Cinema of New Zealand

Cinema of New Zealand
No. of screens411 (2010)[1]
Produced feature films (2024)[2]
Fictional328
Animated2
Documentary117
Number of admissions (2010)[1]
Total15,300,000
 • Per capita3.6 (2010)[3]
Gross box office (2012)[4]
Total$145 million
National films$3.19 million (2.20%)

New Zealand cinema can refer to films made by New Zealand–based production companies in New Zealand. However, it may also refer to films made about New Zealand by filmmakers from other countries. New Zealand produces many films that are co-financed by overseas companies.

The history of cinema in New Zealand is almost as long as the medium itself. The first public screening of a motion picture took place in 1896. A documentary made in 1900 is the oldest surviving New Zealand film, while the first feature film made in New Zealand premiered in 1914. A small-scale industry developed between the 1920s and the 1960s, but it was not until the 1970s that locally made films began to attract significant audiences.

From the 1990s onward, New Zealand-made films have increasingly achieved international success, including both those with local funding and themes, and those with additional foreign cooperation, such as Avatar and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

For a list of the 328 feature films and 117 documentaries made in New Zealand, see List of New Zealand Films.

  1. ^ a b "A trip to the flicks: watching cinema admission prices in the CPI". Statistics New Zealand. Archived from the original on 15 November 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  2. ^ "Table 1: Feature Film Production – Genre/Method of Shooting". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  3. ^ "Cinema – Admissions per capita". Screen Australia. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  4. ^ "Market Study – New Zealand" (PDF). German Films. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.