Wellywood Woman

L-R: Becky Kuek, Madeleine Sami & Jacki van Beek, Ana Scotney, Paloma Schneideman, Abba Rose Dinah Vaiaoga-Ioasa, Florence Noble The New Zealand Film Commission has provided a Gender Scholarship every year since 2015 (in previous years for cinematographers, directors, wāhine Māori directors and Pacific Island screen writers). And this year, five $10,000 scholarships have been awarded to women in comedy, selected by uber-multihyphenates Madeline Sami and Jackie Van Beek (remember e.g. their  The Breaker Upperers ?) from 120 applications by a range of comedy creators, working in print, stage, film, television and online. “We were absolutely blown away that over 120 amazingly talented and hilarious women applied for the gender scholarship! The calibre and variety of talent from producers to writers, performers and directors was inspiring and made it extremely challenging to choose the final five recipients,” said Jackie and Madeleine. After reading and watching their submitted wor...

Births, Deaths and Marriages  was a highlight of last year’s New Zealand International Film Festival for me, one of only two local features selected by the festival. It is a heart-warming, funny tale about an Irish family in the Hutt Valley, shot when Bea Joblin its writer/director/producer was 20. Bea on set, centre, with Sophie at right Bea describes  Births, Deaths & Marriages  as being ‘shot in 2014 for about $4000, in a state house in Upper Hutt…a fictional home video set in a family home where the camera is held by one of the characters as they record a weekend in their family’s life. The film is a celebration of working class women and the dirty, overcrowded chaos of life’. It was funded by the New Zealand Film Commission at post-production. Births, Deaths & Marriages  is about to be released into cinemas in New Zealand (see below). It’s also screening at festivals in Australia. Bea and kōtiro Piata @devt  Why and when and how ...

Rouzie Hassanova at work Rouzie Hassanova’s award-winning  Radiogram  is #directedbywomen #aotearoa’s first screening for 2020, at Parliament on 16 March. It will be hosted by Jan Logie MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Justice, a visionary and very effective politiciant. In particular, Jan’s an outstanding advocate for those affected by violence and discrimination, including women in the screen industries, through her support of the  Screen Women’s Action Group , as well as #directedbywomen #aotearoa’s programme. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Jan, Rouzie and legendary editor Annie Collins. If you’d like an invitation, please get in touch ASAP: radiogramscreening [at] gmail.com! Based on a true story from 1971,  Radiogram  is   set in a Muslim community in Bulgaria under the Communist regime (1946–1990), where religious expression and western music are forbidden. It’s about a father who decides to walk a...