Supporting our Female Filmmakers

Posted 30th April 2018

Supporting our Female Filmmakers

Here at HP48Hours we are doing our best to address the gender imbalance in the New Zealand film industry with a series of awards to encourage more women into the competition. These awards are designed to acknowledge achievement/excellence and to provide further on-going support through our partners: Women in Film and Television (WIFT) and Gaylene Preston. 

HP48Hours & WIFT Outstanding Female Filmmaker Award

In each of the 8 regions, we will give an Outstanding Female Filmmaker Award, which is supported by WIFT. The prize is a 2019 HP48Hours entry and a year-long membership with WIFT.

The Gaylene Preston & WIFT Best Female Director Award

At a National level, the Gaylene Preston & WIFT Best Female Director Award is up for grabs. The prize is $1000 and a year-long membership with WIFT.

WIFT NZ

Women in Film and Television (NZ) is an organisation with 800 members working in film, television and associated industries. It works to support growth and sustainability in the screen industry with a particular emphasis on equal opportunity and participation for women. 

WIFT NZ belongs to a global network and runs a full and varied programme of workshops, events and speakers; offers a varied range of purchasing discounts; issues a regular newsletter and provides networking, research, advocacy, information and support services.

Gaylene Preston

Gaylene Preston is one of New Zealand's most valued filmmakers, with a screen career spanning four decades with writer, director and producer credits covering feature films, documentaries and TV drama series. Many, including War Stories, Bread And Roses, Mr Wrong and Home By Christmas, are classics of NZ cinema, notable for the strength of Preston's human connections and her deep commitment to telling New Zealand stories.

Preston's films have been in official selection for Venice, Sundance, Toronto, London, Sydney, Melbourne and NZ film festivals and have won awards in USA, Canada, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Russia, Australia and NZ.

She is an Officer of the NZ Order of Merit and NZ Arts Foundation Filmmaker Laureate. She received the WIFT Lifetime Achievement Award, the Women of Influence Award for Arts and Culture, the SPADA Industry Champion Award and the 2017 NZ Film Awards' Services to Cinema Award.