Women in Film & Television (WIFT) NZ and the Wairoa Māori
Film Festival Inc. are delighted to announce the 2018 WIFT NZ Mana
Wahine Award recipient is the extremely talented Ainsley
Gardiner.
The Award will be presented at the Wairoa Māori
Gala Film Awards at the iconic Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa, on Saturday
June 2.
Ainsley (Te Whānau-A-Apanui, Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti
Awa)
Ainsley Gardiner has a long and impressive body of work and
screen industry experience. She graduated from the Avalon
Film and TV production course in 1995, going on to intern for Larry
Parr at Kahukura Production. Though she wanted to write and direct,
she fell into producing, co-producing the 26-part
Lovebites series, and short film, The Hole
(1998). She went on to produce the 'low-budget' feature film
Kombi Nation (2003) in Europe.
In 2004 she established Whenua Films with actor Cliff Curtis, to
promote indigenous storytelling on screen. They produced Taika
Waititi's award-winning short films, Two Cars One Night
(2003), and Tama Tū (2004), then his first two features,
Eagle vs Shark (2007), and the incredibly successful
Boy (2010). She wrote and directed her first short film
Mokopuna in 2007.
At the same time, Ainsley was appointed to Te Paepae Ataata,
which was born out of the aspirations of the pioneers Māori
film-makers, Barry Barclay, Merata Mita, Tama Poata, Don Selwyn,
Tungia Baker and Wi Kuki Kaa, all of whom are now deceased. They
set a high standard for creative excellence and Māori integrity. Te
Paepae Ataata was set up in 2008 to nurture and celebrate a Māori
cinematic voice and to provide an alternative development pathway
for Māori filmmakers.
In 2015 Ainsley founded Miss Conception Films with
Georgina Conder. Their new production company is
focused on female-lead character driven projects with female key
creatives, epitomised by their latest film as producers, The
Breaker Upperers, premiering this month in New Zealand.
Ainsley works hard to mentor emerging filmmakers.
In 2017, Ainsley made her debut as a feature film director,
working alongside seven other Māori female directors to make the
powerful film Waru, which has won critical acclaim nationally and
internationally. She balances all this with being a mother of a
young family.
ABOUT THE AWARDS
The WIFT Mana Wāhine Award recognises and supports the
achievements of Māori Women in film and television who work
tirelessly, diligently and with vision to support and promote Māori
culture, Te Reo Māori, Tikanga Māori and the welfare and stories of
wāhine. The Award was first initiated in 2011 by Wairoa Māori Film
Festival director Leo Koziol and his mother Huia Koziol.
Tickets for the Awards Gala and Film Festival can be booked
at Eventfinda - Māori Film Awards only $50, Full Festival Pass
including Awards $150
Click here for Festival Pass >>
Click here for Gala Tickets >>
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
The Wairoa Māori Film Festival this year has 13 screenings
with over 50 shorts, and five feature dramas / documentaries.
Screenings are held in Kahungunu Marae, Nuhaka, famed for featuring
in scenes from John O'Shea's BROKEN BARRIER in 1955. For the fourth
year, the festival will also be at the reopened Gaiety Theatre in
Wairoa. Keynote speaker at the Awards Night will be infamous
activist and esteemed artist Tame Iti. A selection of the Māori and
Pasifika short films screening at the festival will go on to
comprise the New Zealand International Film Festival Ngā Whanaunga
programme which will premiere in Auckland later this year. Closing
night is "Bush Cinema" underground shorts at Morere hot springs,
with the pools open late into the night. Both WARU and THE BREAKER
UPPERERS will be screened as part of the 2018 programme. The Wairoa
Māori Film Festival is sponsored by the New Zealand Film
Commission, Radio Waatea, Te Matarae O Te Wairoa Trust and Wairoa
District Council. The entire programme can now be viewed online
at: www.kiaora.tv