A series of panel discussions between visiting and local filmmakers will be held throughout the Festival at the CIVIC Theatre.
Admission to talks is free, they're open to everyone and runabout one hour.
________________________________________
FILMMAKERS IN A FOREIGN LAND
Tuesday 15 July at 6.00 pm
Making films in a country not your own brings many rewards, but also a new range of challenges: logistical, cultural and philosophical. Yung Chang (Up the Yangtze) and Benjamin Gilmour (Son of a Lion) discuss what drew them to unfamiliar territory, and their experiences of filming in a foreign land.
Yung Chang is a Chinese Canadian filmmaker. Up the Yangtze observes life on the soon-to-be flooded banks of the Yangtze River from aboard a cruise ship for English tourists.
Benjamin Gilmour hails from Sydney, but his debut feature, set entirely in Pakistan, couldn't be less Australian. Son of a Lion tells the story of a sensitive young Pashtun boy who wants to escape working in his father's weapon worksop and go to school.
This discussion will be led by NZ filmmaker and Associate Professor of Documentary Film at Auckland University, Annie Goldson (An Island Calling).

July 9, 6.30pm AUT Conference Centre

This year’s Film Auckland Summit will explore industry issues with representatives from the parliamentary political parties.

Judith Tizard (Labour), Chris Finlayson (National), Dail Jones (NZ First) and Jim Anderton (Progressive) will present and discuss their policies affecting film production in New Zealand, with specific focus on Auckland.

The parties have been invited to announce any new policies affecting film production at this summit.

The film production industry is looking for the parties’ views on matters such as the Large Budget Screen Production Grant, the rebate measures announced in the Budget, the role and function of the NZ Film Commission and the need for more studio space in Auckland. Film Auckland is inviting the industry to submit questions to be put to the politicians by the moderator, Cameron Bennett.

Got a question on a burning issue relating to filming in Auckland? Send it to Film Auckland for inclusion in the Summit. Send questions to michael@filmauckland.com

Film Auckland thanks AUT for the venue and technical facilities.

Full event address details are:

Room WA220, WA Building

Bergman Cinema, Paramount

THE WRITER'S ROOM: A CONVERSATION WITH IRA SACHS
Sunday 20 July, 12.00 pm

Ira Sachs is a New York-based screenwriter and director. Married Life, which he co-wrote with Oren Moverman (I’m Not There, Jesus’ Son) is his third film, and stars Pierce Brosnan and Chris Cooper. His last two films, The Delta and Forty Shades of Blue (which received the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance), have both screened at our festivals. Ken Duncum, leading New Zealand playwright and The Michael Hirshfield Director of Scriptwriting at Victoria University talks with Ira about the journey from his first low-budget indie film in 1996 to a big-budget production with an A-list cast.

Married Life: Sat 19 July, 3.45 pm (Emb); Wed 23 July, 6.15 pm (PH).

Presented by Script to Screen

FROM DEEP SOUTH TO WILD BUNCH
Monday 21 July, 6.15 pm

The Screen Directors Guild of New Zealand with the assistance of The New Zealand Film Commission is pleased to announce award winning film & television editor Margot Francis will be holding a two day drama editing workshop in Auckland on 28 & 29 June, 2008.

In this two day workshop Margot will teach practical narrative editing skills using examples of material from both Feature Film and Television Dramas (assisted by RPM’s Peter Roberts).

Over the two days participants will work in pairs and the workshop will be structured around each person editing scenes, then comparing and discussing the results. The process will start with analysis of the script and the footage rushes, then proceed to editing. Scripts will be sent to all participants in advance of the workshop as pre workshop reading material.

The two day workshop will cover:

• approaching the edit of a drama or feature
• characterisation
• the editor/director relationship
• the visual style
• sound/music

April 12 – August 31, 2008
TheNewDowse

What does it mean to identify yourself as ‘transgender or gender fluid’, in a world determined to define you as either male or female? In this challenging yet sensitive exhibition entitled Assume Nothing, TheNewDowse invites you to leave your preconceptions at the door and take a walk in the shoes of those who identify as ‘alternatively gendered’. This series of stunning portrait photographs by Rebecca Swan, and award-winning documentary footage by Kirsty McDonald, reveals both the extraordinary, and often very ordinary worlds of New Zealand’s transgender community. These portraits are of transgender peoples from all walks of life, and include well-known personalities such as performer Carmen Rupe, politician Georgina Beyers, Wellington activist and spokesperson Mani Bruce Mitchel and artist Shigeyuki Kihara. Assume Nothing is an exploration and true celebration of the complex world of gender diversity.