Film and Film Making in New Zealand
When asked what we associate with New Zealand, a significant portion of non-New Zealanders will answer “Kiwis” (no matter which ones) and the “Lord of the Rings” franchise. While I was researching New Zealand’s economy, the film industry came up as an increasingly important sector as well. So which films other than the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies have been shot and/or produced in New Zealand? What about New Zealand cinema and film festivals? And what are popular themes in New Zealand film? For general convenience, I’ll leave out short films and films produced for television and instead focus on national and international feature films.
With popular films shot in its beautiful landscape, New Zealand understandably wants to make the most out of these two assets and its tourism website advertises the filming locations of not only The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, but Disney’s Pete’s Dragon, The Chronicles of Narnia, King Kong (Peter Jackson, 2005), The World’s Fastest Indian and The Last Samurai as well.
These movies are all fairly recent and have been successful both in New Zealand and internationally (and can thus attract tourism).
But with New Zealand’s loyal and enthusiastic cinema audience, local productions with specifically local themes are highly popular as well: Sione’s Wedding was among the most popular films in New Zealand 2006; in 2010, Boy was the top grossing film and in 2014, the third instalment of The Hobbit grossed highest. Action and Comedy are the most watched genres, but Drama is on the rise with New Zealand audiences.
A more recent example starring Sam Neill is Hunt for the Wilderpeople, directed by Taika Waititi, which exemplifies most of the above mentioned characteristics. But see for yourself:
Since 2009, the New Zealand International Film Festival presents 150–170 national and international feature films in Auckland and Wellington, among other locations around the country. It has its roots in several local film festivals, like the Auckland Film Festival, which began in 1969, the Wellington Film Festival, which was established in 1972, or the Dunedin and Christchurch Film Festivals, which both started in 1977.
These festivals were inspired by the 1970s film renaissance, which was in turn sparked by the opportunities resulting from the widespread arrival of television in the 1960s. To Love a Maori of 1972, for example, was the first colour feature film made by a New Zealander, Rudall Hayward.
Unfortunately, I was unable to attend our session on Whale Rider due to a late shift at work, but after reading up on New Zealand film, I think I know what I am going to do this evening…
