Katie Wolfe’s This is Her selected for New York Film Festival

This is Her NZ short film starring Mia Blake as Evie

Katie Wolfe’s New Zealand short film This is Her has been selected to screen in official selection at the 46th New York Film Festival later this month after premiering in North America at the prestigious 35th Telluride Film Festival last weekend.

This follows nominations for This is Her in all four short film categories of the New Zealand Qantas Film and Television Awards including Best Short Film.

“We are absolutely thrilled that This Is Her has been selected to screen in such important festivals as Telluride and New York. With so many short films being made around the world, it’s a huge honour to be invited to these highly competitive festivals. These selections indicate the strength of the short film’s unique voice,” says NZFC Short Film Manager Juliette Veber.

This Is Her is a 12 minute black tale directed by Katie Wolfe about the bitter aftertaste of love. As she watches her younger self in the throes of childbirth, Evie’s devastatingly wry commentary reveals exactly what life has in store for her, her loving husband, and the six year old bitch who will one day steal his affections and destroy her life. This is Her is written by Kate McDermott and produced by Felicity Letcher and Rachel Lorimer.

“There was a lot of interest in This Is Her at Telluride, and It was heartening to see that the comedy of the film translated into the American sensibility,” says director Katie Wolfe.

“Telluride is a very small, select festival. You get to see a lot of wonderful films, and to interact with amazing filmmakers, in my case Mike Leigh and David Fincher. I also connected with a network of upcoming filmmakers from around the world.”

“Telluride was amazing, and I’m now looking forward to seeing the film with a New York audience, especially as it is playing in the revived Ziegfeld Theatre.”

Producers Rachel Lorimer and Felicity Letcher say This Is Her’s success is a testament to the storytelling talents of Katie, and of writer Kate McDermott, and the efforts of a terrific cast and crew.

“We are absolutely delighted by the response to This Is Her, both at home and overseas. Telluride has a reputation for selecting shorts from new filmmakers who go on to make feature films very quickly. New York is one of the great film festivals.

“It is fantastic to see a contemporary Kiwi story embraced by moviegoers around the world.”

This Is Her screens at the 46th New York Film Festival before the Mexican feature film I’m Gonna Explode (Voy A Explotar). The New York Film Festival showcases inspiring and provocative cinema by emerging talents and first rank international artists whose films are often recognised as contemporary classics. The festival has introduced filmmakers such as Jean-Luc Godard, Martin Scorsese, Francois Truffaut and Wong Kar-Wai to the United States.

This Is Her was funded by the Short Film Fund of the New Zealand Film Commission.

The film premiered at that Edinburgh International Film Festival earlier this year, and has screened at the New Zealand International Film Festival and the Melbourne International Film Festival.

The 46th New York Film Festival runs 26 September to 12 October 2008, for more information see http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff/nyff.html

3 NZ short films selected for Edinburgh film festival

Mia Blake stars as Evie in the NZ short Film – This is Her
Three New Zealand short films have been selected to screen in the 62nd Edinburgh International Film Festival this June.

“Edinburgh is one of the UK’s premiere festivals, so we are thrilled to have three New Zealand short films selected this year. This Is Her, Careful with that Axe and New Educational Series: Canaries In Colour are very different films but each share a subversive sense of humour. This fits perfectly with Edinburgh’s reputation for exposing cutting edge new talent,” says NZFC Short Film Manager Juliette Veber.

This Is Her is a 12 minute black tale directed by Katie Wolfe about the bitter aftertaste of love. As she watches her younger self in the throes of childbirth, Evie’s devastatingly wry commentary reveals exactly what life has in store for her, her loving husband, and the six year old bitch who will one day steal his affections and destroy her life. This is Her is written by Kate McDermott and produced by Felicity Letcher and Rachel Lorimer.

Careful with that Axe is a two minute black comedy written and directed by Jason Stutter about a young boy who tries his hand wood chopping firewood with his father’s razor sharp axe. Finding the axe heavy, he rests his bare foot on the chopping block… The short film is inspired by the song Careful with that Axe, Eugene by Pink Floyd and it screens before the “darkly witty” British feature film Mum and Dad.

New Educational Series – Canaries In Colour is an animated pastiche of found graphic material from AV learning programs of the 1970s by Jill Kennedy. The viewer is taken on a psychedelic journey through a book of canaries, with animated excursions to scrolling landscapes of the Scottish Highlands and back again. Canaries In Colour will screens in Black Box shorts, a section dedicated to new experimental work.

This Is Her was funded by the Short Film Fund of the New Zealand Film Commission. Careful with that Axe and New Educational Series – Canaries In Colour were funded independently by the filmmakers. Jill Kennedy will travel to Edinburgh to attend the screenings with assistance from the New Zealand Film Commission.

The Edinburgh International Film Festival is one of the UK’s most significant and valued cultural institutions. The festival aims to stand internationally as a festival of discovery, a celebration of cinema, a centre of debate and a catalyst for new films.

The 62nd Edinburgh International Film Festival runs 18 – 29 June 2008, for more information see www.edfilmfest.org.uk

Anzac Short films feature on Maori TV

Short film makers from the Hokianga, Auckland, Gisborne, Wanganui and Otago are the inaugural winners of Maori Television’s ANZAC short film competition screening as part of the all-day broadcast, A TATOU TAONGA: ANZAC DAY 2008, this Friday April 25 at 9.00 PM.

The winners will have a unique opportunity to talk live on air about their successful entry during the ANZAC SHORT FILM FESTIVAL – a new segment of the broadcast hosted by acclaimed filmmakers Ainsley Gardiner and Tearepa Kahi and showcasing some stellar Kiwi-made short films with an ANZAC theme.

The competition – in part sponsored by Te Puni Kokiri – encouraged all New Zealanders, at home or abroad, to re-tell their own ANZAC stories on film.

Successful individuals or teams in three categories are being brought to Maori Television’s Auckland studio to receive their awards and prize packs – which include professional camera kits, literature and movie tickets – and to be interviewed about their winning work before its first official screening.

The winners are:

TAMARIKI OR CHILDREN (up to and including Year 8): Winner – Rawene Primary (South Hokianga) with Te Ra o ANZAC; runner-up – Redoubt North Primary (Manukau) with To My Dear Mother; and special mention – Green Bay Primary School (Auckland) for The Working War.

RANGATAHI OR YOUTH (Year 9-13): Joint winners – Otago Girls’ High School with Women’s War and Mentoring Maori Youth Through Film (Gisborne) with Tumatauenga: Te Hokinga Mai; and special mention – Corier ‘Ginge’ Mardell, Ben MacKay and Corben Taylor (Auckland) with No Man’s Land.

ALL AGES (18 and over): Winner – David Gunson and Richard Harling (Auckland) with Boots; runner-up – Justin Gush (Wanganui) with Maori Vietnam Veterans; and special mention – Michael Bajko (Auckland) with Hentryk Bajko DCM.

The ANZAC SHORT FILM FESTIVAL concludes with an exclusive broadcast of World War I short film Crossing The Line by Peter Jackson.

Viewers can e-mail their feedback to anzacday@maoritelevision.com during the 18-hour broadcast A TATOU TAONGA: ANZAC DAY 2008 this Friday April 25 or watch the coverage live on the website www.maoritelevision.com. Text ANZAC to 3553 (text messages cost 20c each) to book your 5.45 AM wake-up text on ANZAC Day.

NZ film selected for Tribeca Film Festival in New York

New Zealand Short Film – CARGO
The New Zealand short film CARGO has been selected for the short film competition of the 7th Tribeca Film Festival in New York City next month. This will be the North American premiere for Cargo, written and directed by New Zealander Leo Woodhead and shot in Prague. This follows a world premiere at the 64th edition of the Venice Film Festival in August 2007.

“We are thrilled with this selection because Tribeca Film Festival is fast becoming one of the most important film events in the U.S. The Festival was started 7 years ago as a response to the attacks on the World Trade Centre so it is a particularly resonant event for us,” says New Zealand Film Commission Short Film Manager, Juliette Veber.

Artistic Director of Tribeca Film Festival, Peter Scarlet said, “This year’s crop of short films show that these filmmakers sometimes display an imaginative flair that reminds us that a successful sprint can be just as much of an achievement as a marathon.”

Cargo portrays a young boy’s descent into the world of child trafficking. Believing he is about to cross a border to a new life, the young runaway instead discovers he is to be sold as a human slave. Through a remarkable moment of pity, he is spared – but the reprieve comes at a huge personal cost.

Woodhead explains; “I’m interested in what human beings do in order to survive, and how they can lose the essence of who they are in the process. When escape seems impossible, the boy is given the opportunity to live. But he’s dying inside because he’s losing the emotions that give him humanity.”

The film was produced by Vanessa Alexander and Woodhead, and was made as part of Woodhead’s final year thesis for the Masters of Screen Production at the Department of Film, TV and Media at Auckland University. It was Woodhead’s friendship with Martin Priess, DOP for Cargo, which lead to a student exchange organised by Auckland University and FAMU in Prague where the short was filmed.

Cargo was funded independently by Woodhead with post production funding from the New Zealand Film Commission.

2,497 short films were submitted to Tribeca, with 79 selected. They will be presented in 11 thematic programmes. Cargo has been selected for Off the Beaten Path. The complete list of shorts selected for Off the Beaten Path, Tribeca Film Festival 2008 are:

Ana’s Way, directed and written by Richard Vazquez (Spain)
Angels Die in the Soil, directed and written by Babak Amini (Iran)
Cargo, directed and written by Leo Woodhead (New Zealand)
Good Boy, directed and written by Davyde Wachell (US/Brazil)
New Boy, directed and written by Steph Green (Ireland)
The New Yorkist, directed and written by Dana O’Keefe (USA)

The Tribeca Film Festival was founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff in 2001 to spur economic and cultural revitalization of lower Manhattan through an annual celebration of film, music and culture. Since its founding, the Festival has attracted over two million attendees from the US and abroad and has generated more than $425 million in economic activity for New York City.

The 2008 Tribeca Film Festival runs from April 23 to May 4th, 2008. For more information about the Tribeca Film Festival, visit www.tribecafilmfestival.org

SHOWCASE – Short Film – Ennui

Ennui is a student short film Written and Directed by Kayt Bronnimann and Produced by Lewis Bostock for the 15 Minutes of Fame Film Competition.

Saatchi New Directors Showcase call for entries

The Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors Showcase, the very successful creative event held each year at Cannes (outside the main event), has issued its call for entries. “This is a brilliant opportunity for NZ directors to get onto the global stage and be seen by some of the world’s top creatives,” says Saatchi NZ’s Mike O’Sullivan. “Anybody who can submit an entry should.”

To enter, new directors (less than two years’ experience) should submit a DVD showreel including (any or all) commercials, short films, music videos, animation, titles or new filmic tequniques. All reels should be labelled ‘New Directors Showcase 2008’ and sent to Mike O’Sullivan at Saatchi Auckland. For the detail in the entry procedure, prospects should first contact him at mike.osullivan@saatchi.co.nz

Special mention for NZ short film at Berlin Film Festival

Take 3 NZ short film
Roseanne Liang’s short film Take 3 received a special mention in the Generation 14plus competition of the 58th Berlin International Film Festival. The award ceremony was held in the Babylon theatre in Berlin on Friday night. Writer/director Liang was in attendance at the ceremony along with producer Owen Hughes and New Zealand Film Commission short film manager, Juliette Veber.

Take 3 is a short film about three Asian actresses who transcend professional rivalry in one gleeful act of solidarity. The youth jury commented that “the three charismatic actresses and the fresh and wacky approach communicated with great ease by this film inspired us immensely”. Director Liang thanked all the people of New Zealand in her acceptance speech.

“We are thrilled with this award because the Berlinale is one of the top European film festivals and the competition was tough,” said NZFC short film manager Veber. “There were some fantastic short films in the Generation 14plus section. It was such a pleasure to watch Take 3 with the audiences in Berlin. The award was an honour for us.”

New Zealand was well represented at the 58th Berlinale with Take 3, Run, Taua and The Trophy screening in competition of the Generation Kplus and 14plus sections. Take 3, Run and Taua were funded by the short film fund of the NZFC. The Trophy was funded by the Screen Innovation Production Fund with post production funding from the NZFC

For more information about the Berlin International Film Festival visit http://www.berlinale.de/en/HomePage.html

Title: Take 3
Duration: 12 mins
Writer/Director: Roseanne Liang
Producer: Owen Hughes
Logline: Three Asian actresses transcend professional rivalry in one gleeful act of solidarity

Pollywood Short Film submissions open

Submissions have just re-opened for next years Pollywood season set to re-launch Early March 2008. With 5 successful years of exhibiting Pacific Island Short Film, POLLYWOOD has gone from strength to strength.

Promoting Pacific Island Stories, Culture, ideas, lifestyles and vision with the world! If you would like your film to be considered for the POLLYWOOD SIX08 SEASON please send your DVD, MiniDV or VHS to

POLLYWOOD SUBMISSION
164 CHURCH STREET – ONEHUNGA
AUCKLAND – NEW ZEALAND

please be sure to include your complete contact details – ie: Name, Address, phone & mobile
number, email address – and full film details

SUBMISSION ENTRIES CLOSE 15 DEC 07

all queries to:
pollywood@orcon.net.nz

Maori TV showcases more NZ Short Films

Maori Television continues to showcase critically-acclaimed New Zealand short films and filmmakers in the weekly slot, ITI POUNAMU, every Monday at 9.30 PM.

Filmmakers Ainsley Gardiner and Tearepa Kahi are hosting the series which features short films every week followed by a critique from the presenters and interviews with filmmakers or industry professionals.

Films previously featured were:

Te Ao Kapurangi / Shadow Over The Sun – Firearms are no match for the intelligence and courage of Te Ao Kapurangi; then a new mother in colonial New Zealand is visited by a tui in her garden. With studio guest, National Geographic’s All Roads Film Project director Francene Blythe.

Lemming Aid – Human nature collides with Mother Nature in this prize-winning Cannes short film. Ecological campaigners try to stop lemmings from throwing themselves over a cliff. With studio guests, Grant Lahood (writer/director) and John Keir (producer).

Turangawaewae – The late Wi Kuki Kaa stars as a Vietnam War vet living homeless and wandering the city when his daughter – and granddaughter – visit to try yet again to persuade him to return to their ancestral home.

Bella – A young transsexual dreams of glamour from behind prison walls. Bella’s tattooing skills and wit allow her to survive amongst the male inmates but her determination to behave like a woman makes her a target for a prison officer.

Egg and Bomb / A Very Nice Honeymoon – A 3D animated comedy romance: Wilga and Henry’s relationship looks set to go places but first Henry must deal with some underhand tactics from her father. Followed by a 2D and 3D animated film about Jeff and Phil Simmonds’s great grandparents who were on a steamer that was wrecked on the coast of Great Barrier Island in 1893.

Upcoming films include:

I’m In Here – Monday October 1 at 9.30 PM: A comedy about the lengths a man’s got to go. Frank has created the ultimate bathroom – a heavenly place where he can go in peace … if only his family will let him!

Nothing Special / The Hill – Monday October 8 at 9.30 PM: Mistaken as a child as Jesus reincarnate, Billy leads his life avoiding any kind of attention. But can he ever escape his most zealous devotee – his mother? Then, Eddie and Duane have a need for speed.

Blue Willow – Monday October 15 at 9.30 PM: An animated fable. Taking you into the heart of the traditional Chinese porcelain plate, this short film brings the blue lines to life and weaves a haunting story of love and family betrayal.

Other short films screening during the series include:
Sure To Rise (Monday October 22); Tiga e le Lloa – Hidden Pain (Monday October 29); Original Skin (Monday November 5); Dirty Creature (Monday November 12); and Kimi and the Watermelon (Monday November 19).

A sensational season of New Zealand short films, ITI POUNAMU screens on Maori Television every Monday at 9.30 PM.

Call for Entries for Maori & Indigenous Film Festival

The organisers of the 3rd Wairoa Maori & Indigenous Film Festival are proud to announce the dates of next year’s festival, and to open Call for Entries for Maori film-makers in Aotearoa and indigenous film-makers around the world. In 2008, the festival will return to the Matariki Queen’s Birthday Weekend, with the event occuring from Thursday 29th May to Monday June 2nd 2008. The festival entry form is now available for download at the festival’s official website: www.manawairoa.com.

“We have held two successful Maori film festivals, and our rebranding to clearly incorporate world indigenous film represents a desire for us to connect with the visionary dreamkeepers from the four corners of our planet,” says Festival Director Leo Koziol, proud member of the Raikapaaka tribe of Nuhaka.

The theme of the third festival will be “Te Karanga O Papatuanuku – Te Waiata O Te Whenua” – “The Land Sings, The Earth Cries Out”. Festival Director Leo Koziol says “As we face a world imperiled by ecological decline and the uncertain impacts of climate change, we find it is our indigenous voices that are emerging as beacons of hope for the future of our planet. We honour in particular our Festival Chairperson, Pauline Tangiora, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and a tireless champion for the under-represented voices of our indigenous peoples.” Film works presented at the 2008 festival will include a focus on the peace and environment advocacy works of Pauline Tangiora.

Alongside an environmentally themed-programme, there will also be a general Maori and indigenous programme of short films, dramatic features, long and short documentaries, with international indigenous works coming from around the world. “Our Rangatahi (youth) may be growing up with YouTube and Generation TXT, but it is still important for us to gather and congress and hui around the works of our visionary film-makers. The Wairoa Maori Film Festival is a unique festival occuring in the Maori cultural heartland of NZ’s East Coast, and will always be the hub for our activities as we take our vision out to the world.”

This year, Wairoa will be a “portal” for Maori and indigenous film-makers, as for the first time the programme from the festival will travel on to the two main centres of Auckland and Wellington. “We have tentative agreement from MIC Toi Rerehiko in Auckland and the NZ Film Archive Mediaplex in Wellington to host showcase programmes from the 2008 Wairoa event, and look forward to confirming finalised dates soon,” says Festival Director Leo Koziol.

The Wairoa Maori Film Festival was established in 2005 to “undertake an annual Maori Film Festival in Wairoa District that supports:

Development of a global hub for Maori creativity and talent;
Building bridges among ahi kaa and taurahere populations;
Building bridges among creative communities, Maori and Pakeha;
Building of an international indigenous people’s network; and
The revitalisation and renaissance of Wairoa and it’s communities.”

International participation in the festival occured in 2005, with support and sponsorship from National Geographic All Roads and programme participation from the Sundance Institute and the National Museum of the Native American Indian (New York City). In 2006, the focus was on presenting a strong body of New Zealand film works in partnership with the New Zealand Film Archive, with works presented by MIC Toi Rerehiko, Pollywood Film Festival and Te Papa Tongarewa National Museum of New Zealand. The Wairoa Maori Film Festival is unique in hosting screenings in both cinema and marae venues.

Wairoa Maori Film Festival Dates:
Matariki Queen’s Birthday Weekend
Thursday 29th May to Monday June 2nd 2008

Auckland & Wellington Showcase:
MIC Toi Rerehiko, Auckland, June 2008 (final dates to be confirmed)
NZ Film Archive Mediaplex, Wellington, June 2008 (final dates to be confirmed)