University of Auckland professor Annie Goldson has been named a 2023 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate in the field of documentary filmmaking.
Professor Annie Goldson is the 2023 recipient of the $35,000 Dame Gaylene Preston Documentary Film Makers Award from the New Zealand Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi, given every second year to an outstanding documentary filmmaker.
A lecturer in communication and screen production in the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Arts, Goldson’s best-known works include Punitive Damage, Georgie Girl, Brother Number One, Kim Dotcom: Caught in the Web and A Mild Touch of Cancer, for which she received a Best Editor award at the 2021 New Zealand Film and Television (NZFT) Awards.
Her latest film, Red Mole: A Romance, a documentary feature about a radical 1970s New Zealand theatre troupe, has just been released at the New Zealand International Film Festival and is scheduled to appear in selected cinemas around the country in November.
This year, she was also named the documentary film festival’s DocEdge ‘Superhero’ and in 2021, received the Aronui Medal for the Humanities from the Royal Society Te Āparangi.
She is delighted to be recognised by the Arts Foundation in this way and considers herself lucky to have had a rich career in Aotearoa, with more than 12 award-winning films to her name.
“I’d like to express my deep appreciation to the Arts Laureate whānau, donors, the board, past and present recipients, and the wonderful team at the Foundation,” she says.
“Whatever the medium you work in, making art can feel a long, at times arduous journey, so to receive this honour is awesome.
“And of course, a shout out to Waipapa Tamata Rau and its recognition of my films as my research; University support has allowed me to make the kind of work that I’ve always wanted to do.”
The Dame Gaylene Preston Documentary Film Makers Award was initiated by Dame Gaylene Preston and Sir Roy McKenzie, and is funded through a collaboration of a legacy gift by Sir Roy, Vista Foundation and the New Zealand Film Commission.
The New Zealand International Film Festival facilitates the selection of award recipients.
The other Arts Laureates honoured this year are: photographer Fiona Clark; dancer and choreographer Sean MacDonald; artist Robert Jahnke; hip hop artist Ladi6; dancer and choreographer Taiaroa Royal; cartoonist Giselle Clarkson; photographer Peter Black and artist Sopolemalama Filipe Tohi.
