Film Festival Director Bill Gosden Reveals AllRSS

Film Festival Director Bill Gosden Reveals All

Bill Gosden

15th Jul 2009
Source:

New Zealand International Film Festival Director Bill Gosden told The Big Idea that the festival, which features international and local features, documentaries and short films, generates opportunities for New Zealand filmmakers by shedding a spotlight on their work.

“But even those whose films do not make it onto the programme can benefit from the discourse that surrounds the Festival."

Gosden started out working in cinemas as a teenager and writing about films in his high school newspaper. He first worked as a festival administrator for the Wellington Film Society in 1979 and became the director, for Auckland and Wellington Film Festival in 1984, which he has overseen ever since.

This year's festival starts in Auckland on July 9 and will then travel NZ, finishing in Whangarei in November.

When and why was the film festival started?

In Auckland in 1969 to diversify the diet of Auckland filmgoers. A separate event was set up in 1972 in Wellington for the same reason. The Festivals then merged in 1984. Other centres have been added subsequently so that the Festival is now a nationwide event screening in 14 regions in New Zealand.

How has the festival evolved this year – and what does this mean for the regions?

It’s been a year of consolidation, rendered especially necessary by the shrinkage in private sponsorship. We have revisited and refreshed our relationships with many key partners. And we have abandoned the distinctions between the individual regions in our marketing, proudly presenting ourselves nationally as ‘The New Zealand International Film Festival’. The biggest expressions of surprise generated by this change came from people who hadn’t realised that it had ever been anything else.

How does the film festival generate opportunities for New Zealand filmmakers?

We provide the premium NZ event for shedding a spotlight on their work. But even those whose films do not make it onto the programme can benefit from the discourse that surrounds the Festival, most notably that generated by the presence of so many filmmakers presenting their work in person.

What combination of people and resources are required to put on a festival of this scale?

Four year-round full-time staff; three contracted programmers; a dozen contracted staff around the country between April and the end of August; hordes of theatre staff and volunteers in each centre during the actual seasons; a lot of love for the event and a taste for late night Chinese (Peking House in particular).

What’s been the festival’s biggest impact or success to date?

We continue to provide a conduit for some of the most interesting cinema that makes its way into the ever multiplying distribution systems here. The coups direct from Cannes this year show that despite our physical distance we can still access the latest in quality world cinema for a NZ audience.

Describe your role as Festival Director?

The buck stops with me for all aspects of the Festival and I answer to a governing Board of Trustees.
I take ultimate responsibility for programming choices, though there are many other hands and tastes visible in the film selection. I also work closely with general manager Sharon Byrne and Auckland Festival manager Lynn Smart in business decisions which impact on the ‘culture’ of the event.

How and when did you get involved? What keeps you involved?

I first worked as an administrator for the Wellington Film Society on the 8th Wellington Film Festival in 1979. I continue to see value in films which I know are most unlikely to find an audience in New Zealand without the Festival’s assistance.

What is involved in the preparation for the festival?

A vast amount of negotiation.

What does your role include when the festival is on – and how do you juggle your time between running the festival and promotion/media?

By working extremely long hours, refueling at Deluxe caf� whenever possible and having an amazing team of staff that make sure everything falls into place.

How are the selections made for the festival?

Hundreds of films are watched in whole or part by our programmers. We also attend many overseas Festivals. Films are also submitted by filmmakers, sales agents and distributors – and we solicit audition copies of films we’ve heard good things about. It helps to see as many as possible before making choices – but there are always films so great they leap off the screen and select themselves.

How did the festival secure an early screening of Jane Campion’s Bright Star?

By negotiation with a distributor whose goodwill we’ve earned over the years and whose utter confidence in the film enables him to actually let an audience see it so far out from its general release. Obviously he would never have considered our proposal if Jane herself had not favoured it.

How do you connect with other film festivals internationally?

We have excellent relationships with the Australian festivals and exchange information with a great many others. It’s a confederacy of the like-minded at certain levels. There are bullies in the Festival world as in any other: you’ve probably heard their names.

What are the NZ films in this year’s festival – where can we find out more?

The quickest answer is to go to Find a Film on our site and select films by country of origin. We are proud to be presenting a great line-up of features and documentaries as well as a strong Homegrown selection of shorts.

Is there less NZ Feature Films than previous years – if so, why?

This simply reflects the strength of the features we saw. New Zealand independent documentaries are well represented though and our retrospective of Barry Barclay’s documentaries this year is our first of a New Zealand filmmaker.

How do you balance the selection of NZ vs International films?

There’s really no tokenism involved, though it’s true that we feel absolutely obliged to screen strong New Zealand work, and maybe not so obliged to screen every strong film we see from other countries.

What on the programme are you personally most excited about?

Bright Star; Ponyo; Camino, Modern Life, Strength of Water, Samson & Deliliah, OSS 117:Lost in Rio, We Live in Public… I could go on.

What are some other highlights of the festival?

Panel discussions are a little-known gem of the Festival. We invite local filmmakers to speak about their experiences. The discussion run for no more than an hour, are free and open to the public. Check out the ‘Special Events' section of the website for more on the panels in Auckland and Wellington.

What impact, in your view, is the current economic climate having on filmmaking, film audiences and the film festival?

It’s too soon to know what impact it’s having on filmmaking: at the industrial level filmmakers have always been cautious about pushing the envelope. But at another level there are filmmakers – and I use the term loosely to embrace those who take the financial risks – who will never be cautious: Cannes this year showcased a staggering array of expensively produced films – Antichrist included – made by filmmakers determined, some would say desperate, to outrage and alienate audiences. These could never be considered sane commercial propositions. Generally speaking the audience that goes to non-mainstream films these days is looking for something much less confrontational. It’s not like the 80s when all the smartest people lined up to watch Fassbinder’s heroes and heroines slowly commit suicide.

Advance bookings for the Festival this year are very strong supporting the theory that the relatively low-price night out provided by the movies is more attractive than ever when times are tough.

How do you approach this challenge and how does a film festival help?

We’ve kept prices down, particularly for the Live Cinema events, which are very expensive to mount but constitute a grand night out.

What are your hopes and passions for the future of the festival?

Just keeping up with the technology is a challenge for everyone in cinema exhibition at the moment, ourselves included. Hopes and passions often seem to take a back seat to such pragmatic considerations – until you realise that there’s an underlying passion always at work. I guess its respect for the integrity of the films that seem the most important - or the most entertaining - and doing what we can to ensure that New Zealand audiences can encounter them in the form that their makers intended. Personally I’d love to extend the work we are doing with live music and film.

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TheBigIdea is the home of NZ's creative community.

The people's comments

Thanks for the reply Bill - it definitely gives more meaning and context to your statement.

And as far as 'discourse' is concerned - It's just that it benefits anyone/everyone who attends the screenings with visiting film makers (and I think it is my favorite part of the festival - listening to film maker's experiences) - not just film makers whose films didn't get into the film festival . My gripe was that the earlier statement mixed 2 different topics together in a single sentence and it was easy to misconstrue it as a backhanded excuse by the festival to local film makers whose movies didn't make it. So thanks for clarifying both the aspects.

Personally I do think 'discourse' is most effective when it is in direct relation to your work and the reason I would argue for it is - a) film making is an active and personal art form; b) every film makers circumstances in making a movie are different and so the best learning experience is from discourse on that particular piece of work rather than on movies that were made by someone else in a completely different set of circumstances.

Thanks again for the clarification. It is much appreciated.

By AT

I can appreciate that my statement requires some clarification, but calling it rubbish seems harsh.

1. There is often, if the filmmaker welcomes it, considerable dialogue between the Festival and filmmakers whose work does not ultimately make the cut.

2. Does the "discourse" have to relate directly to your own work to be of some benefit? We hope filmmakers interested in participating in the Festival might enjoy the opportunity to check out the work that does make it - and to meet the visiting filmmakers involved.

By Bill Gosden

True - that's a rubbish call.

By Anne

I think Bill is doing a fantastic job with the NZFF but I really don't get his statement/intention when he says “But even those whose films do not make it onto the programme can benefit from the discourse that surrounds the Festival." My question to him would be - HOW??????

I mean if a local film doesn't get into the film festival then how will the film makers benefit from it when no one gets to see their movie - then there is obviously no talk about the movie or a 'discourse' about it because no one knows that exists.

By AT