DortheScheffmann
- Producer
- Director
Dorthe Scheffmann's varied behind the scenes roles have helped ensure that many classic Kiwi movies managed to finish their shoots, without falling apart in the process. In 1996 she competed at the Cannes Film Festival with The Beach, the first short film she directed. Her first feature was released in 2018: ensemble drama Vermilion, starring Jennifer Ward-Lealand.
Screenography
Biography
Dorthe Scheffmann grew up in Taranaki and Waikato, after her family migrated from Denmark when she was a child. Her father was a veterinary surgeon. As an immigrant, she recalls observing Kiwi life through the eyes of an outsider: "I watched my way to adulthood".
Awards
1996 Cannes Film Festival
Nominated for the Palme d'Or for Best Short Film: The Beach
1996 Hamburg Short Film Festival
Françoise Ode Prize: The Beach
“...watching Vincent Ward's Vigil took me to the back seat of my fathers Holden, hurtling through the Waikato mist on the way to some sick cow. In Alun Bollinger's cinematography I found my own New Zealand, the way the light falls, its form, its uncompromising nature. ”