A brand-new Coromandel-centric film festival is blossoming this spring in Whitianga. The CoroCine Film Festival is the first event in the coromandel artbeat spring festival, which will pull together a series of creative events mapped out across the peninsula.
For the first time, the CoroCine Film Festival will bring together Coromandel films and filmmakers in an exciting programme over three days in a collaboration between Creative Coromandel and Twin Cinemas Whitianga. CoroCine will also kick off the coromandel artbeat spring festival, a three-month online programme of creative events.
The thriving arts scene in the Coromandel is beginning to rival the beaches as a reason to take a trip down SH25. While there are a number of art festivals and open studio events around the rohe, with the amount of talent bursting out of the peninsula, it was only a matter of time before local filmmakers were coaxed out of their darkened viewing rooms to take their place in the limelight.
The CoroCine Film Festival will take place from September 6 – 8 at the Twin Cinemas in Whitianga. Anne-Maree McDougall owns the cinema with her husband, Matt, and has been a key driver in pulling the festival together. As well as celebrating local films, the festival aims to be a catalyst for people to start making their own films and to inspire those who have always wanted to make a film to see that there is a local venue keen to screen what they have made to an audience.
The impressive programme includes international award-winning filmmakers James Muir (Mauri o te Kauri), Amy Taylor (Milked), Kirsty Griffin and Viv Kernick (The House of Champions) alongside emerging filmmakers and a collection of short films. The festival will kick off on September 6 with a screening of Anton Steele’s The Z Nail Gang, which is based on real events that happened in Kūaotunu when a group of locals fought back against an international mining company with plans to dig an open cast gold mine in the area. Daniel Leo Max’s documentary Baring Our Souls tells the story of a local Tairua man healing himself through art. This topic reflects the themes and genesis of the festival itself, which celebrates art as a way to bring people together.
Earlier this year, Anne-Maree offered the use of the cinema to Ian Preece, a local photographer who was putting together a film of his night photography. Anne-Maree’s generosity meant Ian could see how his film looked on the big screen and adjust as needed – an invaluable experience for a first-time filmmaker.
When both showings of the final version of Ian’s film Starry Starry Night sold out, the seed for CoroCine was planted as Anne-Maree realised what an appetite there was to see local films by local filmmakers on the big screen. After sending out a couple of emails, within 48 hours, Anne-Maree had three major works to show and a film festival was born.
Eventually, Anne-Maree would like the festival to extend to Q&A sessions and workshops to provide a strong platform for local filmmakers to network and learn more about their craft. Anne-Maree sees the festival as an investment in the future and is already looking forward to the day the cinema is thanked by a new Oscar winner who got their start at the CoroCine Festival!
CoroCine is supported by Creative Coromandel – He Mana Toi Moehau, a charitable trust that champions the area’s arts, artists and creative industries. The inaugural CoroCine Film Festival will kick off another Creative Coromandel venture – the coromandel artbeat spring festival, which celebrates the beating pulse of the abundance of art and artists around this rohe.
This will be the second year of the coromandel artbeat spring festival, following a successful launch in 2023. Fiona Cameron, Chair of Creative Coromandel is excited to see the momentum gained in the first year is still building: “The Coromandel has always been a haven for creatives who have made their homes here and forged art careers. This creative spirit was evident last year when we had 70 events who had signed up to be part of our artbeat Spring Festival throughout the three-month festival”.
Fittingly for a spring event, artbeat is an umbrella festival designed to provide cover and promotion for all creative events on the Coromandel between September and December (when, hopefully, summer will mean umbrellas can go back in the cupboard).
The programme is designed as a ‘choose your own adventure’ art trail that can be used to map trips around the peninsula and plan a creative (and scenic) journey that could be as short as a day or as long as three months! Pencilling in stops for coffee and food is enthusiastically encouraged for a true Coromandel experience.
The coromandel artbeat spring festival will bring together and promote a diverse range of artists and creatives. From the CoroCine Film Festival to experimental community music events, and from the Steampunk Festival in Thames to a chemistry course for making pottery glazes, there will be something to inspire and interest everyone. The festival is free for any creatives to register an event and will allow everyone to meet the fascinating artists living in the Coromandel Hauraki rohe.
