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Following on from the box office and festival success of Waru, the New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) is pleased to confirm production funding of Vai, from Waru producers Kerry Warkia and Kiel McNaughton of Brown Sugar Apple Grunt Productions. ...

Kiwi musical Daffodils has taken over one million dollars at the New Zealand box office and, now in its fourth week of release, remains in the top ten chart of films currently in theatrical release.  Of the 150 films released in New...

Tackling the topics of representation, inclusion and belonging in today’s screen, entertainment and technology landscape, the summit will include local and international heavyweights as guests and speakers The Power of Inclusion will be hosted by New...

Award-winning filmmaker Leanne Pooley's feature film Beyond The Edge, about Sir Edmund Hillary’s legendary ascent of Mt. Everest, will have its world premiere at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.  Pooley’s The Topp Twins: Untouchable...

Congratulations to the team behind Beyond The Edge, which was named runner-up in the People's Choice Award for Documentary at the Toronto International Film Festival.  The People's Choice Award nod comes after a successful Toronto world premiere for...

Pietra Brettkelly’s A Flickering Truth is New Zealand’s submission for the best foreign language film category of the 89th Academy Awards. Each year the Academy invites countries to select and submit their best foreign language film for...

Tusi Tamasese’s One Thousand Ropes and Toa Fraser’s 6 Days will screen in October’s BFI London Film Festival. One Thousand Ropes, written and directed by Tusi Tamasese and produced by Catherine Fitzgerald is the story of a father re-connecting with his...

Los Angeles, March 13, 2017 – Toa Fraser’s thriller 6 Days, starring Jamie Bell, Abbie Cornish, and Mark Strong, has been acquired by Vertical Entertainment for North American rights with a target U.S. theatrical date in Fall 2017.  Additionally,...

The animated documentary 25 April about the WWI Gallipoli campaign is the first New Zealand movie to qualify for a Best Animated Feature Academy Award.    25 April was produced by Matthew Metcalfe, directed by Leanne Pooley and animated by...

The annual Statistics New Zealand screen industry survey was released today and shows that screen revenue eased since the record high level it saw in the 2016-17 financial year. Total screen industry revenue in the 2017-18 period was $3.3 billion. “...

The NZFC and the New Zealand screen industry sadly bid farewell to actor Anzac Wallace. Best known for his role as Te Wheke in Geoff Murphy’s Utu, Wallace’s first on-screen appearance was in The Bridge, a documentary by Merata Mita and Gerd Pohlmann...

The New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) is looking for an experienced Māori producer to collaborate with an Australian Indigenous Producer (appointed by Screen Australia) on Ngā Pouwhenua, a one-off joint indigenous initiative. Two overarching...

Fresh from a sell-out world premiere at the prestigious SXSW film festival in Austin, Texas, the debut trailer for The Chills: The Triumph & Tragedy of Martin Phillipps has been released. In cinemas nationwide on 2 May, the film is...

Based on industry feedback, the New Zealand Film Commission, NZ On Air and Script to Screen have extended the deadline for applications for Raupapa Whakaari: Drama to the World by two weeks. NEW DEADLINE for RAUPAPA WHAKAARI: DRAMA TO THE WORLD -...

Aucklanders Sandra Kailahi and Anthony (Ant) Timpson have been appointed to the New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC), Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Carmel Sepuloni announced today. “Both bring huge expertise and knowledge to the...

Production is underway in Auckland for Piki Films’ new feature film, Baby, Done staring Edinburgh Comedy Award-winner Rose Matafeo (The Breaker Upperers, Funny Girls) and English actor Matthew Lewis (Harry Potter,...

Daffodils, a bittersweet love story told with beautiful re-imaginings of iconic New Zealand songs will be able to be enjoyed in cinemas by the hearing impaired alongside their hearing friends. In a first for a New Zealand film, Daffodils distributor,...

October 2019 and April 2020 respectively mark the 250th anniversary of James Cook’s maiden voyage to the Pacific, New Zealand and Australia. The New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) and Screen Australia’s Indigenous Department are partnering on a one-off...

The depth of talent in Wellington’s screen sector is once again on the global stage, with four participants joining Screen Canberra’s Accelerator Film Pod 2019, to develop and market-test feature film projects with strong commercial prospects. Screen...

With great sadness the NZFC and the New Zealand screen industry bids farewell to writer and director Peter Wells. A life-long lover of film, Peter’s first short film, Foolish Things (1980) was an experimental piece which screened in Australia and won...

Rialto Distribution are thrilled to share with you the full theatrical trailer for The Heart Dances - the journey of The Piano: the ballet. The Heart Dances tracks the creation of The Piano: the ballet, commissioned by the Royal New Zealand Ballet....

The New Zealand Film Commission in partnership with Louise Gough (Australia) is offering two opportunities for a select group of industry professionals to elevate and upskill their story assessment and development skills for screen storytelling. Script...

The New Zealand Film Commission and NZ On Air in conjunction with Script to Screen present RAUPAPA WHAKAARI, a new initiative designed to develop and package distinctive high-end series drama for the international market. The initiative supports writer/...

The New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) congratulates Ainsley Gardiner and Briar Grace-Smith on receiving the 2019 Sundance Institute Merata Mita Fellowship announced at the Sundance Film Festival today.   Selected from a global call for...

  A record number of New Zealand women directors are among the filmmakers to have films selected for the 2019 Berlin Film Festival. In total there are ten New Zealand films in official selection with a delegation of 28 New Zealand filmmakers...

Two New Zealand films have been announced to screen at the prestigious SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas in March.  The Chills: The Triumph & Tragedy of Martin Phillipps will have its world premiere at the festival, with Vai following its world...

The New Zealand Film Commission wishes all of you a very happy holiday season and all the best for the New Year. Our offices will be closed from 22 December 2018 until 7 January 2019. We look forward to seeing you again in 2019.  

Pasifika and Asian filmmakers have an exciting new opportunity to develop stories that reflect their diverse communities and voices on screen, with a new funding initiative announced today by the New Zealand Film Commission, NZ On Air and TVNZ at the Big...

We received the sad news today that after 40 years leading the NZIFF, Director Bill Gosden is to retire in 2019. Here is his letter of farewell to New Zealand's film-loving community. Kia ora, te whānau, I'm chiming into the December frenzy...

From 1 January 2019 Qualifying New Zealand Production Expenditure (QNZPE) will no longer be assessed as part of  Provisional applications for the New Zealand Screen Production Grant - New Zealand Productions (NZSPG-NZ). Provisional...

The following is a transcript of Annabelle Sheehan's speech given on Saturday, 27 October 2018 at the Big Screen Symposium, Auckland, New Zealand. A mihi for Big Screen Symposium Tēnā koutou katoa Ka nui te mihi / ki a koutou katoa /mo tēnei/ te...

At the recent SPADA Conference, the New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) and NZ On Air (NZOA) announced a joint venture to co-fund the development of high-end adult drama series that will appeal to the international market as well as New Zealand...

A new film co-production agreement between New Zealand and Canada will build on the strong screen sector relationships linking both countries, Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Maggie Barry says. New Zealand High Commissioner to Canada, Daniel Mellsop...

It is with much sadness that the New Zealand Film Commission acknowledges the death of Geoff Murphy on Monday, 3 December 2018 in Wellington. Geoff was a producer, director and screenwriter who was one of the leading figures in New Zealand cinema’s...

Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen will have its international premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. The film had its world premiere at the 2018 New Zealand International Film Festival, and last month, director Heperi Mita was awarded...

The New Zealand Film Commission’s Annual Report 2017/18 was tabled in Parliament. Releasing the report, Film Commission Chair Kerry Prendergast said, "In January we welcomed Annabelle Sheehan to the NZFC as our new CEO. Annabelle comes to us with a...