Archive Feb 2011

We're wondering if half of you have taken a new year's resolution not to fill out any e-surveys...we'd certainly love your feedback on ours, but for some reason it seems like lots of you have taken a vow to avoid it! So please, tak…

We'd like to welcome award-winning Iranian woman film-maker Rakhashan Bani-E'temad to WIFTNZ. Rakhashan is an internationally and critically acclaimed Iranian film director and screenwriter. Widely considered as Iran's premier female director, her films have been praised at international festivals as well as being remarkably po…

Women in Film and Television International, in conjunction with WIFTNZ, proudly present the 2011 Short Film Showcase celebrating the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day.

100 years ago, the United Nation put forth a day to celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of wo…

Danish director Susanne Bier is up for an Osar for Best Foreign Film (it's already won a Golden Globe in the same category) with her feature A Better World, opening in New Zealand soon. We thought you might like to check out this interview …

Some weeks we see headlines like these and wish we were goldfish instead of women. At least then we could view the same old annoying news with a bit of surprise (although it's not quite 'hey, sunken treasure!'). In this case, it's yet more report…

Once again WIFT is looking for interns, so if you're currently in your final year of screen-related study, or you know someone who is, check out the job ad on our site here.
Applications close Tuesday 9 March 2…

Wellington-based film-maker Michelle Savill has been awarded the 2011 US Screenwriting Scholarship, securing her an internship with Killer Films, NYC. Michelle will spend three months in New York as an intern in the script development department of Killer Films.
Killer Films, led by producers Chri…

It's common to read interviews with established filmmakers - but what about new filmmakers? Wouldn't it be worthwhile to read the occasional perspective about what's inspired women to come into the industry? Her Film thinks so, with this interview with Mahogany J. Slide, a 17…

Women Make Movies is a US-based multicultural, multiracial, non-profit media arts organisation which facilitates the production, promotion, distribution and exhibition of independent films and videotapes by and about women. WMM films continue to garner awards and nominations. For the fifth year in a r…

Rates of violence against women in the Pacific Islands remain some of the highest in the world.
In 2009 a milestone for women of the Pacific was reached when leaders at the Pacific Islands Forum committed to ending violence against women. For the first …

Asmaa Mahfouz was celebrating her 26th birthday on Tuesday among tens of thousands of Egyptians as they took to the streets, parting with old fears in a bid to end President Hosni Mubarak's three decades of authoritarian, single-party rule. Posting a controversial video online,…

Some depressing news from Australia. 15 out of the 16 finalists for Tropfest ("The World's Largest Short Film Festival") have been announced, and out of 21 people listed as directors, 18 are male and only three female (two of whom are co-directing with men). Tra…

And now for something a little surprising. We have a giveaway prize sponsored by WIFT for a lucky Auckland member to receive a beautiful Henna Tattoo by visiting artist Melanie Ooi. See her website here: http://www.bluelotushenna.com/
If you'd like to be in the dra…

Last week we mentioned a short film called Baby and accidentally credited Nikki Parlane as the filmmaker. Actually, the writer, director and producer was Raquel Sims. Nikki was the editor. We apologise to both women profusely for the mistake and wish you well with …

Melissa Silverstein has been doing more digging, and of course she's turned up more dirty statistics. This time in the literary world. An organization named VIDA-Women in Literary Arts-has released a very disturbing survey that looks into the gender disparity between male and female wri…

Gaylene Preston is 2011 mentor director at The Women In the Director's Chair Programme in Banff, Canada.  The workshops are specially designed to advance the creative, business and leadership skills and talents of mid-career women directors in Canada.  Gaylene Preston has been working with senior…

Some recent news from Movie Marketing Madness - the Sundance Film Festival that it's partnering with funding site Kickstarter and Facebook to help independent filmmakers finance and then market the movies they make.
Kickstarter has been used by independent artists of all stripes to so…

Register for the Documentary Edge Forum 2011 (3-day pass) by Monday 14 February and you'll go into win a Documentary Edge Festival Pass*.
Documentary Edge Festival 2011 runs in Auckland (16th Feb - 6 March) and Wellington (10th-27th March). Woo your Valentine with an award-wi…

The autumn NZFF companion event, the 13th World Cinema Showcase, will open up its doors in March. Ahead of then, naturally, come the programme announcements. The opening salvo focuses on documentaries.
The only documentary to make it to the final five for the Oscars…

Don't forget that applications for Escalator 2011 are due on 28 February at 5pm. Guidelines are available on the NZFC website. There's also a note on the Escalator Facebook page which offers some good advice on the best way to present your application a…

Submissions for the Raindance Film Festival (28 September - 9 October 2011) in London are now open. For more information go to their website - www.raindance.co.uk and for submissions please email - festival@raindance.co…

Script to Screen is pleased to announce a forthcoming series of events with celebrated New Zealand Director/Writer/Producer Gaylene Preston in the first Te Ao Marama Creative Development Series for 2011.
Gaylene Preston will focus on ways to protect the heart and soul of …

The 35th Annual Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival Fall 2011 is calling for entries. The American Museum of Natural History's Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival is the longest-running showcase for international documentaries in the United States. The Mead Festival screens documentaries that incr…

The news of the earthquakes and aftershocks this afternoon in the Canterbury area, the devastation, the fatalities and injuries that this has caused, has profoundly moved WIFT NZ staff.  Out of respect, we have suspended the publication of our fortnightly e-news until a later t…

The news of the earthquakes and aftershocks yesterday afternoon in the Canterbury area and the devastation, fatalities and injuries that this caused, has profoundly moved WIFT NZ staff.
Out of respect, we suspended yesterday's fortnightly e-news till today - under the circumstances, it …

Love TED.com? Then you might want to check out CNN, who have featured some of the talks by speakers at TEDWomen in their weekly series of TED Talks, also with additional text by the speakers.

Among the talks are these:
Cynthia Breazeal, roboticist: …

Yes, it's us again, banging on about our e-survey. Thank you very much to those of you who have already taken a couple of minutes to give us your valuable feedback on what we're doing right, wrong, too much and not enough. We re…

There are high hopes that a first ever feature-length Samoan movie, The Orator - filmed in Samoa and in the Samoan language - will boost tourism. WIFT NZ President Catherine Fitzgerald is the film's producer. Check out this short film clip on TVNZ …

Next time you're doing the social media thing, don't forget to 'like' our Facebook page. In between each enews, we post links to interesting things we've come across, or think might be useful to…

The New York Times recently ran a short article noting the difference between the representation of women at Sundance, held every year in Park City, Utah, and the 600-odd miles away where Hollywood begins.

They note, that of the top 100 movies at th…

Before the Oscar media machine kicks in this year, we thought you might appreciate this article published late last year in the New York Times which talks about another side to the Oscars - yes, it's about women's representation of course. The article makes some…

As part of the Wellington Fringe, BATS Theatre in Wellington has a bold piece of theatre that we like the look of, and might be of interest to you WIFT members who can get along. Hot off the world premiere at the Melbourne Fringe Festival…

Once again WIFT is looking for interns, so if you're currently in your final year of screen-related study, or you know someone who is, check out the job ad on our site here.
Applications close Tuesday 9 March …

The Byron Bay Film Festival starts next week, and one of the features has caught our eye. 'Umoja - No Men Allowed' tells the amusing and life-changing story of a group of impoverished tribal Samburu women in Northern Kenya who reclaim their lives, tur…

Those of you London-based or London-bound in the next couple of weeks should have the Bird's Eye Film Fest firmly on your must-do list. From 8 - 17 March, Birds Eye View is back at the British Film Institute Southbank, with an electric…

The Tribeca Film blog has a post on what Oscars women have been nominated for this year - and it would appear, that if you're a woman and want to win an Oscar, you should probably concentrate on, er...costume design. Check it out …

There's a new fund at the Tribeca Film Institute which they're very excited about. New technologies are allowing filmmakers to tell stories in new ways and to reach audiences in direct and dynamic ways. Submissions will open April 4, 2011, but before that they …

James Brown's number one hit, 'It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World', was released in 1966 at a time of social change, when women's liberation was high on the agenda. Today, through a combination of social change and Government legislation, opportunities in the workplac…

Last year, the world watched as Barbara Streisand announced "the time has come", and for the first time a Best Director Oscar was presented to a woman. Kathryn Bigelow's win caused people worldwide to shout that the glass ceiling had been shattered.

The…

Just a quick reminder to keep the evening of 08th of March free as we'll be holding our sixth annual WIFTI Short Film Showcase that evening to coincide with International Women's Day.

It'll be a great opportunity to see films from other WIFT chapter…

Sam Peacocke's Manurewahas won a Crystal Bear in the Generation 14plus Youth Section at the Berlinale. Produced by Kristian Eek, the film is based on the real life robbery and fatal shooting of Navtej Singh that took place in South Auckland.
The Generation programme re…

We love top 10s - bite size lists you can digest in your lunch-break. So here are a few tips for filmmakers on the edge...which is pretty much most women filmmakers anyway. Sure, you might know some of these ideas, but there's bound t…

Good old Raindance has compiled a list of great resources for indie filmmakers, including sites to help you with everything from writing and post production, right through to marketing via social media. Which is extremely helpful to those of us without embarrassingly large corporate spon…

From feature films to shorts to cutting edge moving image work, Auckland Arts Festival 2011 offers a host of options for film-buffs.

1970 Oscar-nominated documentary, Jack Johnson, directed by boxing promoter William Cayton, was a tribute to the first black heavyweight world boxing champ…

NYC Shooter and musician Moby has added his Wait for Me album to his (already generous) free online source of music for film. This is in recognition of the Oscar nomination for Shooting People Patron Lucy Walker's multi-award winning documentary Waste Land, which promin…

Actor Bruno Lawrence's charisma was key to many defining NZ film, TV and music moments. Lawrence - aka 'Bruno' - is one of a handful (Buck, Billy T, Crumpy) of Kiwi icons who have achieved sufficient mana to be recognised by an abbreviated n…

Aussie import Gavin Strawhan is a screen writer who has had a hand in many of our recent TV drama successes. After assisting with the set up of Shortland Street, Strawhan then teamed with writing colleague Rachel Lang to create the drama series Jackson's W…

The autumn NZFF companion event, the 13th World Cinema Showcase, will open up its doors in March. Ahead of then, naturally, come the programme announcements. The opening salvo focuses on documentaries.
The only documentary to make it to the final five for the Oscar…

Actor, writer, director and all-round thespian guru Sir Peter Ustinov once said "Beliefs are what divide people. Doubt unites them." So if you have ever felt your confidence ebbing and your self-doubt increasing, you're not alone. It's a basic human trait to fee…

It's been two months since the Iranian Ministry of Justice sentenced acclaimed filmmakers Jafar Panahi (The Circle) and Mohammad Rasoulof (Iron Island) to six years in prison. Whether the verdict will hold has much to do with forces ranging from film festival suppo…

The Aesthetica Short Film Competition 2011 is now open for entries! It's a fantastic opportunity to get your work broadcast to a wider audience and Aesthetica are keen to see entries from both new and established filmmakers who are driving short film forward. The wi…

Since 2000, LUNAFEST has been celebrating women filmmakers, showcasing their films and talents in communities throughout the United States and Canada. They're now taking submissions for the next festival, until 1 April 2011. From amateur filmmakers to film students to aspiring indie stars, they…

V48HOURS is officially NZ's largest film competition! There is nothing quite like it. It's a cinematic bootcamp but instead of drill sergeant screaming obscenities at you, it's the constant tick-tock of the countdown clock drilling into your mushy brain. V48HOURS is a serious chal…

Have a film under 15 minutes that's festival-ready? Wimbledon Shorts is calling for entries for this year's festival, with entries closing on 11 April. Find more info on the festival here …

The next Pecha Kucha Night in Wellington is coming up soon at the wonderful Downstage Theatre on Cambridge Terrace again. The focus this time is on Science and the speaker selection has been curated by Christine Harper and Elizabeth Connor.

Monday 28 February 2011…

The New Zealand Writers Guild Presents Beginning, Middle and End: The Secret Life of Your Script. From first draft to attracting an audience: the how, what and why of screenwriting.

Wellington 5-6 March,Auckland 19-20 March, Christchurch 21-22 May

9am to 5pm - Ve…

We encourage Auckland WIFT members to attend the Amnesty International white ribbon event in support of persecuted Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi this weekend. It will be hosted by Rialto Cinemas, Broadway, starting from 8pm. No need to RSVP to our office - just a…