First N.Z. feature film for Cannes

Press, 23 April 1984, Page 10

First N.Z. feature film for Cannes

PA Wellington “Vigil,” the first feature film by the young Welling-ton-based film-maker, Vincent Ward, has been selected for the official competition section at Cannes Film Festival. It is the first New Zealand feature film selected for Cannes, the biggest commercial and cultural event in the international film world’s calendar. The New Zealand Film Commission’s chairman, Mr Bill Sheat, described the selection of “Vigil” as the most important international recognition yet given to the New Zealand film industry. It is rare for a first feature film by a young director to be selected for the competition. About 20 films are chosen each year and places are normally reserved for the most renowned directors of the world.

“Vigil” will be eligible for prizes awarded by a jury of directors chaired this year by the English actor-author, Dirk Bogarde.

The most important prize is the Golden Palm for the best film of the year. Previous Golden Palm winners have included Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita,” Antonioni’s “Blow Up,” Lindsay Anderson’s “If,” Robert Altman’s “M.A.5.H.,” “The Conversion,” and “Apocalypse Now,” and Martin Scorcese’s “Taxi Driver.”

Mr Ward, aged 27, and the producer, John Maynard, both said they were delighted by the selection. Mr Maynard said he always knew he was working with one of the best directors to come out of Australia and New Zealand. Mr Sheat said the film commission was particularly delighted because Mr Ward was one of the first film-makers to be supported by the commission when it was established in 1978.

He was confident “Vigil” would be successful throughout the world. It would be a vindication of the commission’s policy of investing only in indigenous New Zealand films. “Vigil/ which was shot in Taranaki late last year, centres around an 11-year-

old girl coming to terms with a change in her life. It had already been selected for the Directors’ Fortnight event at the Cannes Film Festival, but this invitation will now have to be declined.

Messrs Maynard and Ward will both attend the festival, which runs from May 11 to May 23. Mr Maynard plans to release “Vigil” in New Zealand as soon as possible after the August school holidays.

Mr Ward co-wrote and directed his first short film “A State of Seige” at the age of 21. His second film was “In Spring One Plants Alone,” a documentary on an ageing Maori woman’s struggle for survival with her dependent son. Both films won awards. In 1982 the New Zealand feature, “The Scarecrow,” directed by Sam Pillsbury, was selected for the Directors’ Fortnight of the Cannes Film Festival. Last year Geoff Murphy’s “Utu” was officially selected for screening in the “out of competition” category. The 22 major films to be shown at Cannes are:

“Vigil,” by Vincent Ward (New Zealand); “Broadway Danny Rose,” by Woody Allen (U.S., not in competition); “Voyage To Cythera,” by Theo Angelopoulos (Greece); “Henri IV,” by Marco Bellochio (Italy); “After the Rehearsal,” by

Ingmar Bergman (Sweden, not in competition); “Los Santos Inocentes” (The Holy Innocents), by Mario Camus (Spain); “Quilombo,” by Carlos Diegues (Brazil); “The Bounty” by Roger Donaldson (U.S.); “The Day Longer Than the Night,” by Lana Gogoberitze (Soviet Union); “Where the Green Ants Dream,” by Werner Herzog (West Germany); “Under the Volcano,” by John Huston (U.S.); “Once Upon a Time in America,” by Sergio Leone (Italy, not in competition, and shown at a special gala); “Naplo,” by Marta Meszaros (Hungary); “Success is the Best Revenge,” by Jerzy Skolimowski (Britain); “Ghare Baire” (Home And The World), by Satyajit Ray (India); “Paris Texas,” by Wim Wenders (West Germany); “Cal,” by Pat O’Connor (Ireland); “Another Country,” by Marek Kanieska (Britain); “The Element of Crime,” by Lars von Trier (Denmark); “Fort Saganne,” by Alain Comeau (France, not in competition); “La Pirate,” by Jacques Doillon (France); and ? ‘Un Dimanche a La Campagne,” (A Sunday in the Country) by Bertrand Tavernier (France).