Even More DEGANZ Members in the NZ Web Fest Mix This Year

Five more projects from DEGANZ members have been selected for this year’s NZ Web Fest. These projects join the five others selected earlier this year.

This year marks the 24th annual run of the festival celebrating international online content, including podcasts, short films, and web series.

Dive

Short Film (Narrative)

Director: Tyler Redmond

Monster State

Short Film (Narrative)

Director: Julie Zhu

Editor: Isaiah Tour

The Polycees

Short Film (Narrative)

Writer/Director & Editor: Celia Jaspers

ADHD & Me

Web Series (Narrative)

Director: Michelle Ang (Incubator 2020)

Co-editor: Jack Brown

Ahikāroa

Web Series (Narrative)

Co-editor: Jack Woon

Writer & Storyliner: Onehou Strickland

 

Last updated on 14 August 2024

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‘What Is Left Unsaid’ Seeks a Boost

DEGANZ member Danika Leigh Ciullo‘s production company Herstory Collective is crowdfunding on Boosted for the short film What Is Left Unsaid. Fellow member Guillaume Arnoulet is attached as the project’s editor.

The team is looking to raise $5,000 for the film that examines the ripple effects of sexual assault. When Carrie and Ava meet, they fall hard and fast. It’s honeymoon phase bliss until their world shatters when Carrie is assaulted. The two must figure out how to navigate Carrie’s trauma within their intimate relationship.

Danika and the team hope that the film will educate audiences about how far the effects of assault travel, while also painting a message of hope. While Carrie is shaped by her experience, it does not define her as she begins her healing journey. While Ava’s physical and emotional needs aren’t met in the wake of Carrie’s assault, her faith in their bond and her love for Carrie triumphs.

Funds raised on Boosted will go towards cast and crew payments, gear and tech rentals, catering, marketing, post-production, and film festival submissions.

You can find out more about the project on their Boosted page!

Last updated on 14 August 2024

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Where’s Feature Doco At?

View from the Top banner

It’s encouraging to see NZ feature documentary alive and well, with five docos screening at the New Zealand International Film Festival.

You wouldn’t think so if you went to TVNZ+, though. Not a single NZ documentary feature sits in the ‘Kiwi Films’ strand, and under ‘All Documentary’ I only found one. Yes, there were plenty of NZ single TV docos and factual series. But only one documentary feature? Of course, licence periods could have run out…

It’s not so encouraging when you look at the box office for NZ documentary films in the theatres, either. I went back over the last seven months of the weekly box office records, and the NZ feature docs I did find didn’t do well. But then, comparatively, a good number of NZ narrative films don’t do well at the box office either.

This doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for NZ feature documentary and that it can’t find an audience. It’s the same for NZ narrative feature.

Our myopic fixation on NZ theatrical box office, though, constricts our ability to adapt to the changed environment for documentary (and narrative) globally. And it has changed incredibly dramatically, particularly since COVID. Funders AND documentary makers need to accept this.

As Videomaker Dot Com pointed out in their article on the state of documentary—In a nutshell:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally altered the documentary film industry, with the transition to virtual film festivals and streaming platforms becoming more prominent.
  • The pandemic has led to a redefinition of documentary filmmaking, with changes in production methods, storytelling focus and ethical considerations, emphasizing the resilience and creativity of filmmakers.
  • Despite the increased availability of platforms for documentary viewing, the financial and market constraints, particularly for independent filmmakers, remain significant, highlighting the industry’s ongoing challenges and the necessity of adaptability.

Read the full article here.

The recent success of both a New Zealand documentary director and a New Zealand documentary producer I know tells me that this vital art form is alive and well in New Zealand, both for projects and for careers. I’m also excited by those NZ docos I’m aware of that are in production right now.

It’s a necessity for documentary stories to be told in this world of misinformation, disinformation and corporate spin-doctoring like we’ve never seen before. And while the box office is still being used as a measure of success here, please get out and watch those NZ docos in the theatres. They need your support.

 

Tui Ruwhiu
Executive Director

 

 

 

Last updated on 1 August 2024

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