DOCNZ: Documentary New Zealand Trust
#01-April 2007
Kia Ora from DOCNZ. Welcome to the first E-Newsletter for 2007.
It’s hard to believe that we are already in the 4th month of the New Year and only 5 months away from the DOCNZ Festival.
In this E-Newsletter we’ll share with you the latest news about DOCNZ and our plans for this year.
The DOCNZ Team
Dan, Alex, Ewa, Valerie
DOCNZ 2007 will be held in 4 centres nationwide:
Please mark your calendar and get ready for the best showcase of documentary films in New Zealand this year!
DOCNZ 2007 is now open for submissions. The deadline is 15 May 2007 (postmarked).
Any length documentary film may be entered with a strong preference for new productions (since June 2006) and New Zealand Premieres.
Please visit our website to download the Entry Form and Regulations.
We hope that YOUR film will be the next award winner at DOCNZ 2007!
Since its inception, DOCNZ has been selecting films that have gone on to win major international awards.
Many of the films screened at DOCNZ 2006 are doing very well around the world. The following is an update on some of these films which you may have watched and enjoyed last year.
First, congratulations to Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon, the filmmakers of The Blood Of Yingzhou District for winning the Best Short Documentary category at the 79th Academy Awards in Los Angles. This outstanding film well deserved an Oscar! It also just won the Humanitarian Award at Chicago International Documentary Film Festival.
Another short documentary success is our very own, Sand Dancer. This film represented New Zealand at Taipei and won the Audience Choice Award – Golden Horse International Short Competition. The film was subsequently invited to many festivals around the world and more recently it was selected to the next Tribeca Film Festival in New York. Congratulations to Valerie Reid on these achievements.
Another New Zealand made short film that has achieved international success since its premiere at DOCNZ is Longfin by Dunedin film-makers Melissa Salpietra and Lindsay Davidson. Since DOCNZ, this intriguing 24 min short film has picked up accolades from around the world including the Montana Cine Film Festival where it won the Best Newcomer and Merit Award as well as the International Wildlife Film Festival where it won a Merit Award for Creative Film-making. The film has also been acquired by Finnish state broadcaster YLE after the film premiered in Finland at the Vassa Film Festival where it was a finalist.
Other winners:
Congratulations also to Angelmakers (Dir. Astrid Bussink) and The Cats of Mirikitani (Dir. Linda Hattendorf) for their selection to HOTDOCS 2007. Both films were viewed at DOCNZ by Sean Farnel (Programming Director, HOTDOCS) who was a guest of the festival last year and a jury member.
Finally, congratulations to young emerging New Zealand talent Echo Di Zhu, whose film Home was selected for the Berlinale Talent Campus 2007.
After participating at the DOCNZ Pitching Forum 2006, Joost den Hartog, Director of the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) awarded New Zealand film-maker, James Frankham the AIDC-DOCNZ award which included an opportunity to pitch his project, “Waka Moana” at this year’s conference; a hotly contested event which featured only 16 projects.
Joining James was Annie Goldson, a DOCNZ Trustee and renowned filmmaker, who also pitched her new project, “Tabu Soro”. The third Kiwi to pitch was Arani Cuthbert of Diva Productions who had exposure for her Topp Twins project when she pitched at DOCNZ last year.
DOCNZ Trust will launch a brand new cinema club in Auckland soon. Members will benefit from monthly special screenings all year round as well as concession ticket prices at the DOCNZ Festival. Details on how to join the club will be posted soon and you will be the first to know in a special E-newsletter.
Watch this space and be the first to join!
Following the success of the Pitching Forum last year, DOCNZ Trust will hold the 2nd Pitching Forum 24-26 September 2007 as part of the DOCNZ Summit.
This is an exclusive opportunity for a small group of documentary film-makers to pitch their project to local and overseas commissioners and buyers. 12 finalist teams will be selected for the Pitching Forum.
The deadline for all Pitching Forum submissions is 31 May 2007 at 5.00pm.
Please visit our website to download the Pitching Forum Entry Form and Regulations.
We are looking for volunteers/interns to help with preparations for DOCNZ 2007.
If you are interested to work with a dynamic team on a fast growing film festival, please send to us an email with your CV (info@docnz.org.nz).
We will hold an introduction volunteers meeting soon and we welcome anyone who is passionate about documentaries and the festival to come on board and be part of the team.
The success of the DOCNZ Festival relies heavily on sponsorship and partnership with various companies, organizations and individuals. We would like to welcome new partnerships to join DOCNZ 2007. With your help we will be able to achieve our goals and make DOCNZ a major film festival in the region.
If you are interested to sponsor, donate or contribute in any way to DOCNZ 2007, or you know someone who might will, please contact our sponsorship coordinator, Valerie Chin (valerie@docnz.org.nz) or call 09 309 2613.
We would like to welcome to DOCNZ 2007, Michelle Lafferty from Elephant Publicity. Michelle runs “a bold, independent company specialising in publicity and promotions for entertainment, arts and good times” and we are thrilled to have her on board.
We are also thrilled to welcome back Jonathan Smith as the Event Manager of the DOCNZ Awards Night. Traditionally a closed event, the Awards Night will be open to the public. You don’t want to miss out this glamorous event celebrating local and international film achievements.
We would also like to welcome an important addition to the DOCNZ team, Valerie Chin, Sponsorship Co-ordinator who can be contacted for all partnership enquiries.
DOCNZ continues to develop strong ties with other overseas festivals and organisations.
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