WIFT NZ News

WIFT Member Angel McNamara and Spinning Top

Wed, 09 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

In early November, WIFT NZ member Angel McNamara is heading to Mae Sot, Thailand to teach two groups of kids the basics of stop-motion animation and shooting a short documentary about the whole experience. Angel will help the kids create 30 second animation, they will build characters out of recycled materials and write their own stories.

SpinningTop works along the Thai-Burma border with kids who have been saved from trafficking or abandonment. They provide housing, education and nutrition, but they also try to give these kids back their childhood.

All money donated will go directly to funding this project, and any additional money will go to SpinningTop so they can continue to run projects for these kids.

For more information please email project_stopmotion@yahoo.co.nz or you can visit the SpinningTop website at www.spinningtop.org.

Kid With A Bike: Film Giveaway

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Thanks to the nice people at Trigger Films we have three double passes to give away to Kid With A Bike, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival and a Golden Globe nominee for Best Foreign Language Film.
This deeply moving new film by the Dardenne brothers delves into the emotional life of troubled 11-year-old Cyril (Thomas Doret). When his father (Jérémie Renier) abandons him, Cyril obsessively searches for his bicycle - placing his last bit of hope in this symbol of their relationship. Almost by accident, he becomes the ward of a kind hairdresser (Cécile de France), who seems surprised to find herself so determined to help him. With his wild, unpredictable behaviour and his disastrous search for father figures, Cyril risks losing her - though she refuses to give up without a fight.
For your chance to win, email and tell us what country the Dardenne Brothers are from. (We'll give the tickets to the second, seventh and eighth people to answer.

Members Making Waves

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

More good news from members getting their work out there.
WIFT Member Raewyn Turner's music video Stave: Oh That I Had 'was selected for Muvi3 this year. You can watch the vid here or read more about the festival here.
In addition, Shona McCullagh's Break screened at the recent Dance/Screen collection at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance.

WIFT Discount Partner Profile: OnFilm Magazine

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

WIFT Members get a great discount on subscriptions to NZ's screen production industry magazine, OnFilm You get 50% off 1 year, which is a very reasonable $33.98 plus GST.

Film to Look Out For

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

We came across this trailer for new documentary The Boxing Girls of Kabul, which indie distributor In Demand has just picked up the U.S. rights to.
In this feature by director Ariel Nasr, a remarkable group of young Afghan women dream of representing their country as boxers at the 2012 Olympics, embarking on a journey of both personal and political transformation. We don't have any info on a New Zealand release yet, but we recommend you look out for its listing on festival schedules over the next while, as it looks like one to put on the 'must watch' list.

Women Make Movies Celebrates 40-Year Anniversary

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

From March 2012 through March 2013, WMM will be celebrating their 40th Anniversary with 40 international screenings and events, spotlighting classic works from its catalogue as well as new releases. They will be working with museums, film festivals and cultural institutions around the world to present films, retrospectives, panels, workshops and mentoring events. The anniversary year kicked off with a month of programming on the Documentary Channel in March and will continue across North America and the rest of the world. They say "We look forward to celebrating the accomplishments of women filmmakers, exciting new audiences with feminist films and working with our partners to bring together men and women around the globe to discuss, debate and learn about the past, present and future of independent women's films. Women Make Movies. Now more than ever. Check out the site to see the list of events.

The Status of Women's Film Festivals

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

A great thought-provoking piece here by Women and Hollywood's Melissa Silverstein about what women's festivals provide in the realms of feminism and networking, along with her thoughts about whether they represent a niche/ghetto and the dilemma festivals often face between professionalism and a unique format.

Registration Open For Women in Film and Television UK Cannes Reception

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Registration has opened for the 2012 Women in Film and Television International Cannes Reception. It will take place 6:30 - 8:00pm on Sunday 20th May in the UK Film Centre in Cannes.

It's a free event and WFTV (UK) hopes to welcome many members of WIFTI from around the globe and their guests.

For more information and to register, visit: http://tiny.cc/wftvevents

A Very Manly Cannes

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

More comment on the St John's International Film Festival blog about the lack of women up for the big award at Cannes this year. Sarah Smellie writes about why women are missing this year.
In a related post Melissa Silverstein asks what other women-directed films should have been considered for Cannes here.

Member Maya Hammarsal Talks About New Title Mr Wilkins

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Moving away from documentaries, Mr Wilkins is member Maya Hammarsal's first time directing fiction. Based on a short script written during her Masters course at IIML, the film's about two former classmates renegotiating their relationship as adults and finally leaving their troubled schooldays behind them. It stars WIFT member April Philips along with Gregor Cameron, and was filmed by Jess Charlton.

Maya used her David Carson-Parker Embassy Trust Scriptwriting award money and a small grant from the Emerging Artist Trust to fund the production, setting herself the challenge of giving opportunities to people generally marginalised by the film industry ie, women, people with disabilities, people from ethnic minorities.
You can read more about Maya's experience with the film in this article.

NZ Short Film to Compete in Cannes

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

WIFT Member Chelsea Winstanley has let us know the great news that the New Zealand short film Night Shift, written and directed by Zia Mandviwalla and which Chelsea co-produced, has been chosen to compete for the 2012 Short Film Palme d'or at Cannes. Night Shift has been selected out of 4,500 films to be in the final 10 competing for the prestigious prize.

Night Shift is a moving tale of an airport cleaner trying to make it through another long shift. She does her job, tries not to draw attention to herself and gleans her survival from what others leave behind.

It is the latest offering from writer/director Zia Mandviwalla whose previous work has earned her a host of prominent international selections at film festivals in Pusan, Melbourne and London. This is her fourth short film.

Night Shift was funded through the New Zealand Film Commission's (NZFC) Premiere Shorts scheme/programme. It was produced by Chelsea Winstanley and Matt Noonan through Curious Films in Auckland. Executive Producers are Maile Daugherty and Michael Bennett from A Collective Intake of Breath.

The winner of the Short Film Palme d'or will be announced on the 27th of May.

Congratulations to Member Rachel Patching

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Congratulations to WIFT member Rachel Patching for winning Best Short Documentary at the 2012 Documentary Edge Festival for Gone Curling The first screening of the film was sold out but you still have a chance to see it this Saturday at 11.15am at Event Cinemas in Newmarket.
For the full list of Documentary Edge winners,see here.

WIFT Exec Comment on NZ Reality TV Shows

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

The following is a personal comment from WIFT Executive Director Susi Newborn and does not necessarily reflect the views of the membership.

The recent news that there may be a Kardashian family-style reality TV show featuring Sally and Jaime Ridge has WIFT worried about the message the media is sending our daughters, our sons and their generation. Who are their role models? Why are we rewarding reality TV's exploitation of women's bodies? Are looks, for women, more important than their brains or their talents? Is hyper-sexualisation and self-objectification now a legitimate path to success in New Zealand as it is in America?
We should be appalled at how often the cameras and commentators focus on these celebrities, instead of the many other successful women who have actually contributed something to society. Our fascination with superficiality and the objectification of women in popular media is increasing. When our top representatives in the screen industry state that they believe The GC - on which they spent almost half a million of our taxes - is a "modern form of documentary" or a "programme that has engaged the nation..." we should be really concerned about the future for our industry. At least 87% of people who voted in a NZ Herald poll said that there would 'No Way' they would watch a reality show starring Sally and Jaime Ridge. Thank heavens for that!"

Cloud South Quits This Way of Life

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

A sobering and important story this week about WIFT member Sumner Burstyn's Cloud South films. Sumner told the Screen Forum last week she and husband Tom Burstyn will no longer be making documentary films in New Zealand, "because it`s just too damn hard to make a living at it."
ScreenHub has the full transcript of this story, but for those who are not ScreenHub members, here's an abridged version (acknowledgements and thanks to Screenhub for copy).
Cloud South's first film One Man, One Cow, One Planet sold to 13 countries and won four international awards. This Way of Life gained 10 local and international awards, including one from Berlin.
Their business model is to use the returns to pay themselves back the production funds. Beyond that they return a percentage of profit to the people featured in their films.
Their next film Some Kind of Love was also funded using this method. It is in the final weeks of a protracted postproduction process.
Sumner commented that you'd think it would be a reasonably successful strategy. Except for one thing. Beyond paying back their investments in themselves and funding their next film there was no real income, no money to actually live on.
Sumner said that they have tried pitching to broadcasters and NZ on Air and the NZ Film Commission. But they could never get that flavour of the month thing right. She said the real problem was with their kind of films, single subject feature documentaries: "intimate portraits that explore ideas are dinosaurs. And there is no real place for them in today's terrestrial media landscape."
Sumner said this all begs the question 'why should we support documentary filmmakers anyway? ` Her answer was simple - because documentary filmmakers reflect and build society. They are the visual windows onto our world in a way that TV shows like Pet Rescue and The GC are not. The fact that The GC was funded as a documentary is one salient fact that should chill the heart of every real documentary maker.
"Docos in NZ get made mainly on borrowing, goodwill and freebees. They also run on the blood of interns. We eat up interns and spit them out. All those bright young things full of great ideas coming out of film schools. They pay for their educations and then we expect them to work for free. And then they are gone - into TV and features films because they need to earn a living. We've lost their voices for good. And these are the voices of the next generation."

Oxfam's Biggest Coffee Break

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

If your coffee's not Fair Trade, chances are that it's helping multinationals more than the growers, who in many cases are left struggling to feed their families, send their children to school and sometimes even cover their production costs. The multinational companies on the other hand, capture the lion's share of the dosh and use their market power to push down the prices paid to growers. That's why we're supporting the Oxfam FairTrade Coffee Break this Thursday, along with Actors Equity and the Screen Directors' Guild of New Zealand. Last year over 40,000 people took part in NZ alone, and all you have to do is enjoy a cup of exceedingly good coffee, drinking chocolate or tea - all Fair Trade, of course - and eat some yummy Fair Trade chocolate- all FREE!!. You'll also receive discount vouchers from Kokako and Caffe L'affare so you can top up your supplies at a friendly price. So come along and join us at the Actors' Equity offices, 195 Ponsonby Road at 4:30pm. RSVP to us at office AT wiftnz DOT org DOT nz
We're actually now doing our networking drinks with SDGNZ in the Long Room (114 Ponsonby Road) from 6pm onwards. So you could join the coffee break, then just move into the Long Room for some wines after (see Industry Events Auckland).
Related events include the chance to bid on a Fair Trade cuppa with Bret Mckenzie here or you can watch a short clip about Graham Henry's support of Fair Trade here.

Enews 08 May

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Only several weeks till TVNZ7 is scheduled to go off air, and the petition to save it has reached 18, 417 (as at this morning's count). This week's enews has many stories about the state of documentaries in this country - it leads us to wonder if we're to become a country of insipid so-called reality tv. Is that what we really want for our children?
We're sure WIFT members have probably signed the Save TVNZ7 petition already, but if for some reason you haven't yet, here's the link. Please also publicise it as much as you can in these last few weeks.

Site We Like: Tip From An Expert

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

UK Writer/Director Ruth Torjusson blogs about micro-budget films and a recent post has a good tip on composing shots in depth. Check out her site for this tip and more.

New Actors' Equity Performers’ Charter

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

NZ Actors' Equity is the industrial and professional organisation representing performers who work in New Zealand's entertainment industries. NZ Actors' Equity provides a strong collective voice for performers' industrial, professional and social interests and seeks to empower performers through campaigns, collective bargaining, and community building. This is the Performers' Charter.

More News From New York

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Both Dianna Fuemena and Catherne Bisley have posted new blogs on the Script to Screen website from their Killer Films internships, so don't forget to check in and see what they've been up to.

Seeking Love Letters

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Script to Screen is seeking testimonials in support of them. These could affect their future so they would really like to hear from as many of you as possible - to show that they really do have support in the industry.
They can be as short or long as you wish and could relate to a specific event like the Writer's Room, or could talk about Script to Screen in general. They are intended for non-public documents - funding applications and sponsorship proposals.
Please send them to info AT script-to-screen DOT co DOT nz. Any questions please contact Eloise 09 360 5400 or eloise@script-to-screen DOT co DOT nz.