The University of Auckland’s Department of Film, Television and Media (FTVMS) will once again take the spotlight at this year’s New Zealand International Film Festival.

Staff and students from the department’s Screen Production programme have been selected for the international line up, with both feature and short films.

For the second consecutive year Senior Lecturer Shuchi Kothari has a feature film in the festival. Last year Apron Strings, written by Dr Kothari and Dianne Taylor, opened the festival. This year, the feature-length Firaaq offers audiences a powerful insight into the aftermath of sectarian violence in India. Firaaq (an Urdu word meaning both separation and quest) is described as an “ensemble work of fiction based on a thousand true stories”.

Starring acclaimed actor Naseeruddin Shah and co-written and directed by Nandita Das, Firaaq is set over a 24-hour period, one month after violent clashes in Gujarat in 2002. More than 3000 Muslims were killed in the carnage, hundreds of thousands were rendered homeless, and the total number of women raped is still unknown. The film explores the impact of such violence on victims, perpetrators and silent witnesses, as the city returns to “normal”.

Firaaq has screened at festivals around the world, including Telluride, Toronto, London, New York, and Pusan, and it has won nine competition awards internationally. Praise for the film has been lofty and widespread: author Salman Rushdie hailed its ability to allow “the humanity of its characters to shine through the darkness, even the horror, of the events it describes, and … the skill with which the many narrative strands are interwoven”. And the International Herald Tribune described the script as a “triumph of interwoven dramas”.

A number of the University’s Screen Production current students and graduates are making their cinematic debuts at this year’s festival. The “Home Grown” series is considered the leading showcase of New Zealand's best short films and videos.

Writer/director Garrick Rigby’s Horses was filmed in 2008 as part of the Screen Production Honours programme. The 15-minute film examines issues of jealousy and domestic violence and why some individuals stay in abusive relationships.
 
Mei Chan graduated with a Masters in Screen Production in May 2009. Her 13-minute MA film Love & Luksaah, which she wrote and directed, is a whimsical tale of love, jealousy, food and martial arts. The film is produced by Alex Lee, a former student of the same programme who went on to co-found the Documentary NZ Film Festival. 

Michael Humpheys graduated with a Masters in Screen Production in May 2008. Big Happiness, his MA final project that he wrote and directed, is a 13-minute exploration of a chance encounter in an art supply shop, a stolen book, and a case of mistaken identity.
 
Another alumnus of the programme, Rohan Wernham, directed the 12-minute animated short x.o.genesis, which mixes stop-motion animation and digital post-production.

Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland’s Six Fifty Dollar Man recently won the special distinction award at Cannes Film Festival. Shuchi and her FTVMS colleague, Senior Lecturer Sarina Pearson, were executive producers of the 15-minute film, which follows the exploits of eight-year-old Andy, a dreamer with ‘superhuman’ powers.

“The department’s marked presence at this much-loved international film festival is becoming an annual event, and I am delighted that this year is no exception,” says Professor Annamarie Jagose, Head of FTVMS. “Inclusion in this festival is yet another demonstration of the high standards achieved within our department as a whole and the Screen Production programme in particular.”

For more information on the NZ International Film Festival 2009 visit http://www.nzff.co.nz/

For more information on Firaaq visit http://www.firaaqthefilm.com/