New Zealand is set to announce a first-of-its-kind Indigenous co-production initiative at the Toronto Film Festival, New Zealand Film Commission CEO Annie Murray tells Variety. The pact will bring together Māori filmmakers from New Zealand, Aboriginal filmmakers from Australia and Indigenous Canadian filmmakers in a program of collaborative storytelling that none of the three countries could mount alone. The announcement is expected on Saturday, the same day NZFC head of funding Ainsley Gardiner — a filmmaker and Oscar nominee who served as a co-producer on the first Indigenous Canada-New Zealand co-production, “Night Raiders” (2021) — participates in the From Pitch to Partner: Global Co-Production Showcase alongside reps from Telefilm Canada and Eurimages.
For Murray, the initiative reflects a clear creative principle. Debut feature “God Bless You, Mr. Kopu,” from filmmaker Alex Liu, is presented by Murray as evidence of a new generation of confident, culturally specific New Zealand voices.
Haane during the Battle of Takrouna in Tunisia. Murray points to the film’s authenticity as the source of its power. Across all three, Murray sees a common thread: the projects most likely to travel are those most confident in their point of origin.
The minimum qualifying spend threshold for the 20% cash rebate was reduced from NZ$15 million ($8.7 million) to NZ$4 million ($2.3 million) — opening the incentive to independent and mid-budget productions that had previously found New Zealand out of reach. Murray says the first qualifying project under the new settings has already been secured, with others in advanced consideration.
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