About the Aotearoa/New Zealand Film Heritage Trust

Te Puna Ataata

For over fifty years New Zealand has had an active film industry, producing a rich and wonderful range of New Zealand stories for local and international audiences. But with each year that passes it becomes more difficult to locate rights holders for the older titles: as pioneering filmmakers are no longer with us, long-established production companies have closed, paper trails are lost and rights diluted by inheritance.

The Trust was launched in 2017 (following the repurposing of the New Zealand Film Production Fund Trust) to fill the need for an industry-focused entity that filmmakers could appoint to manage their films, to preserve their legacy and to ensure availability into the future.

On behalf of rights holders the Trust will work to ensure their films continue to be accessible and available including for educational and research purposes. The negotiation of licensing, distribution, and one-off screenings will be pursued on a case-by-case basis with the aim of maximizing continued exposure and appreciation as well as any income opportunities.

Te Puna Ataata

Te Puna is a pool or wellspring of water. For the Aotearoa/New Zealand Film Heritage Trust, te puna symbolises the depth of knowledge within the content of the films that the Trust holds. It also symbolises the collective of people – past, present and future – who made the images, and who will also act as Trustees.

Ataata is a reflection. In a contemporary context, it refers to images, and in this case, to film.

Combined, the title Te Puna Ataata has a myriad of meanings. In Māori it is at once a collective with an in-depth knowledge of image, and a repository of images.

Our Māori name was gifted to the Trust by Teremoana Harrison (Te Whānau-ā-Apanui). Tere is a Director, Producer, Journalist, Activist, and Te Reo Advisor.

Trust Board

Poari Kaitiaki

Managed by a board of five Trustees, Aotearoa/New Zealand Film Heritage Trust is an incorporated and charitable trust under the Charities Act 2023 (No. CC30241). Trust Chair is Mladen Ivancic (interim) who is one of two independent trustees alongside Kate Mooney. Film industry representative trustees are Robin Laing and Sue Rogers. The New Zealand Film Commission appointed trustee is Karen Larsen.

Further information on the Trust can be found in the Trust Deed, and our latest audited Performance Report.