Defining New Zealand Film
In October 1978 the New Zealand Film Commission was formalised by Parliament under the National Party. The functions of the Commission under Article 17 New Zealand Film Commission Act (1978) were to;
- Encourage and assist in the making, promotion, distribution and exhibition of films
- Encourage and promote cohesion with NZ film industry
- Encourage and promote maintenance of films in archives
With this Act the New Zealand Film industry became more stabilised. Article 18 "Content of Films" New Zealand Film Commission Act (1978) would serve to define which aspects a film had to have in order for it to be labelled as a New Zealand Film. To qualify as a New Zealand film all the aspects listed below must be of New Zealand in origin;
- The subject of the film
- The locations at which the film was made
- The nationalities or places of residence of: The authors, scriptwriters, composers, producers, directors, actors, technicians, editors, etc.
- The sources from which the money is derived
- The ownership and whereabouts of the equipment and technical facilities
These defining aspects have in recent years caused debate on whether films like The Frighteners and the Lord of the Rings qualify as New Zealand Films. The impact of the New Zealand Film Commission on the industry was in getting films made, coming to a definition of NZ Film, and helping establish a Screen Industry in New Zealand.
Most New Zealand films are made by independent filmmakers, often on a low budget and 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 more aware of the skills of New Zealand filmmakers, and have increasingly used the New Zealand film industry as a base to shoot and also sometimes finish their feature films.
Private funding for New Zealand films has often been in short supply, although for a period in the early eighties tax-breaks resulted in a rush of money and a production boom. Although the trend seems to be changing for the better, some New Zealand directors and actors have been ignored in large part by their own country, despite success overseas, and often had to work in the USA, Australia, and the UK as a result.
Read more about this topic: Cinema Of New Zealand
Famous quotes containing the words defining, zealand and/or film:
“The industrial world would be a more peaceful place if workers were called in as collaborators in the process of establishing standards and defining shop practices, matters which surely affect their interests and well-being fully as much as they affect those of employers and consumers.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)
“Teasing is universal. Anthropologists have found the same fundamental patterns of teasing among New Zealand aborigine children and inner-city kids on the playgrounds of Philadelphia.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)
“Film is more than the twentieth-century art. It’s another part of the twentieth-century mind. It’s the world seen from inside. We’ve come to a certain point in the history of film. If a thing can be filmed, the film is implied in the thing itself. This is where we are. The twentieth century is on film.... You have to ask yourself if there’s anything about us more important than the fact that we’re constantly on film, constantly watching ourselves.”
—Don Delillo (b. 1926)