Archive Apr 2019

Support the WIFT members in this year's Loading Docs: Zoe McIntosh, Corinna Hunziker, Morgan Leigh Stewart, Kathy McRae and Migiwa Ozawa. Unified by the theme of power, their work is now on crowdfunding platform BOOSTED. Teams have 23 days to reach or exceed their …

Attention all Studio Ghibli fans: cancel your plans for this evening! Tonight, Script to Screen offers you a chance to hear Jeff Wexler share his insights into successfully bringing culturally specific stories to global audiences. Jeff is Chief, International at Studio Ponoc and former Ch…

The European Parliament has voted in favour of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, which has wide-reaching implications for content creators and online platforms, reports Screen Daily. The reforms update 20-year-old, pre-digital era EU copyright legislation and aim to ensure that professionals a…

A news programme presented by primary school-age children has received NZ On Air funding for a series on TVNZ's HeiHei platform. The pilot news project Kea Kids News will receive up to $1million in funding from the $4 million in the 2018 Budget extra alloca…

The New Zealand Polish Film Festival (NZPFF) kicks off with its Opening Night Gala tonight at Wellington's Roxy Cinema! Festival director Wanda Lepionka tells us that four of the five feature film directors are women. The NZPFF opens with a screening of multi award-winning animation fea…

The He Ara Development Fund seeks to fund filmmakers of Māori and Pacific Island heritage to create a range of quality New Zealand feature films shaped through their chosen development framework. There are grants of around $50,000 per application, and projects should be feature film…

For members in and around LA in April, head to the Newport Beach Film Festival to catch Catherine Bisley's film Untitled Groping Revenge Fairytale, screening as part of the Down Her Shorts event. UGRF has been screening in North America as part of Vimeo's Ladies With Le…

Movies that explore the beauty of African identity are gaining popularity and global recognition, and women filmmakers from Africa and the African diaspora are leading the way. Streaming website Demand Africa interviewed four African women filmmakers, Wanuri Kahiu, Nikyatu Jusu, Michelle Bello and Idil Ibra…

The wonderful Agn�s Varda has died, aged 90. The French director was the oldest ever Oscar nominee, and was best known as a key figure in the French New Wave and for a string of documentaries that culminated in an Oscar nomination for Faces Places…

There are over 9 million descendants of Polish Jews in the world - what is their connection to the land of their forefathers? The POLIN Museum is calling for proposals for short films that explore this question in creative ways. The 14 shortlisted films comple…

Congratulations to the WIFT members recently elected to the NZ Writers Guild board: Steve Barr, Rachel Lang and Louise Tu'…

We love seeing our members' work, and thought we'd share this music video directed by Petra Cibilich and showcasing the work of cinematographer Maria Ines Manchego. Brutal and beautiful; honest and dreamy, Helen Corry's song The Power is about being loved by someone. "A love so…

We're delighted that the New Zealand Cinematographers Society has set in motion an initiative aiming to increase the number of women in the camera community! With support from the NZFC, the NZCS is running a gender diversity programme to support more women in the ear…

If you have great ideas for creating interactive content that's focused on strong and original New Zealand stories, here's the perfect funding opportunity! The New Zealand Film Commission's Interactive Development Fund is looking to fund concept development of original narrative-based interactive and games content, …

Video editor/ camera operator
Maori Television

Project manager
New Zealand Screen Sector Strategy

Have you made a comedy short film? Whether you're a comedy performer, aspiring sitcom writer or filmmaker, the Funny Women Awards celebrates, supports and showcases your talent! Entries are now open for the 2019 Funny Women Awards - submit your entry today!

Click he…

However, despite a lack of women directors, there are success stories out there! Vanity Fair reports on how Captain Marvel officially became the first female-led superhero film to join the billion-dollar box-office club, and how the team of women behind it plan to keep…

The excitment is building as Cannes approaches! Women in Film & TV (UK) invites you to the UK Film Centre for the annual International Reception at the Cannes Film Festival. Industry delegates from around the globe congregate at this annual reception to network and celeb…

Magpie Content Creation is looking for a documentary producer for a three-part documentary and accompanying podcast series following three high-profile researchers who are trying to solve New Zealand's biggest challenges around water: looking at sea-level rise, the freshwater crisis and the legal rights of riv…

Here's an exciting opportunity and challenge for documentary makers! Doc Edge, in partnership with Rei Foundation Limited is offering the Rangatahi Film Fund, an innovative new fund for short documentaries for the next generation - our youth. The fund is among the first of…

Ahead of the Game of Thrones final series trailer, the NZ Herald notes how the show redefined the way we see women on screen. Iain Glen, who plays Ser Jorah Mormont, says that "Right from the word go, there's been no division between male and fe…

Two weeks ago, the big movie studios showcased their 2019 lineups for multiplex executives, and diversity shone through! However, The New York Times laments, while moviegoers are responding favourably to diverse casting and stories, fewer ticket-buying decisions are made based on the gender of the filmm…

The meticulous, exhausting work of hand-colouring film was one of the first careers in film production available to artistic women, and they came to dominate the field at the turn of the 20th century. There are some amazing (but copyrighted so we couldn't share t…

Cannes-based Sevana Films seeks partnerships (co-producer, broadcaster, investor) in New Zealand to support its latest project Vahine Whaiwhai, a documentary on women who fight for ecology in the territories of Polynesia, Easter Island, Hawaii and New Zealand. In New Zealand, they plan to film In…

We're thrilled to hear that filming for producer Kerry Warkia's third feature is all go this month! There are many women in the crew, including some Wifters: Ainsley Calderwood, a paid DOP shadowing the DOP (for this initiative the production is collaborating with NZCS)…

Wrap your eyes around Anna Duckworth's latest directorial efforts, the official music video of Lou'ana (of Auckland's Hipstamatics) singing Eye To Eye. Other Wifters involved are Nina Wells on cinematography and producer Morgan Leigh Stewart. The crew was "heavily female", Duckworth told undertheradar.co.nz, adding that "ple…

Reminding all filmmakers of Māori or Pasifika whakapapa, you have until 9am Monday, 13 May to get your proposals in for a grant of $50,000 from the He Ara Fund! The Fund aims to help you with the development of your feature film or feature…

Head of programming and evaluation at Te Papa Museumn

Who'd like a couple of free movie tickets? Tell the New Zealand Film Commission what you think of its website, and go in the draw for one of five double movie tickets to a cinema near you! The NZFC is asking all its online visit…

Keep up with the play on all things WIFTI via the WIFTI Facebook group. It's a great way to network, share ideas and support, and to find out the latest on The Power Of Inclusion conference in October this year. There are 50 WIFT and WIFT-like netw…

This is data we love to see, from our member friends at South Pacific Pictures who are walking the talk.  The graph shows the gender split of their directors over the last four years. It's nice isn't…

Here's one of the more unique invites you'll receive this week: tonight, the New Zealand Cinematographers Society invites you along to watch - and test! - the Boxfish ROV, a purpose-built underwater drone. With this camera, everybody stays dry (except for the actor). The …

Seems everybody wants to hear what we think, folks, so make the most of it! Screen Auckland would also love you to take a short survey on filming in Auckland. It's reviewing its Auckland Film Protocol (guidelines for filming in public places) and wants…

The 13th Doc Edge Forum is coming soon to Auckland and Wellington, and there's an exciting international line-up of amazing guests and critical industry sessions - watch this space! Early bird registration is open only until this Friday 3 May, so be quick to regi…

Calling all filmmakers: the Women in Film (WIF) Film Finishing Fund gives grants to female filmmakers working in both short and long formats, in all genres. WIFT members receive a discount on the application fee. To apply, you must have completed 90% of principal photogr…

We're excited to hear hear that Wellington film-maker April Phillips is near completion of her latest short film, The Last Man on Earth, a sci-fi thriller with a personal statement about the worth of people with disabilities. The story is set in the aft…

Assistant editors, here's an advanced skills workshop designed to follow on from the Mandatory Skills Workshop held last December. DEGNZ invites applications for this hands-on, two-day workshop for assistant editors who have completed either the Mandatory Skills Workshop or have strong basic Avid system ski…