NZ Classics Ride on Rings' Release
Staff Reporter

A season of classic New Zealand films is to coincide with the Lord of the Rings release.

The programme, presented by the New Zealand Film Commission and Deluxe Cinemas, included original versions of movies such as Smash Palace, An Angel At My Table, The Scarecrow, Footrot Flats, and the record-breaking Once Were Warriors.

It also included a selection of successful short films by film-makers such as Robert Sarkies (Scarfies) and Christine Jeffs' Rain.

"These are some of the films that built our industry to its current peak," Deluxe spokesman Kerry Robbins said yesterday.

"Most of them were made at a time when it was hard to make films here and they laid the foundation for the internationally recognised industry we have today."

The season would open at Wellington's The Paramount Cinema on December 6 and at Nelson's The Suter on December 26.

Meanwhile, United States movie aficionados were already rating the first Lord of the Rings movie, The Fellowship of the Ring, unseen, as an Oscar winning possibility.

Advertisements in showbiz papers Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, showed the Rings movie vying for awards against the likes of Moulin Rouge, Shrek, Monsters Inc, Harry Potter, Ali, The Shipping News, The Majestic, A Beautiful Mind and Vanilla Sky.

New Zealand Post yesterday announced plans to issue a special series of The Lord Of The Rings stamps to mark Peter Jackson's $650 million three-movie epic.

The series would feature characters from The Fellowship Of The Ring, which would premiere in Wellington on December 19. The stamps were due to go on sale on December 4.