DOCNZ: Documentary New Zealand Trust
The Documentary New Zealand Trust is the advocate for the documentary filmmaking community of New Zealand, champions the rights of and seeks new opportunities and skills for New Zealand filmmakers.
New Zealand requires an organisation willing to stand up and champion New Zealand documentary filmmaking. With limited resources, New Zealand needs to consider ways and means for our documentary filmmakers to sustain themselves and seek opportunities which will allow us to make world class and cinematic documentaries that can compete with other countries.
Like the Screen Directors Guild of NZ, Women in Film & TV, Nga Aho Whaakari, Screen Producers and Directors Association and The Writers Guild which look after their various constituencies (directors, women, Māori filmmakers, producers, writers), the Documentary New Zealand Trust seeks to advocate and promote documentary filmmakers — to act as their voice.
The USA, Canada, Australia, Europe, Japan are among countries that are bringing documentaries into the cinema and exploring contemporary themes that have an international appeal. It is important that New Zealand keeps in-step with these developments and continues to foster and up-skill our local documentary filmmakers to enable them to compete on the world stage.
The Documentary New Zealand Trust is committed to bringing new funding and co-production opportunities for New Zealand documentary filmmakers. We also believe that in the new digital age, that we must also explore and spearhead developments in delivery, distribution, and programming as the world moves towards new and hybrid platforms. The Documentary New Zealand Trust organises workshops and seminars from filmmakers, academics and broadcasters from overseas and New Zealand.