India is buzzing with anticipation as blockbuster Bollywood feature film I Hate Luv Storys, partly filmed in Queenstown, premieres tomorrow (Friday 2 July) in India and across the World.

Starring the latest Bollywood heart throbs Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor, the plot revolves around a couple coming to film a ‘Bollywood love story’ in Queenstown and getting caught up in their own love story at the same time.

Tourism New Zealand Regional Manager India & South East Asia, Kiran Nambiar played a leading role himself in attracting the film-makers to New Zealand . He also spent time with the crew during filming in Queenstown to help make sure things went smoothly.

The blockbuster will showcase Queenstown and New Zealand as a visitor destination to an expected audience of 150 million during its run.

“With growth in Indian arrivals expected be modest over the coming months I Hate Luv Storys, tipped to be a Bollywood success, is a fantastic opportunity for New Zealand to increase exposure in this developing market,” says Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler.

The remake of the 1984 classic “Karate Kid” opens in Wellington on July 8th at Reading Courtney Central and a local karate school is providing free classes for all who attend the opening day.

 “There is probably no greater way to improve a child's self esteem and confidence than martial arts.” says Sean Fitzpatrick, instructor at Family Martial Arts, a Wellington based school with a highly specialised childrens program.

“That is really the message of of the original and also of this 2010 version.” Everyone who attends any screening of the film on opening day can use their ticket stub to get two weeks free karate lessons where their child will learn the three secrets to improved self confidence.

“We really want to encourage as many people as possible to go and see this film and discover for themselves how the excitement kids develop over martial arts can be channelled into developing lifeskills, behavioral breakthroughs and fitness”

“This is an opportunity for people to discover first hand the wonderful impact a quality, professionally run martial arts school can have on their family,” Fitzpatrick adds, “so they should get along to Reading Courtney Central on Thursday July 8th or if they have any other questons contact our school directly.”

Heading over the ditch for the Sydney Film Festival has proved a successful outing for BOY after it was officially announced today that BOY has won the 2010 Audience Award for Fiction Feature Film.  This is the first time in twenty years a New Zealand film has won the Audience Award at the Sydney Film Festival, since An Angel at My Table in 1990.

This impressive win is a huge boost for the Australian release of BOY in August. Two of the most successful New Zealand films to have been released in Australia were Whale Rider and Once Were Warriors and winning this award has given BOY the potential to give these films another run for their money across the Tasman, after over-taking both in the New Zealand box office charts.

BOY is likely to crack $9m at the NZ box office in the next few of weeks and the distributors are eager to motivate the NZ public that have not seen this film to do so before Australia claim it as their own!  Rumors abound that the goat will be removed from BOY and be replaced with a kangaroo, to create a more Australasian film. “Come on Kiwi’s let’s put that  box office as far out of reach of Australia as we can!” commented Transmission Films this morning.

BOY, written, directed and starring Taika Waititi is a hilarious and heartfelt coming-of-age story.  Set on the rural East Coast during the 80’s, BOY tells the tale of Boy, Rocky and their inept wannabe gangster father Alamein.  Inspired by Waititi’s Oscar-nominated Two Cars, One Night and his own childhood in Waihau Bay.  

Released through Transmission Films on 54 screens nationwide, BOY has now widened to over 75 screens throughout the country due to popular demand.

WELCOME is the multi award-winning new film from writer/director Philippe Lioret – a compassionate and inspiring drama about the unlikely friendship between two men contending with issues of lost love and dislocation.

17-year-old Bilal (Firat Ayverdi) has spent the last three months travelling illegally across Europe, in an attempt to reunite with his girlfriend who has moved with her family to England.

WELCOME is in cinemas July 1^st.

After an astounding, record-breaking release in New Zealand, BOY has now entered the chart of top ten grossing films of all time in New Zealand.  In just 12 weeks, BOY has become number eight on this chart grossing over $8.5million. 

This places BOY ahead of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Chronicles of Narnia – Lion, Witch & Wardrobe, and well on its way to chasing down King Kong.

This incredible feat comes not long after BOY became the number one New Zealand film of all time, overtaking The World’s Fastest Indian in just eight weeks due to its consistent high ranking in the weekly box office charts since its March 25^th release.

This is an enormous milestone for a small, independent distributor.  On behalf of Transmission, New Zealand distributor Michael Eldred comments “We never imagined this film would achieve these sort of box office figures.  It is a testament to the support of kiwi cinemas, and audiences!”.

BOY, written, directed and starring Taika Waititi is a hilarious and heartfelt coming-of-age story.  Set on the rural East Coast during the 80’s, BOY tells the tale of Boy, Rocky and their inept wannabe gangster father Alamein.  Inspired by Waititi’s Oscar-nominated Two Cars, One Night and his own childhood in Waihau Bay. 

Released through Transmission Films on 54 screens nationwide, BOY has now widened to 87 screens throughout the country due to popular demand.

Following successful screenings at Cannes Cinephiles, HOME BY CHRISTMAS has now been selected for a further three international film festivals – the Sydney Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival and the Shanghai Film Festival.

This is highly rewarding and a real honor for this very kiwi story. Filmmaker Gaylene Preston, just back from Cannes comments, “It has been a real thrill to find that French audiences relate to the film in the same way that they do in New Zealand, and we look forward to taking the film to Australia and China.”

Preston will also be attending the Sydney Film Festival, to present her heart warming film on Sunday 13th June, where it is showing in official selection.  Accompanying Preston will be her daughter and star of HOME BY CHRISTMAS, Chelsie Preston Crayford.

Previously, Preston’s feature documentary War Stories Our Movies Never Told Us competed in the 1995 Sydney International Film Festival, and took home awards for Most Popular Film and Best Documentary.

HOME BY CHRISTMAS is a film memoir based on Gaylene Preston’s interviews with her father about his World War II experiences, weaving strands of poetic imagined drama, and archival footage into the interview.  Released in New Zealand on April 29^th, the film has now grossed over $1million at the box office

After a stellar opening weekend, New Zealand film BOY has now reached dizzying heights of opening week success with $866,121 at the box office, placing BOY ahead of Sione’s Wedding, Whale Rider and The World’s Fastest Indian opening week figures (as obtained from the New Zealand Motion Picture Distributors Association).  

BOY has consistently held its position at #1 in the box office charts since opening on March 25th.     Critics have raved about the film, with five stars from New Zealand Herald’s Peter Calder, “a very strong piece of work that will quickly become a classic’ and TV3’s Kate Rodger “It feels like a while since I smiled this wide and felt this good watching any film, Kiwi or otherwise”.    

Audiences across the country are erupting in applause at the end of the film – a seldom seen event these days and a clear signal of how much people are enjoying this homegrown hit. 

BFM film reviewer Fabian Fanboy suggests that BOY is “proving to be a  cultural everyone-coming-together moment”.    

New Zealand Film Commission CEO Graeme Mason commented “New Zealanders love New Zealand films but their support and joy for Boy is truly exceptional.  Congratulations to Taika, Ainsley, Cliff, Emanuel and everyone who worked on this wonderful film.”    

New Zealand Distributor Michael Eldred said of the results "It's so pleasing to see audiences really enjoying and appreciating this great film. I've never witnessed such positive word of mouth in 15 years of film distribution."  

   BOY, written, directed and starring Taika Waititi is a hilarious and heartfelt coming-of-age story.  Set on the rural East Coast during the 80’s, BOY tells the tale of Boy, Rocky and their inept wannabe gangster father Alamein.  Inspired by Waititi’s Oscar-nominated Two Cars, One Night and his own childhood in Waihau Bay.    

   BOY is now in good shape to roll on through Easter Weekend and the school holidays, just as competition stiffens with an additional four more films entering the market.

A short film about New Zealand has given one young film-maker his ‘Big Break’.

The film ‘Working Day’ by Andres Borghi from Argentina was selected by New Zealand film legend Sir Peter Jackson as the winner of Tourism New Zealand’s 100% Pure ‘Your Big Break’ short film competition.

The winner has just been announced in the US, with the film screened to viewers of the 25^th Film Independent Spirit Awards, the premier independent film event in the US.

Andres Borghi was one of five finalists in the short film competition that travelled to Queenstown last month to direct their films alongside Lord of the Rings producer Barrie Osborne.

Sir Peter Jackson said: “The standard of all five films was very high. Any of them deserved to win, but it came down to personal choice. [Working Day] stood out as a fresh and original piece of storytelling. This was an extremely accomplished piece and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for Andres’ future work.”

“100% Pure New Zealand jump started my work and career,” says Andres Borghi, who also acted in his film. “I also thank Peter and Barrie for helping me polish my work and gain international exposure.”

Borghi and the other finalists – two Americans and two New Zealanders – were selected from a pool of over 1,000 screenplays submitted between 9 December 2009 and 15 January 2010.

Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler said interest in the competition exceeded expectations, with the competition website – www.your-big-break.com – attracting 18,000 votes and 2.5 million video views in the first phase of the competition.

“This campaign has generated a huge amount of interest from the film community both here and internationally, and was extremely successful in terms of both the number of entries received and website views.

“The involvement of industry heavy-weights Sir Peter Jackson and Barrie Osborne helped attract attention in the US, which can be a challenging market to get our 100% Pure New Zealand message across in.

“This competition has not just created ‘talkability’ around New Zealand, it has also given us five excellent short films that capture New Zealand’s scenery, our people and culture which will be seen around the world.”

The five winning films were shown on the Independent Film Channel (IFC) and to around 1,800 celebrities, media and film industry professionals in the 100% Pure New Zealand lounge at the Spirit Awards ceremony.

Television advertising on IFC and Sundance over the last month has helped drive awareness of the competition, and is expected to increase viewership of the Spirit Awards and the winning film.

Engagement through social media websites has also been strong, with over 1,400 fans following developments through Facebook and the ‘Your Big Break’ blog.

A follow-up online campaign will run from Monday 8 March, encouraging film-lovers to book their New Zealand holiday now.

Academy Award winner George Clooney stars in the title role of this suspense thriller, filmed on location in Italy.

Alone among assassins, Jack (played by Mr. Clooney) is a master craftsman. When a job in

Sweden ends more harshly than expected for this American abroad, he vows to his contact Larry (Bruce Altman) that his next assignment will be his last. Jack reports to the Italian countryside, where he holes up in a small town and relishes being away from death for a spell.

The assignment, as specified by a Belgian woman, Mathilde (Thekla Reuten of “In Bruges”), is in the offing as a weapon is constructed. Surprising himself, Jack seeks out the friendship of local priest Father Benedetto (Italian stage and screen veteran Paolo Bonacelli) and pursues romance with local woman Clara (Italian leading lady Violante Placido). But by stepping out of the shadows, Jack may be tempting fate.

A new image has been released from the upcoming DreamWorks Animation 3D movie HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON. Releasing in cinemas on 25 March this new image features our hero's dragon-slaying classmates.