KEY POINTS:
Following the recent success of the movie The Tattooist, by New Zealand and Singapore producers, organisers of a Kiwi film festival in Singapore hope the event will lead to more such ventures.
Organiser Robert Skinner, regional manager of Creative Industries - Asia of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, said the four-day festival was "an opportunity to build upon general awareness and target the media industry [of the two countries] to work together more".
He said the festival aimed at showcasing New Zealanders doing well on the global stage and also highlighting the cultural diversity which existed in New Zealand today.
Last week, Singapore President SR Nathan, on his first state visit to New Zealand, announced that Singapore was seeking to boost collaboration in the art and cultural sectors with New Zealand, and there were plans to facilitate more joint productions of television series and animation projects.
Singapore's Senior Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Balaji Sadasivan, who was with the President's entourage, told the Straits Times: "[New Zealand] is the land of the Lord of the Rings.
"They are very advanced in digital and creative technology ... This collaboration will expose our talent to some of the technological capabilities that New Zealand has."
Organisers want to showcase some of these capabilities at the festival, which is in its fifth year, by going multimedia.
Besides the usual feature films, which had been the highlight in past festivals, this year's event, which kicks off on May 8, will also include a documentary, short films and even television series.
Singaporeans will get to view the first two episodes of the sitcom, Flight of the Conchords, before it premieres on cable television in the island republic next month.
The movies have been carefully selected to portray New Zealand as a multicultural society, organisers said.
"I want to portray a new New Zealand that is multicultural, vibrant and dynamic - rather than what may be the prevailing perceptions outside New Zealand," said Mr Skinner.
To be screened are titles such as the Pacific gongfu parody, Tongan Ninja; a movie about a Samoan barista's attempt to bridge the cultural divide with an Ethiopian Muslim woman with an appetite for coffee and badminton, Sima Urale, Coffee and Allah; and Take 3, a short film about three Asian actresses directed by a Chinese New Zealander.
Other movies include Once Were Warriors and a documentary Remembering Ed - a tribute to Sir Edmund Hillary.
