Screen International is profiling all the winners of the third Global Production Awards, which were held tonight (May 19) at the Mademoiselle Gray Barriere in Cannes.

Māoriland Productions and Film Festival

Source: Screen File

Māoriland Productions and Film Festival

Economic and Social Impact Award

Winner: Māoriland Productions and Film Festival (Māoriland Charitable Trust, New Zealand)

This award is presented to a film commission, production or a studio that demonstrates commitment to the local community during filming, through the employment and education of local crew and demonstrating a positive environmental and cultural conscience.

Winner Māoriland Productions and Film Festival, a Māori-owned and operated screen organisation, impressed judges with the way it connected and worked with the local community and institutional partners in terms of recruitment, education and environment.

As well as having built a leading production house and providing education and training, the organisation’s highlights include securing producer and intern placements on the upcoming feature Kōkā, working with DreamWorks to dub Shrek into Māori, and releasing an animation series made in its Māoriland Tech Creative Hub. There are also eight feature scripts with Māori writers being developed via Māoriland Indigenous Screen Accelerator, a full-time lab for screenwriters.

“Retaining language and community in filmmaking is integral to authentic storytelling,” noted one judge. “This took a lot of community engagement and reflects the importance of integration, while also providing young aspiring filmmakers an opportunity to carve a career in the screen sector.”

Another judge heaped praise on the cultural specificity of the Māori­land Productions and Film Festival’s ambitious projects. “The work not only nurtures talent within the creative sector, but it also features a film festival distribution platform that honours achievement and empowers youth. And sustainability was built into the process, which was a huge plus.”

Nominees:

  • And Then Come The Nightjars (Finite Films & TV, UK)
  • Blood Legacy (Gambit Films, South Africa)
  • Screen Berkshire (Screen Berkshire, UK)
  • Screen CanterburyNZ Productions Grant/We Were Dangerous for Piki Films (ChristchurchNZ, New Zealand)
  • Screen Industry Transferable Skills Training Programme (Film Lauderdale/Broward County Film Commission, US)
  • The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season three (Spain Film Commission, Spain)
  • Young Irish Filmmakers (Young Irish Filmmakers, Ireland)

Click here for all the GPA winners

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