Film Issues
While for some time New Zealand has had a reputation at home and overseas for producing interesting films, the momentum has greatly increased in the last 20 years. International recognition given to our films, the growth of the industry within the country and cheaper methods using digital technology have all contributed to this.
Film-makers become involved in their craft for a range of motivations, from the desire to tell stories to the desire to succeed in the business. For film scholars, the films made here – documentaries and dramas, features and shorts – are valuable and fascinating cultural products that reveal a lot about who we are and how we live our lives. For the general public, New Zealand films compete with films from all around the world as a form of entertainment to be watched at the movies, or at home on DVD.
Issues Should we continue to put our energies into making films? Should the government help with film funding? Should there be guidelines or rules for the way we show ourselves to the world through our films?
Issue 1: Is it worth making films here when there’s always plenty of stuff coming from overseas that we can watch?
Viewpoints
No. It’s a waste of time and money.Films cost so much to make and our film industry is so small it can’t hope to compete with the big budgets of movies made in places like America. There’s really no point in us trying to compete. The only NZ movies I go to now are ones like Lord of the Rings because they had a big American budget and they were able to have lots of really good special effects. No. Most New Zealand films aren’t very good.I’ve only been to a couple of New Zealand films because the films they make here are usually so bad they’re embarrassing. The stories are never very exciting and the actors are all people you see on Shortland Street. Who wants to see films about New Zealanders? Boring. |
Yes. I’ve seen lots of really good New Zealand movies.Just because a film doesn’t have a big Hollywood budget or tell a Hollywood type of story it doesn’t mean it’s no good. Whale Rider and In My Father’s Den are both fantastic films made here with production values as good as anywhere in the world and the stories were really gripping. Yes. It’s really important that we tell our own stories.Imagine what it would be like if all we got to see were films about other people and other places!! New Zealand has its own unique culture and that needs to be reflected in our films. I saw a film once that mentioned New Lynn, which is where I come from, and I was so stoked!!! |