The Rehearsal marks the return of avant-garde director Alison Maclean to New Zealand. Alison reunited with producers Bridget Ikin and Trevor Haysom, and co-wrote with novelist Emily Perkins, to adapt Eleanor Catton’s first novel for the screen.

Join us for a discussion with Alison Maclean, Bridget Ikin and Emily Perkins, as they talk to Philippa Campbell about adapting and making The Rehearsal. Hear them delve into the decisions made at each stage of the process to create the brave, modern film starring Kerry Fox and James Rolleston.

Born in Canada, Alison Maclean emigrated to New Zealand in her teenage years. She came to international attention when her short film Kitchen Sink was nominated for a Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival and won eight awards at festivals worldwide. Following her success with two feature films – Crush (1992), which was an official selection at Cannes, and Jesus’ Son (1999), which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and earned Alison a Best Director nomination – Alison also directed episodes of Sex and the City, Carnivale, The Tudors, The L Word and Gossip Girl, along with music videos. In addition to her narrative work, she has co-directed the documentary Person of Interest, which screened in competition at the Sundance Film Festival. Alison now resides in New York.

Bridget Ikin is an award-winning producer in both Australia and New Zealand. In a career spanning over 30 years and committed to producing quality cinema, her feature films include: Jane Campion’s An Angel at My Table; Alison Maclean’s Kitchen Sink and Crush; Clara Law’s Floating Life; Sarah Watt’s Look Both Ways and My Year Without Sex; and most recently Sherpa, which screened at NZIFF15. Along with her feature films and documentaries, Ikin has produced Art + Soul, Warwick Thornton’s landmark documentary series on contemporary Aboriginal art for the ABC, and combined her producing with senior positions at the public broadcaster SBSi and the FFC (now Screen Australia).

Emily Perkins is the author of four novels, as well as Not Her Real Name– a collection of short stories. After graduating from Bill Manhire’s class at Victoria University, Emily moved to London in 1994. She published her first book with Picador in 1996. She wrote novels Leave Before You Go and The New Girl, and had a long-running column for the Independent on Sunday. After returning to NZ in 2005, Perkins wrote Novel About My Wife (2008) and The Forrests (2012) published by Bloomsbury. She is currently a senior lecturer at Victoria University’s International Institute for Modern Letters.

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