Venue Announced For Wellington Film Festival

30 May 2002

MEDIA RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VENUE ANNOUNCED FOR WELLINGTON FILM FESTIVAL

The main venue for this year's Wellington Film Festival will be Hoyts Mid-City Cinema complex in Manners Street.

Festival director Bill Gosden announced that the Festival has negotiated a sub-lease of the Mid-City complex from Hoyts. The Wellington Film Festival will take over staffing and management of the cinemas for the duration of the Film Festival, from July 18 - August 3. "The economics of running a Film Festival demand large capacity cinemas and The Mid-City offers us three screens with 400 seats each. There is also ample foyer space which we will be transforming unmistakably into Film Festival territory for the duration," said Gosden. "We are very pleased that Hoyts have been able to turn the space over to the Festival. We've also been very gratified by the offers of assistance we have received from Wellington's other cinema operators. Given the availability of the Mid-City the possibility of keeping the alternative screens under one roof was irresistible. "

Screenings will also be scheduled at the Paramount, the Festival's original home, and secondary venue since the move to the Embassy in 1984. Ticketing will be handled by Ticketek.

Festival organisers were informed late last month that the Embassy Theatre would not be available due to the on-again, off-again renovation work which begins next week.

The full festival programme will be announced on June 19, but many titles have already been announced on the Festival's website. The loss of the Embassy has forced the Festival to drop its annual Live Cinema performance of a silent-era film with the Wellington Sinfonia. The confirmation of the venue enables the Festival to retain an otherwise complete programme.

For more information please contact

Shelley McCarten

Film Festival Publicist

shelley@nzff.co.nz

04 802 2576

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