Editing Cinema of New Zealand (section)

===Establishment of the New Zealand Film Commission: 1970s–1980s===
In 1978, the [[New Zealand Film Commission]] was established. Its aim was to encourage and promote the national film industry, and a number of film projects have been funded by the commission.<ref name="commission">{{cite report|url=http://www.mch.govt.nz/files/100628NZReport.pdf|title=Review of the New Zealand Film Commission|last2=Court|first2=David|date=June 2010|page=4|access-date=25 July 2016|first1=Peter|last1=Jackson|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160206022532/http://www.mch.govt.nz/files/100628NZReport.pdf|archive-date=6 February 2016}}</ref>

One of the first New Zealand films to attract large-scale audiences at home was ''[[Sleeping Dogs (1977 film)|Sleeping Dogs]]'', directed by [[Roger Donaldson]] in 1977.<ref name="sleeping dogs rev">{{cite web |url=http://www.cinema-aotearoa.co.nz/sleeping-dogs-1977.html |title=Sleeping Dogs (1977) |publisher=Cinema Aotearoa |access-date=25 July 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817094322/http://www.cinema-aotearoa.co.nz/sleeping-dogs-1977.html |archive-date=17 August 2016 }}</ref> The film, a dark, political action thriller that portrays the reaction of one man to the formation of a [[totalitarian]] government and the ensuing [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla war]], introduced [[Sam Neill]] as a leading actor.<ref name="sleeping dogs rev" /> The imagery of large-scale civil conflict and government repression would be realised only a few years later when the [[1981 Springbok Tour]] caused nationwide protests and clashes with police.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.moria.co.nz/sciencefiction/sleepingdogs1977.htm |title=Sleeping Dogs  |website=Moria.co.nz |publisher=Moria |access-date=25 July 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315185107/http://moria.co.nz/sciencefiction/sleepingdogs1977.htm |archive-date=15 March 2015}}</ref>

''Sleeping Dogs'' is also notable as the first full-length [[35mm movie film|35mm]] feature film made entirely by a New Zealand production crew.<ref name="Martin book">{{cite book |last1=Martin |first1=Helen |last2=Edwards |first2=Sam |date=1997 |title=New Zealand Film 1912–1996 |language=en |location=Auckland |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=019-558336-1 }}</ref> Before then, films such as 1973's ''[[Rangi's Catch]]'' had been shot in New Zealand, where they were set, but were produced and directed by foreign crews.<ref name="Martin book" />

1981 saw the release of the road film ''[[Goodbye Pork Pie]]'', which made NZ$1.5 million.<ref>{{cite report |first=Mike |last=Nicolaidi |date=March 1986 |title=New Zealand |publisher=Cinema Papers |page= 8}}</ref> Director [[Geoff Murphy]] was lured away by Hollywood, but he made two other key New Zealand films: ''[[Utu (film)|Utu]]'' (1983), about the land wars of the 1860s, and a nuclear-apocalypse science-fiction story, ''[[The Quiet Earth (film)|The Quiet Earth]]'' (1985).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0614276/filmorate|title=Geoff Murphy Filmography|work=[[Internet Movie Database]]|access-date=29 September 2012}}</ref> [[Bruno Lawrence]], who appeared in both films, became a star.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0492649/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1|title=Bruno Lawrence|work=[[Internet Movie Database]]|access-date=25 July 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180504200325/https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0492649/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1|archive-date=4 May 2018}}</ref>

[[Melanie Rodriga|Melanie Read]] was the first woman to write and direct a New Zealand feature film with the 1984 thriller ''[[Trial Run (1984 film)|Trial Run]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/trial-run-1984/credits|title=Credits – Trial Run – Film – NZ On Screen|website=www.nzonscreen.com|access-date=4 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180222043726/https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/trial-run-1984/credits|archive-date=22 February 2018}}</ref> In 1987 [[Barry Barclay]]'s film ''[[Ngati]]'', screenplay by [[Tama Poata]] and starring veteran actor [[Wi Kuki Kaa]], was released to critical acclaim and some box-office success. ''Ngati'' is recognised as the first feature film to be written and directed by a person of Māori descent.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/ngati-1987/overview|title=Ngati – Film – NZ On Screen|website=www.nzonscreen.com|access-date=4 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180222043658/https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/ngati-1987/overview|archive-date=22 February 2018}}</ref>

[[Merata Mita]] was the first Māori woman to write and direct a dramatic feature film, when she directed ''[[Mauri (film)|Mauri]]'' in 1988.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wiftauckland.org.nz/merata-mita-13 |title=Merata Mita &#124; WIFT Auckland |access-date=2009-08-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016053506/http://www.wiftauckland.org.nz/merata-mita-13 |archive-date=16 October 2008}}</ref> An accomplished documentary film-maker, Mita made landmark documentaries including ''[[Bastion Point: Day 507]]'' (1980), about the [[Bastion Point#Occupation and return|occupation of land there]], and ''[[Patu!]]'' (1983), a film about the controversial and violent anti-[[apartheid]] protests during the 1981 Springboks rugby tour from South Africa.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nzonscreen.com/person/merata-mita/biography|title=Merata Mita – NZ On Screen|website=www.nzonscreen.com|access-date=4 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414003725/https://www.nzonscreen.com/person/merata-mita/biography|archive-date=14 April 2017}}</ref>

The late 1980s saw the reinvention of the New Zealand short film, beginning with [[Alison Maclean]]'s ''Kitchen Sink''.<ref name="imv">{{cite web|url=http://pov.imv.au.dk/Issue_13/section_4/artc2A.html|title=Kitchen Sink: Data...|website=pov.imv.au.dk|access-date=4 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023541/http://pov.imv.au.dk/Issue_13/section_4/artc2A.html|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref> Instead of trying to be short features focused on dialogue and character, the new shorts tried instead to "push the envelope" in terms of visual design and cinematic grammar.<ref name="imv"/> An explosion of visually rich and compelling works emerged that seemed to have more in common with European art-house cinema than Hollywood.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://folksonomy.co/?permalink=174 |title=Folksonomy &#124; Planet Magazine: Don't Skimp on the Short Ends! |access-date=2012-12-06 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060443/http://folksonomy.co/?permalink=174 |archive-date=4 March 2016}} Paul Shannon, 1995</ref>

Key examples of these are: ''The Lounge Bar'' ([[The Front Lawn]]), ''Kitchen Sink'' ([[Alison Maclean]]), ''[[A Little Death]]'' (Simon Perkins; [[Paul Swadel]]), ''Stroke'' ([[Christine Jeffs]]), ''La Vie en Rose'' (Anna Reeves), ''A Game With No Rules'' (Scott Reynolds), ''Eau de la vie'' (Simon Baré), ''O Tamaiti (The Children)'' ([[Sima Urale]]) which won the [[Silver Lion]] Best Short Film at the [[Venice Film Festival]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://qag.qld.gov.au/collection/pacific_art/sima_urale |title=Archived copy |access-date=2009-11-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090704134336/http://qag.qld.gov.au/collection/pacific_art/sima_urale |archive-date=4 July 2009}} Queensland Art Gallery, Contemporary Pacific Art Collection</ref> and ''Two Cars, One Night'' ([[Taika Waititi]]), which was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film|Best Short Film Oscar]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/two-cars-one-night-2003|title=Two Cars, One Night – Short Film – NZ On Screen|website=www.nzonscreen.com|access-date=4 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180205112511/https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/two-cars-one-night-2003|archive-date=5 February 2018}}</ref>