Cinema of New Zealand
New Zealand Cinema is film made in or about New Zealand.
While New Zealand cinemas screen international movies in general release, relatively few New Zealand made films have been specifically commissioned for this market by the international film distributors. Most New Zealand films have been made by small independent filmakers, often on a low budget and sometimes with sponsorship from public funds. Only recently have international film companies used the New Zealand Film Industry as a source of feature films. However, the independent tradition of filmmaking in New Zealand dates back to the end of the 19th century, when film was first shot in New Zealand.
- The documentary Cinema of Unease, by Sam Neill, presents an accessible history of film in New Zealand.
Recent New Zealand Movies
- An Angel at My Table
- Bad Taste
- Braindead (aka Dead Alive)
- Came a Hot Friday
- Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale (Animated Feature)
- Goodbye Pork Pie (1981) (Director: Geoff Murphy)
- The Irrefutable Truth About Demons
- Jack Brown, Genius
- Meet the Feebles (Director: Peter Jackson)
- The Navigator: A Mediaeval Odyssey (Director: Vincent Ward)
- Once Were Warriors
- The Price of Milk
- The Quiet Earth (1985) (Director: Geoff Murphy)
- Scarfies
- The Silent One
- Sleeping Dogs
- Smash Palace (1981) (Director: Roger Donaldson)
- Snakeskin
- Topless Women Talk About Their Lives
- Utu (1983) (Director: Geoff Murphy)
- Vigil (Director: Vincent Ward)
- Whale Rider
- Never Say Die (1988) (Director: Geoff Murphy)
- Forgotton Silver (Director: Peter Jackson)
- Wildman (1977) (Director: Geoff Murphy)
- Beyond Reasonable Doubt
- Patu! (1983) (Documentary of the 1981 Springbok Tour by Merata Mita.)
- Sons for the Return Home (1979)
- Pictures (1981)
- Among the Cinders (1984)
- Leave all Fair (1985)
- Ngati (1987)
- Te Rua (1991)
- All the Way Up There (1978) (Director: Gaylene Preston)
- Bread and Roses (1993) (Director: Gaylene Preston)
- War Stories Our Mothers Never Told Us (1995) (Director: Gaylene Preston)
- Solo (1977) (Director Tony Williams)
International Release Movies
- Heavenly Creatures (Director: Peter Jackson)
- Lord of the Rings trilogy : Fellowship of the Ring(2001), The Two Towers(2002), Return of the King (proposed 2003) (Director: Peter Jackson)
- The Piano (Director: Jane Campion)
Prominent Directors
- Jane Campion
- Roger Donaldson
- Peter Jackson
- Ian Mune
- Geoff Murphy : also directed Young Guns II (1990), Freejack (1992) and Absolute Zero (2000) in United States.
- Lee Tamahori : directed Die Another Day
- Vincent Ward
- Gaylene Preston
Notable Actors
- Timothy Balme
- Danielle Cormack
- Marton Csokas
- Cliff Curtis
- Bruno Lawrence
- Melanie Lynskey
- Lawrence Makoare
- Temuera Morrison
- Sam Neill
- Karl Urban
- Anna Paquin
History
- 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 10 films between 1898 and mid 1900. His The Departure of the Second Contingent for the Boer War, filmed in 1900, is the oldest surviving New Zealand film.
- The first feature film made in New Zealand was Hinemoa. It premiered on August 1, 1914 at the Lyric Theatre, Auckland.
- During the 1920's and 1930's, Director Rudall Hayward made a number of feature films using New Zealand themes. Rewi's Last Stand was probably his best, though little of his 1925 film survive. The film was remade with sound during the 1930's.
- The National Film Unit was a government funded producer of short films, documentaries, and publicity material
- 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.
- 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.
- During the 1970's the New Zealand Film Commission was established to fund the production of New Zealand Cinema Films. A number of films projects were funded and this lead to a revitalisation of the New Zealand Film Industry.
- In 1981 there were three New Zealand feature films released. Goodbye Pork Pie (Geoff Murphy), Pictures (Michael Black) and Smash Palace (Roger Donaldson). Goodbye Pork Pie became a huge hit and packed out the cinemars it screened at. It took in $1.5 million in 1981, (a figure comparable with big Hollywood blockbusters of the time like Star Wars or Jaws), and 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 can make sucessful films about New Zealand.
New Zealand Film Archive
The New Zealand Film Achive 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 amd holds public screening 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 Achive 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.