Lights, camera, lack of action II

The organisers of the cancelled Wanganui Film Festival have responded to our request to put their side of the story as to why the Festival never got off the ground this year. As per our commitment to them, their reply follows, unabridged:

I have just had a look at your website, and am sickened at the talk emanating from a bunch of no-hopers that have done nothing for this city, but then choose to denigrate people who have made an effort. If they are so pissed off that we are not going to run another film festival at our loss (2002/3/4 cost me personally, upwards of $10,000), I would ask, where were they in February this year when the subject of a 2005 festival was being thrashed out in the Chronicle and the open Council meetings? They obviously have no idea of the time-line for putting any festival together, and probably couldn't run a raffle. Ask Yvonne O'Connor about the two years of hard yakker and huge funding required to get Wanganui Blooming Arts Festival prepared.

Thank you to Nygllhuw Morris who has attempted to put the record straight, but let me give some details that might fill the gaps.

[In] early January I consulted with the Mayor as to whether a festival was viable, considering our previous losses. He said it was good for Wanganui, and suggested that a mid-winter festival might be best. I put to the Mayor that we could not put a festival together without guaranteed funding - either from the council or from the NZ Film Commission (whose applications were to close the following Monday). Based on the cost of previous festivals, and innovations planned, it was agreed that $20,000 plus sponsorship of prizes would provide a workable budget.

We discussed the point that the 2004 festival had received some funding from the 2004/05 Community contract, and any application to the 2005/06, if granted, would not be paid out until after the 2005 festival.

The Mayor then said that our film festival was an important event, and he would see what could be done to find some support in council. He added that he would consider making a personal contribution, should council funds not be available. On this strength of this, I made a hasty application to the NZFC Festival Fund. (We had been unsuccessful on the three previous occasions, but felt we were in with a chance after having proved ourselves.)

Philip Shackleton was asked to investigate whether or not there would be another source of funding within council. Philip discovered that a $20,000 grant in the 2004/5 Community Contract was not going to be taken up, and he prepared a submission to the Economic committee.

The Rivercity Film Festival did not make this application; the first I knew of it was at the actual meeting, where I was unable to speak. This was the meeting where [Cr Barbara] Bullock had the opportunity to discuss and consider the merits of the festival, but chose instead to use her power vindictively, just to get one up on the Mayor. It was immediately after this meeting that Nygllhuw Morris resigned from the Film Wanganui Trust; this being the first indication of how the misrepresentation and manipulation of the facts would affect any outcome.

A couple of weeks later, the 'application' was put to a general meeting of council, that decided to pass it on to yet another committee that would meet in three weeks time. The following day, we received notice that our NZFC application had been refused, leaving us with no guarantee of funding from sources other than Council.

Time had run out for us. There was no chance of preparing for a mid-winter film festival based on the competition that required competitors to produce films from scratch and have them in for judging, selection, sending off to the NZ Film Labeling body (takes a month, costs $2,000 - $3,000), plus our own requirements for booking of venue, advertising, lectures, speakers, judges etc., and also renegotiating with our sponsors for prizes.

Had Ms Bullock weighed up the pros and cons of using the $20,000 surplus in the Community fund, and decided that the film festival was not worthy, that would have been fine. We could have gone back to the Mayor and put the hard word on him personally. However, as Bullock managed to hold up the process by big-noting herself at our expense, the delay before a council decision, yea or nay, was death to the Rivercity Film Festival.

The NZFC denied our application 'because of the need to support NZ culture'! Their criteria for funding is that competition and awards should be apply, that the public can see and discuss the films, and that the festival should show previous success. The inaugural Wairoa Maori Film Festival received $25,000, after having already received $80,000 for the event, from the Ministry of Economic Development.

Perhaps some of your 'loyal' citizens who are choking your website, should attack the real culprits who brought the Rivercity Film Festival to extinction.

Marion Campbell

Firstly, our congratulations and thanks to Marion Campbell for responding to public concerns and addressing them here. Especially considering the Rivercity Film Festival was essentially a private initiative (albeit one which sought public funding). It throws into stark contrast the accountable-to-no-one approach taken by other Wanganui entities, notably Port of Wanganui Ltd and, more recently, John Unsworth and his Splash Centre cheerleaders who've been repeatedly asked to explain what's going on.

Secondly, as some commenters predicted, the organisers clearly blame Council - and Cr Bullock in particular - for the fact that funding was not forthcoming.

While we don't dispute Ms Campbell's account, it does overlook a few points we think are relevant:

1. Whilst the application was indeed stymied at the Economic Committee meeting on 8 February, it was raised at full Council a couple of weeks later, as Ms Campbell details in her response. If a majority of Councillors were behind the project, they could have dealt with it then, not kicked it to the curb as they did. So blaming one Councillor (and in fact it was Crs Bullock, Wills and Dhaya who spoke in opposition to the application on 8 February) seems a little harsh. Seems like they all dithered.
2. As Ms Campbell states "...there was no chance of preparing for a mid-winter film festival..." but the impetus for changing dates to the middle of winter came from the Diva, tagged to his promise of sponsorship from the Mayoral salary. With the ongoing failure by Council to act, the way was open for the Diva to ride to the rescue and honour his promise (made in his "Cats Away" column on 21 February, and personally in January to the organisers) to make a donation. Why should it have needed the organisers to "[go]back to the Mayor and put the hard word on him personally"? When Council (for whatever reason) sat on it's hands on 8 February, the way was open for him to honour his promise. Having decreed the change of dates to mid-winter, it wouldn't take a genius to figure out that the Festival organisers needed the money then and there.
3. And what on earth are the bureaucrats at the NZ Film Commission up to?! A film festival, with a proven record of success, refused "because of the need to support NZ culture"? Clearly Wellington's view of "culture" is somewhat narrowly defined.

Seems to us this is a tale of incompetence from go to woe - but not on the part of the hard-working organisers.

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