Since New Zealand Cinema burst on to the global stage in the late 1970s, it has maintained a high-profile presence, capturing the imagination and enthusiasm of both national and international audiences, through such films as "Vigil", "Whale Rider" and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. "Contemporary New Zealand Cinema" provides an astute and definitive analysis of this fascinating industry. Focusing on industrial and commercial concerns, questions of aesthetics and form, and the cultural debates surrounding nation and identity, the book surveys the full range of filmmaking in New Zealand.It displays the rich diversity of film production in the country, and in doing so highlights a number of specific contexts - Maori, documentary and short filmmaking, literary adaptations, the development of the national Film Commission and Archive, marketing and censorship, in addition to explorations into the place of bicultural relations, spirituality, masculinity and disability - that have created a cinema of global significance.Featuring critical accounts of internationally-acclaimed features like "The Piano" and "Once Were Warriors", as well as the growth of the national infrastructure that made such films possible, "Contemporary New Zealand Cinema" is the most thorough study available of a vibrant filmmaking culture. The book also includes a fully comprehensive filmography detailing all New Zealand feature and television films.

Since New Zealand Cinema burst on to the global stage in the late 1970s, it has maintained a high-profile presence, capturing the imagination and enthusiasm of both national and international audiences, through such films as "Vigil", "Whale Rider" and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. This title provides an analysis of this fascinating industry.

Illustrations viiAcknowledgments xiForeword xiiiLindsay SheltonIntroduction 1Ian Conrich and Stuart MurraySection 1: Industry and Commerce1. The New Zealand Film Commission: Promoting an Industry, Forging a National IdentityGregory A. Waller2. Boom and Bust: Tax-driven Film Production in New Zealand in the 1980sNick Roddick3. The Short Film: Issues of Funding and DistributionAlex Cole-Baker4. The Role of Marketing in the New Zealand Feature FilmSuzette Major5. New Zealand Film CensorshipChris Watson6. "With a Strong Sense of Place": The New Zealand Film Archive/ Nga Kaitiaki O Nga Taonga WhitihuaSarah Davy and Diane PivacSection 2: Aesthetics and Form7. The Space Between: Screen Representations of The New Zealand Small TownIan Conrichcontentsi8. Beyond Materialism?: Spirituality and Neo-Utopian Sensibility in Recent New Zealand FilmAnn Hardy9. The Adaptation of New Zealand Literature to Film: A Case-Study ApproachBrian McDonnell10. The Contested Nation: Documentary and DissentAnnie Goldson and Jo SmithSection 3: Nation and Identity11. "Precarious Adulthood": Communal Anxieties in 1980s FilmStuart Murray12. A Waka on the Wild Side: Nationalism and its Discontents in Some Recent New Zealand FilmsMark Williams13. "He Iwi Kotahi Tatou"?: Nationalism and Cultural Identity in Maori FilmMichelle Keown14. The Kiwi Bloke: The Representation of Pakeha Masculinity in New Zealand FilmRussell Campbell15. Impaired and Ill at Ease: New Zealand's Cinematics of DisabilityAngela Marie SmithFilmographyList of contributorsIndex