Women in film and TV honoured

New Zealand women in the film and television industry saluted six of their own at the annual Women In Film and Television (Wift) Awards in Auckland last night.

The Award for Outstanding Contribution to the New Zealand Screen Industry went to longtime champion and producer of New Zealand films Robin Scholes.

Scholes is best known for Once Were Warriors, Rain and Crooked Earth, although she has also had a major impact in New Zealand television, devising, producing and directing a number of different series.

Zoe Bell, stunt double to Lucy Lawless as Xena and to Uma Thurman in Kill Bill 2 and recipient of the Taurus World Stunt Award for her work in that film, was awarded the South Pacific Pictures International Achievement in Film Award.

Bell earlier said that stunts were a science, despite the guts and bravado it took to pull them off.

"There's a lot more that goes into it. It's less about the rush and more about the skill involved in it and the profession. Every now and then you get a kick out of it, which is great."

The TV3/C4 Award for Success in New Zealand Television went to Nicole Hoey for her commitment to her kaupapa, spreading the use of te reo Maori in everyday language via television. Her ground-breaking Maori language show, Korero Mai, became a top-rating show for Maori television and Pukana, a Maori language children's show, has run for seven years.

Jane Andrews and Melanie Rakena from Jam TV jointly won the Touchdown Productions Woman to Watch/Emerging Producer Award for their standout programmes Intrepid Journeys and Off The Rails.

Presenting the award, Julie Christie from Touchdown Productions said the New Zealand film and television industry needed entrepreneurial people who could push the boundaries and still come up producing programmes that people could be passionate about.

Women who worked out of the limelight were recognised too, with a Special Award presented to Annie Frear for her longtime work in the industry as a grip.

Frear has worked on many big productions in this country, including The Piano, Desperate Remedies, Channelling Baby, Raiders of the South Seas, Gold, What Became of the Broken Hearted, and The Lord of the Rings.

An institution within the industry, Frear received her award from Wift president Diana Rowan, who described her as an unsung heroine.

- NZPA