Celebrating the Collaborative Spirit at BSS

It has officially been one week since the Big Screen Symposium 2015 and not nearly enough time to digest all of the weekend’s wonderful insights into how each of us can become better collaborators.

This year’s programme was a strong one for directors, firstly with several talented directors in the speaker line-up: Jane Campion, Sebastian Silva, Alison Maclean, Florian Habicht, Libby Hakaraia, Jake Mahaffy and Chris Pryor. In addition, the theme ‘Strengthening Our Collaborative Spirit’ was especially relevant given that collaboration is so essential to the way directors in particular need to work.

Chilean writer and director Sebastian Silva, who spoke over three sessions, provided a breath of fresh air and many laughs. Silva talked openly about his experiences working in independent cinema, which felt very relevant to how filmmakers work in New Zealand.

Thank you to all the DEGNZ members who stopped by our stall during the weekend, making it the best attended stall in the hub (and we’re not saying this because we’re biased)! We feel very pleased to have been able to share our stall with the New Zealand Writers Guild this year – it was a great fit with many of our members being writer/directors.

It may be a little bit early, but we’re already looking forward to the Big Screen Symposium in 2016. I wonder what next year’s theme will be?