Film Co-Production Premieres Today

January 26 2005

Chinese-New Zealand Film Co-Production Premieres Today

The premiere of a new documentary co-produced by New Zealand and Chinese companies is being hosted by the Chinese Ambassador Chen Mingming at the Chinese embassy in Wellington today. Made by Dunedin-based NHNZ and Chinese producer Viewpoint Communications, The Diva Mummy tells of how two thousand year old corpses, unearthed in northern china, may well be the best preserved mummies ever found.

Producer of The Diva Mummy Steve Talley describes the find as “astounding”. “These bodies look like they died yesterday. Their skin and limbs are supple; all their internal organs are intact and they still have red blood in their veins.”

Managing Director of NHNZ Michael Stedman says The Diva Mummy is “a true coproduction in every sense of the word.” “Chinese and New Zealand talent has been used in every facet of this production, on screen and off screen. It’s an amazing story and we’re grateful of the work put in by Chinese colleagues to get it to screens all over the world.” NHNZ has enjoying a growing profile in China since opening a Beijing office in 2000. Mr Stedman says NHNZ’s presence in China has been invaluable in the cooperative process between film makers.

“Our Beijing office was established to enable NHNZ to work with local filmmakers to produce factual programming for an international audience, which draws on China’s rich cultural, historical and natural heritage,” he says. “And this is exactly what we’ve achieved with The Diva Mummy.”

The Diva Mummy was made for National Geographic in the United States, Arte in France and Germany and Channel Five in the UK. The film is also selling strongly through OTF, NHNZ’s distributors in Amsterdam.

NHNZ is one of the world’s leading producers of factual programming embracing the genres of nature, health, science, adventure, and people. With over 70 programmes currently in production, its crews work in locations around the world to produce a diversity of films for international broadcasters including Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, Discovery Health, National Geographic Channel, France 5, NHK in Japan and NDR in Germany. Based in Dunedin, New Zealand, the company is wholly owned by Fox Television Studios.

ENDS

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