About

Known credits:
46
Birthday:
1960-12-27
Place of birth:
New Zealand
Website:
Click here

Costa Botes

Overview

Costa Botes has been an independent film-maker in New Zealand since the early 1980s. His short film Stalin’s Sickle won the jury prize at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival in 1988. Forgotten Silver, a mock-documentary co-written & co-directed with Peter Jackson in 1995 created a national sensation in 1995. It won a special critics prize at the Venice Film Festival, and has become a cult favourite worldwide.

Costa’s first feature film, Saving Grace (1997), was selected for competition at Valladolid, Asia-Pacific, and Fantasporto Film Festivals. He documented the making of Peter Jackson’s epic trilogy Lord of the Rings trilogy from 1999 to 2003 with a matching trio of feature length documentaries. These were released in a limited edition DVD box set in 2006, and later included in the definitive blu-ray collection released in 2011.

Costa established his own production company, Lone Pine Film & TV Productions in 2005 to make independent documentaries. These have included Struggle No More (2006), a biography of NZ’s greatest unknown band, and Yes That’s Me (2008) about a blues musician with manic depression. He photographed, produced and edited the documentary, Lost In Wonderland in 2009, mentoring its young director, Zoe McIntosh. This premiered at the NZ Film Festival and won awards for photography and best documentary the following year at the Qantas NZ Film & TV Awards. Costa wrote and produced another film for Zoe, a 35mm short called Day Trip (2010). This was selected to screen at numerous international festivals including Tribeca, Clermont Ferrand, and Hawaii. It won the Signis Award at Espression En Corto in Mexico, and best short film at the Montreal First Peoples Film Festival. Costa's next documentary feature, Candyman: The David Klein Story (2010), was about the eccentric American candy genius who invented Jelly Belly jellybeans. It premiered at Slamdance and Hot Docs in 2010, and won the Director’s Choice best documentary award at the Rincon Puerto Rico Film Festival. He followed this with two documentary features: Daytime Tiger (2011), a film about mania; and The Last Dogs of Winter (2012), about a man fighting to preserve rare Inuit sled dogs from extinction. The Last Dogs of Winter had its world premiere as an official selection at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Act of Kindness (2015), a documentary about a young New Zealander’s experiences in post-Genocide Rwanda won the Best Editing award at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival.

Costa also wrote and executive produced another short dramatic film for director Zoe McIntosh. The World in Your Window (2017) has screened at many top international festivals and won awards at Clermont-Ferrand, Tokyo, Melbourne, FlickerFest, Vancouver, Prague and Tahiti. His most recent work, Angie (2018) premiered at the NZ International Film Festival. It was described by one critic as a “deep, dark, daring wonder”. Another critic wrote, “Costa Botes has been making films for over 30 years: ANGIE is his best yet. He has always had a deft hand when it comes to emotional material. He has the ability to melt into the beautifully framed background and let the subjects speak, his flawless editing weaving a narrative spell”.

Known for

Acting
2012 The Last Dogs of Winter Actor Self N/A
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2000 Behind the Bull Actor Himself N/A
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1997 Forgotten Silver Actor Self 61
Fair
1987 Bad Taste Actor 3rd Class Alien 61
Fair

Directing
2022 When the Cows Come Home Directing Director N/A
N/A
2018 Angie Directing Director N/A
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2015 Act of Kindness Directing Director N/A
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2012 The Last Dogs of Winter Directing Director N/A
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2010 Day Trip Directing Director N/A
N/A
2010 Candyman: The David Klein Story Directing Director 59
Average
2009 Kathmandu Blues Directing Director N/A
N/A
2008 Nigel Gavin: A Job with the Circus Directing Director N/A
N/A
2008 Yes That's Me: Dave Murphy Plays the Blues Directing Director N/A
N/A
2006 The Two Towers: Behind the Scenes Directing Director N/A
N/A
2006 Struggle No More: The Windy City Strugglers Story Directing Director N/A
N/A
2004 The Making of the Return of the King Directing Director 59
Average
2003 The Making of The Two Towers Directing Director 59
Average
2002 The Making of The Fellowship of the Ring Directing Director 59
Average
2000 Behind the Bull Directing Director N/A
N/A
1998 Saving Grace Directing Director 59
Average
1997 Forgotten Silver Directing Director 61
Fair
1989 The Ray Bradbury Theater: A Sound of Thunder Directing Director N/A
N/A
1988 Catching the Tide: Sam Hunt's Cook Strait Directing Director N/A
N/A
1987 Stalin's Sickle Directing Director N/A
N/A

Writing
2022 Life's a Drag Writing Script Editor N/A
N/A
2020 Boys On Film 20: Heaven Can Wait Writing Writer 59
Average
2017 The World In Your Window Writing Writer 59
Average
1997 Forgotten Silver Writing Writer 61
Fair
1992 Valley of the Stereos Writing Story 58
Average
1992 Valley of the Stereos Writing Writer 58
Average
1987 Stalin's Sickle Writing Writer N/A
N/A
Barbed Wire Canoe Writing Writer N/A
N/A

Production
2017 The World In Your Window Production Executive Producer 59
Average
2010 Candyman: The David Klein Story Production Producer 59
Average
2006 The Two Towers: Behind the Scenes Production Producer N/A
N/A
2004 The Making of the Return of the King Production Producer 59
Average
2003 The Making of The Two Towers Production Producer 59
Average
2002 The Making of The Fellowship of the Ring Production Producer 59
Average
1987 Stalin's Sickle Production Producer N/A
N/A

Sound
2010 Candyman: The David Klein Story Sound Sound 59
Average

Camera
2010 Candyman: The David Klein Story Camera Camera Operator 59
Average
2006 The Two Towers: Behind the Scenes Camera Camera Operator N/A
N/A
2002 The Making of The Fellowship of the Ring Camera Camera Operator 59
Average

Crew
2022 When the Cows Come Home Crew Cinematography N/A
N/A

Editing
2014 The Deadly Ponies Gang Editing Editor N/A
N/A
2010 Candyman: The David Klein Story Editing Editor 59
Average