Wellywood Woman

Filmmaker Kate Kaminski founded the now-legendary Bluestocking Series , of films with complex female protagonists that pass the Bechdel Test.  Her ideas in this piece are American-oriented, but they inspire me to consider similar stories set in New Zealand. Maybe they'll inspire you too, wherever you are? by Kate Kaminski   Yesterday I was asked by  @Winstonwrites   on Twitter “What female-driven films would you like to see in 2015?”  Because discovering films driven by complex female protagonists are a personal obsession, I knew immediately if I tackled this question, it would take much more than 140 characters so here we are. But I still had to narrow the topic down. As somebody who sees stories wherever she looks, let’s just say, I have enough story/novel/film ideas scribbled on bits of paper to fill several notebooks. I also run a women’s film festival called  Bluestocking Film Series  and this year, one of our short film categori...

Steven Joyce (Minister of Many Things), Jane Campion, Maggie Barry (Minister for Arts & Culture), James Cameron, Peter Jackson, Jon Landau New Zealand has a heavyweight Screen Advisory Board, appointed by the government just over a year ago: Jane Campion, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, James Cameron, Jon Landau, Andrew Adamson. The board was appointed to help the New Zealand screen sector create the skills and connections to be able to generate their own intellectual property, compete internationally, attract overseas finance and to assist the New Zealand Film Commission, Film New Zealand, and the New Zealand screen sector to market and promote the New Zealand screen industry overseas. A huge ask. But something these imaginative, generous and enterprising board members can deliver on. Last September, Dave Gibson, CEO of the New Zealand Film Commission, announced that the board members would each follow particular interests – Sir Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh have identified ...

A beautiful moment in herstory. Kathryn Bigelow and Ava DuVernay converse after a showing of Selma . Hoping someone recorded it.  Half-way through some longish posts. But there are some thoughts I can't resolve. And it's mid-summer here so I'm also gardening and watching the bees (see Bee-Loved blog at right), hoping that the physical work will help me articulate what I think and feel. Sending you every good wish for a beautiful 2015. And warm thanks for being there for me to write to and for your responses, which I always love to bits. I may be gone for a while.