Arrivederci for Italian Film Festival after 19 years
Sponsors are harder to find for cultural events.
The curtain has come down on the largest and longest running of the country-specific film festivals.
The Italian Film Festival was launched 19 years ago but won’t be running this year due to lack of sponsors.
Tony Lambert, who has directed the festival for the past 14 years, says "times are getting tougher and sponsorship is harder to come by.”
Other film festivals to have the same problem include the Hong Kong Festival, which has removed its film component, and Doc Edge, which presented a reduced programme.
Ironically, the shift to digital exhibition has been a major player in the Italian festival’s demise.
Although this makes it cheaper to get the films to New Zealand and move them around the country (the festival played to 17 centres), the major sponsor for several years was freight company DHL.
Previous sponsors have included Cathay Pacific Airways, Alfa Romeo cars and Lavazza coffee.
Last year, the festival presented 17 features that reflected a cross-section of Italian cinema.
Meanwhile, the Goethe Institut-sponsored German Film Festival returns next month and will screen in Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin and New Plymouth.
The New Zealand International Film Festival has had its most successful year in Auckland, with more than 100,000 attendees and extended sessions for several titles.
The festival is running in 13 centres around the country.
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Nevil Gibson
Fri, 21 Aug 2015
Fri, 21 Aug 2015
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Arrivederci for Italian Film Festival after 19 years
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