Okay, lets cherry-pick some juicy little cinematic morsels from the New Zealand Film Festival tree of delectability!

Programmes are out NOW, get one, get choosing, get booking. And if it helps at all, here are a few picks from what I caught at Cannes and loved, and some picks I am yet to see that I will be queuing up for come July.

I hate to state the obvious to start with, but Lars von Trier’s Melancholia was one of my favourite watches of Cannes and I’m rapt the NZFF has gotten their little mitts on it. Book early to avoid missing out, this is a festival big screen must. In fact, if you book-end the fest with this and the Palme Dór winner Tree of Life you’re set for two epic big screen watches! Strap yourselves in.

Dialing it down a little but no less memorable, is Martha Marcy May Marlene, a taut, creepy, psychological thriller which I adored and you should not miss.

My biggest Cannes regret this year was missing out on The Kid with the Bike, another assured Dardennes masterpiece by all accounts and joint winner of the Grand Prix. It’s top of my NZFF list this year.

Bill Gosden has also managed to secure a gorgeous little film I was lucky enough to see up at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival last year called The First Grader (and practically BEGGED Mr Gosden to consider it )

Let us ponder some comedic options, and this looks like just the ticket, Michael Winterbottom’s The Trip, oh YES!

And the film which has me screaming and sobbing with hysterical laughter (and that’s just the trailer) is The Guard. It’s from the same guys who did In Bruges and it stars Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle. See you there.

Miranda July’s first feature Me and You and Everyone We Know entranced so many of us and this unique cinematic voice is back with The Future. Just watching the trailer makes me feel happy.

Let’s talk docos. Despite the fact that I’m not a motor-racing fan, the Ayrton Senna documentary Senna looks gripping and is part of a special Sports Section at this years festival.

I’ll also be heading to see Page one: Inside the New York Times.

Incredibly Strange is ram-packed with an eclectic assortment of craziness. Hobo with a Shotgun will no doubt be a sell-out, 13 Assassins and The Woman also head our way.

NZFF is of course not just all about films from beyond our shores, but the Homegrown Section boasts some excellent offerings from emerging local filmmakers, including the award-winning Cannes short Blue.

As far as Special Presentations, the fest this year brings you the unique opportunity to see the late Merata Mita’s documentary Mana Waka, along with Martin Scorsese’s restored classic Taxi Driver.

Head to www.nzff.co.nz to see the full list of film titles and get booking!

- Kate Rodger

Expat New Zealand director Andrew Niccol is working on a sci-fi film written by Twilight author Stephenie Meyer. Niccol, whose writing and directing credits include The Truman Show, Gattaca, Lord of Warand The Terminal, will helm The Host, starring Saoirse Ronan of The Lovely Bones.

Published in 2008, The Host is Meyer’s follow-up to her best-selling Twilight series and is about an invasion by entities that take over human minds while leaving their bodies intact. Niccol, who has also adapted Meyer’s book for the film’s screenplay, will start shooting in Louisiana and New Mexico in February. The film is due out in early 2013.

- TimeOut

It is the curly hair and pointy ears that do it. Sir Peter Jackson has finally revealed the transformation of British actor Martin Freeman to Bilbo Baggins, the lead character of The Hobbit.

The sneak peak at Bilbo comes in one of three photographs offering the first glimpses of the much-anticipated Lord of the Rings precursor to be released – with the photos also showing Sir Ian McKellen reprising his role as Gandalf the wizard.

The photographs were released exclusively to The Dominion Post and American magazine Entertainment Weekly.

“He fits the ears, and he’s got some very nice feet,” Jackson said of Bilbo. “I think he’s got the biggest hobbit feet we’ve had so far. They’re a little bit hard to walk in, but he’s managed to figure out the perfect hobbit gait.”

The photograph shows Freeman standing in what is likely to be his home of Bag End in Hobbiton as he reads a document. Out of focus in another room are some of the 13 dwarves who visit Bilbo to convince him to go to the Lonely Mountain for treasure guarded by a dragon.

JRR Tolkien fans will probably debate exactly what is being shown. It is possible it is a condensed version of a scene in the book where Bilbo reads a contract from the dwarves on what profit he will receive if he accompanies them.

Jackson is shown in another photo leaning on a table in Bag End in deep discussion with Freeman.

“There’s no way you can pace yourself for shoots like these,” Jackson told Entertainment Weekly. “When we were going through the schedule for The Hobbit, I felt a terrible drop in my stomach when I saw that we’d be shooting for 254 days. We’re only 12 days short of The Lord of the Rings even though we’re only doing two movies. When I saw that, I had to sort of pick myself up off the floor and carry on.”

The third photograph has McKellen as Gandalf the Grey, who plays as prominent a role in The Hobbit as he did in The Lord of the Rings.

“He’s in fantastic form. In a way, his role in The Hobbit has more technical difficulties than Lord of the Rings did, because he has scenes with 14 smaller characters – obviously the dwarves and the hobbit are shorter… I remember saying to him, `Look, this isn’t Waiting for Godot or King Lear. This is The Hobbit. This is the real thing.”

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is released in December 2012 and part two, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, in December 2013.

- Tom Cardy

And so to the most important film event of the week and – to the very many involved – the year.

No, it’s not Transformers III and it doesn’t involve deciding whether it’s worth paying extra for the 3D goggles.

It is the national finals of the V48Hours film contest which comes to the Civic on Saturday after city finals have whittled down the 800 or so team entries to a final 13.

The winner is up for some serious prizes. Plus, there are awards in a long list of categories from acting through to the best use of this year’s mandatory prop (a piece of wire), line (“what have you got?”) and character (Bobby Young, an ex-bully).

The teams also drew a genre out of the hat at the start of that weekend of madness in May.

Categories included fad movie (yes, lots of planking, none made the final cut), one-room, crime, road, revenge, mystery, musical/dance and horror.

Now only a baker’s dozen of films remain – 10 finalists chosen by a judging panel headed by contest organiser Ant Timpson with three wildcards added by Sir Peter Jackson. And it’s not all amateur handycam wielders in the final 13.

Among many of the Auckland finalists, you can’t move for former or current Shortland Street stars, some playing themselves. As one of the characters in Shonky Productions’ very knowing entry entitled 48 Hours tells leading man Ben Boyce: “We’ve got cameos coming out our arse.”

The Child Jumpers by Grand Cheval: This mockumentary about the fad of “chumping” – jumping over children – won the Auckland finals. It’s hilarious. It should win the big prize too.

Headshot by idiotVision: Auckland team and past regular finalists prove you can make a five-minute romantic comedy based on fart jokes. Quite lovely.

Sketch by Couch Kumaras: A road movie from this Wellington outfit doesn’t use a whole lot of road but it delivers an imaginative line in a story about an artist and a guy who doesn’t want to be drawn into the picture.

Circus Animals by Mo Appreciation Collective: The “best use of prop” prize should go to this Auckland team for their electrifying application of it in this two-handed duel. Bears a curious resemblance to an early Brooke Fraser video though.

Tea Jerker by Cinema in Decline: You’ll never hear anyone stir their tea quite the same again after this delightfully crude comedy, sorry, crime movie about one guy’s onanism. Set in Levin, which, of course, is always a bonus.

Copy That by Lense Flare: Regular past finalists headed by former Shortland Street serial killer Johnny Barker offer a tense little heist-kidnap, sorry, road movie set in the back of a courier van.

RoboRevenge by Clinky: In which Shavaughn Ruakere repeatedly stabs a giant robot – no, it’s not her Transformers audition tape but a quirky revenge flick complete with DVD extras.

Well Strung by Rubber Soul Productions: New Plymouth musical/dance effort about a gal who swings between two blokes in the course of one day. Nice voices, dubious dancing though.

Urban Etikit by $195 Worth: Four friends run around central Auckland flying kites while avoiding the anti-kiting authorities. Strangely involving.

Naughty Man by Suspect TV: From Christhurch, a creepy wee horror starring a toddler who thinks there is something amiss in the loo. Possibly influenced by the city’s recent troubles with its plumbing. Hilarious opening titles.

Meanie Pants by Mukpuddy: The pro Auckland animation team are regular finalists and they made the cut care of Jackson’s wildcard selection. What this fairytale quest movie lacks in story sense it sure makes up for in silly voices.

Grindin’ by Outwits: A Flashdance pastiche set mostly in a Christchurch chimney shop was another wildcard. Wins prize for best use of leotard.

48 Hours by Shonky Productions: And to finish, the aforementioned film about making a 48-hour film in which Ben Boyce doesn’t even get out of bed. Sheesh. Telly stars huh?

- Russell Baillie

At which point do you decide that you’ve seen too much of an actor?  Is it when they’ve played the same character for 20 odd years on a soap?  Is it when they’ve played two different characters on two different shows on two differentnetworks in the space of two weeks?  Where is that line?

While drama schools appear to be full of aspiring actors and actresses there only seems to be an elite few who manage to land the lead roles in our locally-produced TV dramas.  While one could argue that the talent pool is vast with those seeking a career in acting, for those that actually do have a career, the options in New Zealand aren’t.

With season runs seemingly getting shorter, landing a role on The Almighty Johnsons is really only a 10 week gig in broadcast time which leaves a lot of space for the other 42 weeks of the year. Other than asking if you’d like some fries with that, what other options are there but to audition for every other show going into production?

Next month, TV One will start screening their new drama Nothing Trivial. Its lineup of stars includes Shane Cortese (Burying Brian, Outrageous Fortune, Shortland Street, The Almighty Johnsons), Tandi Wright (This is Not My Life, Out of the Blue), Nicole Whippy (Outrageous Fortune, Jacksons Wharf), Blair Strang (Go Girls, Shortland Street, Kaitangata Twitch) and Debbie Newby-Ward (Legend of the Seeker, The Pretender).

Particularly for Shane, this is his fourth new character since his villain days on Shortland Street – the third in the space of twelve months.  Shane is a much loved actor but does it get a little too much when we see him in so many different roles in such a short space of time?

We had similar questions here when Booke Williams, who played the love of Van West in Outrageous Fortunesuddenly looked to be Axel’s long-lost love Frigg on The Almighty Johnsons.  (Thankfully, the casting folk for Go Girlsmanaged to do a fantastic job in finding some great new talent for their show.)

So where is the line?  How many characters should an actor play in any given time?  Or should we not worry about this and just celebrate talented actors staying in work on our screens?

- Throng

NZ On Air has announced funding for a major new  drama series from the writers and producers of  Outrageous Fortune and Go Girls.

Nothing Trivial is a comic drama based around the five  members of a pub quiz team with one thing in  common: each is unlucky or unhappy in love.

The 13-part series, which is intended to screen at  prime time on TV ONE, will receive $6.9 million in  funding.

NZ On Air said they are excited about the project.
“We’ve been looking for a quality drama to serve TV ONE audiences for a while now, and this one has all the credentials. The series deals with matters common to us all – life, love and the pursuit of happiness – in a witty and quintessentially Kiwi way,” said NZ On Air chief executive Jane Wrightson.

Made by South Pacific Pictures, the series has been created by award-winning writers Rachel Lang and Gavin Strawhan.

- TVNZ

The star of United States television medical series House, Hugh Laurie, is on his way to New Zealand and Papua New Guinea to film a feature adaptation of the novel Mister Pip.

Mister Pip, written by New Zealand author Lloyd Jones in 2006, tells the story of the last white man left on the strife-torn island of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea.

He reopens a school and reads his favourite novel, Great Expectations, to the students, inspiring a gifted 14-year-old named Matilda.

Laurie, of Blackadder fame, who now stars in House, will film in New Zealand and on Bougainville in May.

The New Zealand Film Commission, New Zealand on Air, TV3 and a number of overseas parties are funding the project.

“It’s an immensely touching, unique, yet completely unsentimental story of love. It is unlike any script I have read, or any story I have ever heard. Plus I get to go to Papua New Guinea and call it work. I am a very lucky man,” Laurie told the Hollywood Reporter.

New Zealander Andrew Adamson, who directed the first two Shrek films, will direct and produce Mister Pip.

-NZPA

SIONE’S 2, the sequel to the New Zealand comedy smash hit Sione’s Wedding, begins production shortly and will be released in cinemas across New Zealand on 19 January 2012.

The sequel will reprise the same characters as they go on yet another quest.

Oscar Kightley (Albert), Robbie Magasiva (Michael), Shimpal Lelisi (Sefa), Iaheta Ah Hi (Stanley), Dave Fane (Bolo), together with Teuila Blakely (Leilani) and Madeleine Sami (Tania) are five years older but are the guys any wiser?

SIONE’S 2 is written by James Griffin and Oscar Kightley, who wrote Sione’s Wedding and will be directed by Simon Bennett, who has won a bunch of awards for his TV direction, including Outrageous Fortune.

Produced by John Barnett and Paul Davis for South Pacific Pictures, the picture is financed by the New Zealand Film Commission, South Pacific Pictures and TV3.

New Zealand distribution will be through Sony and South Pacific Pictures.

Image and Text courtesy of TVNZ

Fong, who is of Korean and Chinese descent, landed the role of the Pink Ranger on the Nickelodeon show, which premiered Feb. 7. Now the actress is smitten with her new home in New Zealand, where the series is being filmed, and the color pink.

“I will be honest pink wasn’t always my favorite color, but it is definitely growing on me,” Fong said from New Zealand where she is busy filming with the other four Power Rangers. “I find myself gravitating to pink items when I shop just because I wear it everyday on set.”

Born and raised in Minnesota, Fong moved to Los Angeles, Calif. in 2004 at the age of 17.  Fluent in Korean and Cantonese, Fong had a huge culture shock when she arrived at California’s Venice High School with a heavy Minnesotan accent.

But she was determined to pursue her Hollywood dreams. The actress was busy balancing auditions, her full-time college schedule and caring for her two younger sisters. Her big break came when she landed the role of Mia, the Pink Ranger who relies on her turtle animal Zord.

She is now one of five Power Rangers who team up to fight evil villains on “Power Rangers Samurai,” which is produced by Saban Brands. The Pacific Citizen caught up with Fong to find out how she’s dealing with her new success and Pink Ranger super powers.

How did you land the role of Mia, the “big sister” to the Power Rangers?
Erika Fong: I auditioned for the role of Mia a few months before I got it. It was a long process and took many call backs to get it. I remember the day of our final call back. They had me stay behind after everyone had left to also read for the role of Emily, the Yellow Ranger. I was the only Asian American going for the role of Mia against many other beautiful ethnicities, and I was proud to represent being the only Asian American there to go for her role. Just days later, when I found out that I got the role, my mother cried and I screamed, ‘I’m moving to New Zealand!’ It’s honestly been one of the best experiences of my life.

How is New Zealand? I understand you’ll wrap up filming there this month.
Fong: I have officially fallen in love with New Zealand and feel so blessed and grateful to be working in such a beautiful country. The people here are incredibly humble and down to earth.

How much of the Pink Ranger’s stunt work do you perform?
Fong: When I first moved to New Zealand, we went straight into stunt training on the second day of our arrival. We were trained by the best Japanese stunt men and women, who have been with Power Rangers all the way back since Mighty Morphin. I remember not being able to move just after the first week, but they whipped us into shape. I was raised learning Tae Kwon Do by my stepfather, who is an eighth degree black belt. It definitely has helped me in many ways.

Were you always a “Power Rangers” fan?
Fong: I was a huge fan of Power Rangers before taking the role. I remember getting off the bus from grade school and I just couldn’t miss the “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.” Kimberly, the Pink Ranger, was my favorite of course! But I specifically remember watching Mighty Morphin, while eating a snack, and doing homework. It was the highlight of my evenings at that age. It’s quite surreal now and I would have never imagined at that age that it was possible for me to be the Pink “Power Ranger Samurai” someday.

Have you always dreamed of a career in showbiz?
Fong: I always knew I wanted to be involved in film or anything arts related where I could express myself. I’ve had a love for film all my life and knew I had a special appreciation for film at a really young age.

I was the kid that wasn’t allowed to rent the new releases, but we always had family movie nights with some type of interesting film nobody had ever heard of. A night out at the movies with the family would be at an old vintage theater watching a classic Alfred Hitchcock flick. I ended up going to school for fashion and art at FIDM in Los Angeles while aspiring to be an actress as well.

The “Power Rangers Samurai” cast seems to get along really well. Can you share with me any funny behind-the-scenes moments?
Fong: One of the other cast members Brittany Pirtle, the Yellow Ranger, and I were both in this intense scene where she gets hit and is badly hurt. I was running to her and I found myself so immersed in the scene that I thought it was so real. When I was supposed to scream her character’s name, Emily, I screamed ‘Brittany!!!’ and kept running to her and didn’t even realize it. Yeah, that was quite funny.

What are some of the Pink Ranger’s abilities/gadgets that you wish you could have?
Fong: Pink Ranger Mia has the ability to control the wind with her airway control. I think it would be pretty amazing to control the weather for any occasion you needed: perfect surf, a sunny day at the beach or a windy day to sail! One thing that Mia and I do share is our motherly characteristics. I have two younger sisters. And one thing that we do not share is that she is a terrible cook and I can actually cook up a feast.

When you’re not fighting villains on “Power Rangers Samurai,” how do you spend your time?
Fong: I’m such a sucker for sports. I love anything sports-related where I can be a huge tomboy at times. Football season, basketball season, baseball season and hockey — I love it all. I’ve recently just gotten really into rugby, living in New Zealand. I always enjoy being active, surfing, camping, hiking — pretty much anything outside related.

Music is another love of mine. I’ve been playing the piano since I was 5 years old and love to work on new pieces when I get the time. I love to travel and hope to explore as much of the world as I can in my lifetime. On my down time I enjoy sketching, painting, and sewing. I would love to create a line of my own someday. Of course [I also enjoy] having a night on the couch watching a really good film just by myself or with loved ones. I find myself to be such a family person. Taking time to spend with my family is so important to me.

Did you struggle much in your journey to become an actress?
Fong: I was 17 years old and moved to L.A. in the middle of my senior year of high school from Plymouth, Minn. to pursue my dreams. It was definitely a journey driving all the way. It wasn’t an easy move, but I needed to reach my dreams. Boy did I have a huge culture shock ahead of me.

I can only laugh about it now, but wow was that crazy. I struggled with auditions, while going to college full time, working and taking care of my sisters. It wasn’t easy getting so many “no’s” before a “yes,” but the thing is I never gave up. I refused to give up no matter who got in my way and told me I couldn’t do it. I believed. And soon enough things started to turn. I believe staying true to myself along the way has guided me. I remember promising myself eight years ago … to always remember where I was from, to always carry my values with me no matter where I went in life, and to always treat people the way I would want to be treated. I think it’s important to surround yourself with good people, friends and family. That’s what has kept me grounded in this industry.

Image and interview courtesy of Pacific Citizen