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Northern Alliance - BFI

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Beyond Europe 1: New Zealand Film Commission‟s (NZFC) short film strategy<br />

Outside Europe, New Zealand provides an interesting example of a smaller<br />

country whose focused short film strategy has been successful in assisting<br />

filmmakers to progress to feature filmmaking and in making a mark<br />

internationally. A recent review of the NZFC‟s short film strategy revealed that of<br />

the 197 filmmakers that made short films through its short film scheme between<br />

1997 and 2007, 89 over one-third have accessed NZFC feature film development<br />

funding and/or been credited as a writer, director or producer on a feature film –<br />

exceeding its original target of 25%.<br />

On the exhibition side, film festivals are generally regarded as the most important<br />

showcase of short films internationally. There are more than a thousand festivals<br />

in the world that showcase short films, but only a handful of these are seen as<br />

having a significant impact on progression to feature films. 90 Of the 73 NZFC<br />

short films completed by June 2007, 50% were invited to A-list festivals, 91 defined<br />

by the organisation‟s marketing team as “major events with prestige and<br />

influence”, as follows:<br />

Annecy International Animation Film Festival<br />

Berlin Film Festival<br />

<strong>BFI</strong> London Film Festival<br />

Cannes Film Festival<br />

Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival<br />

Edinburgh International Film Festival<br />

Hiroshima International Animation Film Festival<br />

Melbourne International Film Festival<br />

New York Film Festival<br />

Pusan International Film Festival<br />

Rotterdam International Film Festival<br />

Sundance International Film Festival<br />

Tampere Film Festival<br />

Telluride Film Festival<br />

Valladolid International Film Festival<br />

Venice International Film Festival<br />

89 The review focused only on films made through the NZFC’s own scheme (which is not<br />

aimed at entry level filmmakers) and not on all short films made in New Zealand, nor all publicly<br />

funded shorts.<br />

90 Source: Ian Francis, Short Film Export (November 2008); policy report to the UK Film<br />

Council Film Export Development Team.<br />

91 Source: Ruth Harley et al, Review of NZFC Short Film Strategy (October 2007).<br />

Page 83

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