Big Screen Symposium & Script to Screen

Moderated by Brita McVeigh.

“When writing, drawing from the subconscious is slower and more arduous, difficult to find – but perhaps in the end the pain creates something beautiful and idiosyncratic, and this is often the part that the viewer takes away and remembers, the part that gets under our skin.”

Cate Shortland is the acclaimed writer/director of the award-winning and profoundly memorable features SOMERSAULT and LORE, as well as a screenwriter on some of Australia’s most renowned television drama.

Cate uses examples from her film work to chart her writing process: from the genesis of an idea, to taking risks with character, to building scenes from the page up with actors and choreographers – and the vital role of imagery, landscape, and the subconscious.

Cate's session took place on Saturday 24th September, 2:45pm at the Big Screen Symposium 2016, in Auckland, NZ.

The Big Screen Symposium is New Zealand's annual premiere film event, proudly brought to you by Script to Screen and J&A Productions.

In a powerful response to the total absence of feature films made by Māori women directors since Merata Mita – WARU is a ground-breaking 80-minute film made by eight Māori women directors, that follows the lives of eight women all connected by a single, heart-breaking event.

Each episode is a self-contained 10 minute vignette, told in real time, and shot in a single take. Each one follows a different lead character during the same moment in time. The project was instigated by producers Kerry Warkia and Kiel McNaughton of Brown Sugar Apple Grunt, and the whole film was shot over eight days.

Join the writers and directors Katie Wolfe, Briar Grace-Smith, Ainsley Gardiner, Chelsea Winstanley, Paula W. Jones, Renae Maihi, Casey Kaa, Awanui Simich-Pene and Josephine Stewart-Tewhiu – as they each in turn present a short address on what risk means to them in the context of this new collaboration – still in progress.

Session: Sat 24 Sept, 11am, Big Screen Symposium 2016, Auckland, NZ.

The Big Screen Symposium is New Zealand's annual premiere film event, proudly brought to you by Script to Screen and J&A Productions.