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Cinema of New Zealand

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Strictly speaking, New Zealand cinema refers to films made by New Zealand-based production companies in New Zealand. However, it can also refer to films made about New Zealand by filmmakers from other countries. Due to the small size of its film industry, many New Zealand-made films are co-productions with other countries.

Most New Zealand films are made by small independent filmmakers, often on a low budget and sometimes with sponsorship from public funds. Relatively few New Zealand-made films have been specifically commissioned for the international market by international film distributors.

Recently, international film companies have become aware of the skills of New Zealand filmmakers, and have begun to use the New Zealand film industry as a source for the making of feature films.

History

Early film

The first public screening of a motion picture was on October 13, 1896 at the Opera House, Auckland and was part of a show presented by Charles Godfrey’s Vaudeville Company.

The first filmmaker in New Zealand was Alfred Whitehouse, who made ten films between 1898 and mid-1900. The oldest surviving New Zealand film is Whitehouse's The Departure of the Second Contingent for the Boer War (1900).

The first feature film made in New Zealand was Hinemoa. It premiered on August 1, 1914 at the Lyric Theatre, Auckland.

The Classical era

New Zealand film was a small-scale industry during the 1920s-1960s. During the 1920s and 1930s, director Rudall Hayward made a number of feature films on New Zealand themes. Rewi's Last Stand was probably his best, but little of this 1925 film survives. The film was remade with sound in the 1930s. Independent filmmaker John O'Shea was active from 1940 to 1970 making New Zealand cinema; his company Pacific Films produced numerous short films as well as the three New Zealand feature films made in that period: Broken Barrier (1952) Runaway (1964) and Don't Let It Get You (1966).

However, during this period, most New Zealand-made films were documentaries. The National Film Unit was a government-funded producer of short films, documentaries, and publicity material. This is New Zealand, a short film made for the World Expo in 1970 was extremely popular there and subsequently screened in New Zealand cinemas, to much public acclaim.

The 1970s revival

During the 1970s, the New Zealand Film Commission was established to fund the production of New Zealand cinema films. A number of film projects were funded and this led to a revitalisation of the New Zealand film industry.

The first New Zealand film to be released in the United States was Sleeping Dogs, directed by Roger Donaldson in 1977. A dark political action thriller that portrays the reaction of one man to the formation of a totalitarian government, and subsequent guerrilla war in New Zealand, it proved very popular with New Zealand audiences and introduced Sam Neill as a leading actor. While its local images of large scale civil conflict and government repression were unfamiliar to most viewers, they became a reference point after the 1981 Springbok Tour protests and police response, just a few years later.

In 1981, there were three New Zealand feature films released: Goodbye Pork Pie (dir. Geoff Murphy), Pictures (dir. Michael Black) and Smash Palace (dir. Roger Donaldson). Goodbye Pork Pie became a huge hit, taking in NZ$1.5 million in 1981 (a figure comparable with big Hollywood blockbusters of the time like Star Wars or Jaws). Geoff Murphy accepted movie offers from Hollywood.

The release of Goodbye Pork Pie is considered to be the coming-of-age of New Zealand cinema as it showed that New Zealanders could make successful films about New Zealand. Before Murphy was lured away by Hollywood, he made two other key New Zealand films, Utu, (1983), about the land wars of the 1860s, and The Quiet Earth (1985) a science fiction film. Both films featured Bruno Lawrence, a local movie star.

A decade later, Peter Jackson's critically acclaimed movie Heavenly Creatures (1994), Jane Campion's The Piano (1993) and Lee Tamahori's ferocious Once Were Warriors (1994) again returned New Zealand to the international cinematic map, although both directors subsequently moved on to Hollywood.

The 21st century

A major change occurred in the New Zealand film industry with the rise of Peter Jackson, originally a maker of low-budget horror movies, such as Bad Taste (1987), who gradually became noticed by Hollywood, and who became the director of the phenomenally successful Lord of the Rings films. Although made with mainly American money (and some from the New Zealand government and Jackson's Wingnut Film's) and a mostly international cast, Jackson filmed the movies in New Zealand, using almost an entire Kiwi production crew creating an enormous skill base in the New Zealand film industry.

This has led to a number of prominent Hollywood films being made in New Zealand, with major international productions not only filming here but also using the various post-production facilities and special effects companies on offer. The resulting films include The Last Samurai, King Kong and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. While the funding for these movies is largely American, it has helped New Zealand film studios and filmmakers develop their skills and improve their facilities.

However, having large international productions employ New Zealanders has its downside. One New Zealand filmmaker recently highlighted how difficult it was to employ cameramen when working on a low-budget New Zealand film, as cameramen are now used to receiving large wages [citation needed]. Another downside is that the big-budget internal productions swallow up any funding New Zealand has available, making it far more difficult for local productions to find money. [citation needed]

Despite, this local content has also significantly increased with notable films including In My Father's Den and The World's Fastest Indian. Both films have done very well at the New Zealand box-office, most notably The World's Fastest Indian, which beat the record held by Once Were Warriors to become the highest grossing New Zealand film at the domestic box-office, taking in over $6.5 million.

New Zealand Film Archive

The New Zealand Film Archive was founded and incorporated on March 9, 1981. Film enthusiast, critic and historian Jonathan Dennis (1953–2002) was a primary driving force behind the archive and became its first director. The archive was set up to preserve and restore significant New Zealand film and television images. It now holds a collection of much of early New Zealand cinema film and holds public screenings of its collection.

Much of the early cinema film made in New Zealand has been lost, as it was printed on unstable nitrate film base. In 1992, when film enthusiasts and the New Zealand Film Archive realised how much of New Zealand's film heritage was being lost, they mounted the Last Film Search and found 7,000 significant films, both in New Zealand and around the world.

Recent New Zealand movies

Main article: List of New Zealand Feature Films

New Zealand movies released internationally

Recently Released New Zealand Movies

2003 - 2004

2005 - 2006

To Be Released

Possible titles to be filmed in New Zealand

Prominent directors

Notable actors

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