Not that easy to catch our favourite movies

Laura Vodanovich

This week has been an interesting learning curve for me on how films are selected for the New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) here at MTG Hawke's Bay.

Having yesterday gone through the trailers and descriptions of films we were given to choose from, I thought that was the selection done.

I'd even started writing this column about the films that were coming, but it turns out it's not as simple as that.

I'd never truly understood why we couldn't simply get the films we wanted and, while my understanding of the whole system is still a bit shaky, I now have a better picture of the process and complexities.

A number of films come in with a limited licence to screen, ie can only be shown a certain number of times, and these end up in the larger cities where they have longer festivals, more screenings and more film-goers.

Some films may be too close to general release or there may be arrangements with venues to show all of a certain genre - for example the Len Lye Centre tends to get a lot of the art films.

The organisers then create a list of 40 or so films that they think will do well in the regions and we're sent this list to make a selection.

That's where yesterday came in and I got very excited and wanted to tell you about the films coming here.

So, what have I learned since then? Well, there are other venues across the country running the film festival at the same time and there will be competing demands.

The films can't just be sent electronically to all the venues at the same time.

They are sent as a physical copy and often require a code to unlock them (provided close to the time of screening).

So the organisers have to juggle what everyone wants against the availability of the films and transportation arrangements. We wait with bated breath to see which films we'll get.

And of course it's all a matter of taste - we can try to select what we think looks interesting and will appeal to a wide group but ultimately can't be sure.

There are films we'd like because they are relevant - museum films, arts and culture subjects, regionally or nationally relevant topics - but we cannot predict what you, the viewing public, will choose to come and see.

Rest assured, we do campaign for the films we would really like to see here but we just have to wait and hope.

In the meantime I can say there will be a range of films covering adventure, comedy, drama/suspense, children's films and (hopefully) some arts and culture.

We think the film festival works fabulously well in the beautiful Century Theatre and want to keep running it here.

There are still too many people who are surprised when I tell them we run the NZIFF every year, so can I ask you to help spread the word about the festival, which starts this year on September 7 and runs until September 24.

* Bach-A-Thon, Sunday, July 30, 10:05am-5pm. Twenty-five pianists play five-minute performance pieces of Bach throughout the day, surrounded by paintings from our latest exhibition, Freedom and Structure: Cubism and New Zealand Art 1930-1960. Free with museum entry.

* Pecha Kucha, Tuesday, August 8, 6pm-8pm. Come along and hear about the hopes, dreams, passions and obsessions of a bunch of fabulous Hawke's Bay folk. Door sales only. $7 (cash only, please).

* Drop-in-zone. Our popular family drop-in-zone will be open every Saturday and Sunday with craft activities and a story corner, to complement the colouring wall and museum scavenger hunt.

* Laura Vodanovich is the director of the Museum Theatre Gallery (MTG) Hawke's Bay.