26 May 2004

Budget 2004 - Greater protection for our screen heritage

Prime Minister Helen Clark said today that New Zealand's unique screen heritage will be enhanced by the government decision in Budget 2004 to allocate additional funds to the New Zealand Film Archive.

"Tomorrow's budget contains an additional $1.52 million over four years for the Film Archive, for restoration, preservation and presentation services," Helen Clark said.

"The funding is a baseline increase of $380,000 per annum, and more than doubles the Film Archive's total annual funding through Vote: Arts, Culture and Heritage to $704,000 for 2004/05 and subsequent years."

Helen Clark made the announcement at the opening of new facilities for the Film Archive, which received $750,000 in the 2002/03 budget for its new Mediaplex in Taranaki St in Wellington.

"The funding in this year's budget will be particularly important for continuing services to the public such as those available at the Mediaplex, and through specific programmes such as the national video access library for secondary schools," Helen Clark said.

"The Film Archive is responsible for more than 90,000 films and videos and over 10,000 stills. Its collection of predominantly New Zealand film and video reflects the range of New Zealand’s moving image history from 1895 to today. "This year’s funding will ensure that the creative sector continues to make a very significant contribution to New Zealand in cultural, economic and social terms," Helen Clark said.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>