger Donaldson	Dante's Peak, Cocktail, The Recruit	Golden Palm-nominee
Ellory Elkayem	Eight Legged Freaks
Peter Jackson	Lord of the Rings trilogy, King Kong	Three-time Academy Award-winner
Geoff Murphy	Goodbye Pork Pie, Young Guns II
Andrew Niccol	Lord of War, Gattaca, The Truman Show (writer)	BAFTA-winner, Academy Award-nominee
Lee Tamahori	Die Another Day, Along Came a Spider, Once Were Warriors
Taika Waititi	Eagle vs. Shark, Two Cars, One Night	Academy Award-nominee
Vincent Ward	River Queen, What Dreams May Come	Two-time time Golden Palm nominee

Notable actors

Name	Notable For	Other
Keisha Castle-Hughes	Whale Rider, The Nativity Story	Academy Award nominee
Russell Crowe	Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind	Academy Award winner
Marton Csokas	The Lord of the Rings, Kingdom of Heaven
Cliff Curtis	Runaway Jury, Collateral Damage
Alan Dale	Ugly Betty, The OC	SAG nominee
Daniel Gillies	Spider-Man 2 and 3
Martin Henderson	The Ring, Flyboys, Torque
Lucy Lawless	Xena Warrior Princess, Battlestar Galactica
Melanie Lynskey	Flags of Our Fathers, Two and a Half Men, Heavenly Creatures
Temuera Morrison	Once Were Warriors, Speed 2, Star Wars Episode II
Sam Neill	Jurassic Park 1 and 3, The Piano	Emmy, Golden Globe nominee
Anna Paquin	X-Men film series, The Piano	Academy Award winner
Jessica Rose	I Know Who Killed Me, Lonelygirl15	Gained fame on YouTube
Karl Urban	Doom, The Bourne Supremacy, The Lord of the Rings

See also

• World cinema
• List of New Zealand film makers
• List of New Zealand feature films

External links

• New Zealand Film Commission
• New Zealand Film Archive
• Internet Movie Database Guide for New Zealand
• The South Pacific in Film
• Information about Cinema of Unease: A Personal Journey by Sam Neill (1995)
• TV Cream on New Zealand cinema
• Black Magic - New Zealand Film News
• [2] - List New Zealand cinemas, past and current