Cinema of New Zealand

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Cinema of New Zealand
No. of screens	411 (2010)[1]
Produced feature films (2024)[2]
Fictional	328
Animated	2
Documentary	117
Number of admissions (2010)[1]
Total	15,300,000
• Per capita	3.6 (2010)[3]
Gross box office (2012)[4]
Total	$145 million
National films	$3.19 million (2.20%)

The cinema of New Zealand refers to films made by New Zealand–based production companies in New Zealand or films made about New Zealand by filmmakers from other countries. New Zealand produces many films that are co-financed by overseas companies.

The history of cinema in New Zealand is almost as long as the medium itself. The first public screening of a motion picture took place in 1896. A documentary made in 1900 is the oldest surviving New Zealand film, while the first feature film made in New Zealand premiered in 1914. A small-scale industry developed between the 1920s and the 1960s, but it was not until the 1970s that locally made films began to attract significant audiences.

From the 1990s onward, New Zealand-made films have increasingly achieved international success, including both those with local funding and themes, and those with additional foreign cooperation, such as Avatar and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

For a list of the 328 feature films and 117 documentaries made in New Zealand, see List of New Zealand Films.