Sir Peter Jackson and the 2022 Wildcards

Posted 21st July 2022

In exciting news for 2022, Sir Peter Jackson will select three films as his wildcard selection, to be showcased as part of the National Finals at the Civic Theatre in Tāmaki Makaurau. Sir Peter Jackson, Dame Fran Walsh and Wingnut Films have been big supporters of the Vista Foundation 48Hours for the past 16-years of its 20-year history, and the team are stoked to be able to celebrate his wildcard selections in 2022’s National Finals. Sir Peter Jackson’s origin story is guerrilla filmmaking to its core. The ‘do-it-yourself’ mentality is aligned with the 48Hours ethos of mucking in and getting a film made in one weekend, and the team can’t wait to see his wildcard selections.

"Six thousand movies have been made over the years. I’ve seen quite a few of them and they’re great movies!  I’m going to be judging the wildcards again this year and and I really look forward to seeing them.  Register, go make movies and have a lot of fun! Let’s make this 48 hours film festival the biggest yet!" -  Sir Peter Jackson
 

About Sir Peter Jackson:

Jackson was a mere eight years old when his parents were given a Super 8 cine camera for Christmas, fanning the flames of his love for cinema. He went on to make home movies in Pukerua Bay experimenting with stop-motion, practical effects, and special effects. He famously sourced some WWII uniforms, rallied his mates, and made his first film titled The Dwarf Patrol – which would later resurface as a bonus feature on the Bad Taste DVD release.

While working at a daily paper, Jackson enlisted help from his friends and colleagues to make a feature film. He upgraded to a second-hand Bolex camera in 1983 which was mounted onto homemade dolly tracks, cranes, and Steadicams to film his first feature, horror comedy cult classic Bad Taste. He went on to film the black comedies Meet the Feebles and Braindead before 1994's feature film Heavenly Creatures took Jackson from cult status to a mainstream, global audience.

Fast forward to 2022, Jackson has two epic Tolkien trilogies under his belt, Academy Awards to his name for Best Director, Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, numerous Hollywood hits, and has made waves in the documentary world with 2021’s The Beatles: Get Back and 2018’s They Shall Not Grow Old. Jackson is officially Hollywood royalty, but he’s never forgotten where he came from and continues to support grassroots NZ filmmaking.