Briar March

Introduction (2-3 lines)

Briar March is a filmmaker and previous Fulbright scholar. Her films have been broadcast on major television networks around the world, including PBS, Arte, and ABC Asia Pacific, have been released in commercial cinemas, and are regularly exhibited in film festivals. She has received over 30 international awards for her filmmaking, including the prestigious SPADA New Filmmaker of the Year Award, and a Qantas Film and Television Award for “Best Editing” in 2010.

Her filmography comprises three feature length documentaries, Home (2014), There Once was an Island: Te Henua e Nnoho (2010), and Allie Eagle and Me (2004), as well as four documentary shorts: Smoke Songs (2012), Michael & His Dragon (2010), Sick Wid It (2010), and Promenade (2011). Her wide interest in multi-media has lead her to work as a television editor, production manager, and cinematographer on both fiction and documentary projects, and she is highly involved in the New Zealand Film and Television community. In 2011-2012 she was a fulltime Instructor in Documentary Film Production at Florida Atlantic University. Briar has since moved to New Zealand and in 2013 worked for Attitude Pictures making television documentaries about people living with disabilities. Since leaving Attitude she has been completing a feature documentary for Maori Television and Pacific Islanders in Communications. Briar received an M.F.A in Documentary Film and Video Production at Stanford University, and a B.F.A at Auckland University’s Elam School of Fine Arts. She shares the production company On the Level Productions, with Lyn Collie. In all of her work Briar hopes to challenge and inspire audiences, with a view that cinema is both a tool for social change and an important form of art-making.

New Day Films by Briar March

Awards & Accolades

SPADA New Filmmaker of the Year 2010
For There Once was an Island:
“Jury Grand Prix,” FIFO (Tahiti)
“Jury Grand Prix,” Cinema Planeta (Mexico)
“Best Documentary,” Jameson Cinefest Miskolc International Film Festival, (Hungary)
“Best Documentary,” Raindance Film Festival (United Kingdom)
“Leipziger Award,” Dok Leipzig, (Germany)
“Best Film”, Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival (Malaysia)
“Documentary – International Award”, Rome International Film Festival (USA)
“Best International Documentary”, Cinemambiente (Italy)
“Audience Prize”, Festival International du Film de Groix
“Best Editing Documentary/Factual,” New Zealand Qantas Film and Television Awards
“Programmers Choice Natural Facts Award,” Big Sky Documentary Film Festival (USA)
“Award for Best Development Message,” Millennium International Documentary Film Festival (Belgium)
“Finalist, Pare Lorenz Award,” IDA (International Documentary Association) (USA)
“Finalist Best Documentary, Documentary/Factual,” 2010 Qantas Film and Television Awards (New Zealand)
“Finalist Best Cinematography, Documentary/Factual,” 2010 Qantas Film and Television Awards (New Zealand)
“Finalist for Best Documentary,” Australian ATOM Awards (Australia)
“Runner Up, Best Political Film,” AOF (USA)
“Honourable Mention,” Wild & Scenic Film Festival (USA)
“Special Mention,” Cape Winelands Film Festival (South Africa)
Skipping Stones Honor Award 2013
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