Briar March

Briar March is a New Zealand freelance film director, cinematographer, editor and educator who is mainly known for her documentaries. Her work has included films on climate change, anti-nuclear protestors in the UK, and on the New Zealand Olympic gold medal-winning athlete, Valerie Adams.

Career March released her first feature documentary, Allie Eagle and Me, about the feminist artist Allie Eagle, in 2004. With this film she became the youngest filmmaker to have had a feature premiere at the New Zealand International Film Festival. In that year, she obtained a Bachelor in Fine Arts from the Elam School of Fine Arts of the University of Auckland. Her documentary on climate change, There Once Was an Island, was shown at over 50 festivals and won several awards. She then studied for a Master of Fine Arts at Stanford University in California, as a Fulbright scholar. In 2009 she directed the television series Kete Aronui. In the academic year 2011-12 she was responsible for designing and teaching courses on cinematography, documentary production, video production, and documentary history at the Florida Atlantic University. On returning to New Zealand she made a social housing documentary called A Place to Call Home.

Films Films that March has directed are: Allie Eagle and Me (2004). The Coffin Club (2017). This is a story about preparing for death, which attracted significant international attention, with the BBC, The Guardian and National Geographic all interviewing some of the participants who were members of a build-your-own-coffin club. Mothers of the Revolution, on the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp in England. Dame Valerie Adams: More than Gold, a feature documentary about the gold medal-winning New Zealand shot putter's final Olympic campaign at the Tokyo Olympics.

Awards March has received over 30 international awards and nominations, including:

2012 One World Media Awards (United Kingdom). Winner - Sustainable Development Section for There Once Was An Island: Te Henua e Nnoho 2011 Rome International Film Festival, (United States), Best Documentary - International Section: There Once Was An Island: Te Henua e Nnoho 2011 Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival (Malaysia), Best Film: There Once Was An Island: Te Henua e Nnoho 2011 CineAmbiente Environmental Film Festival (Italy), Best International Documentary: There Once Was an Island: Te Henua e Nnoho 2011 Cinema Planeta - International Environmental Film Festival (Mexico), Grand Jury Prize: There Once Was an Island: Te Henua e Nnoho 2011 San Francisco DocFest - Documentary Film Festival (United States), Audience Award - Short Film Section: Smoke Songs 2010 Qantas Film and Television Awards (New Zealand), Best Editing - Documentary/Factual Programme (shared with Prisca Bouchet): for There Once Was an Island: Te Henua E Nnoho 2010 SPADA Screen Industry Awards (Screen Production and Development Association, New Zealand), New Filmmaker of the Year 2010 FIFO - Oceanian International Documentary Film Festival (Tahiti), Grand Prize: There Once Was An Island: Te Henua e Nnoho 2010 Sehsüchte International Student Film Festival (Germany), Best Documentary Short: Michael and His Dragon 2010 Dok Leipzig (Documentary and Animation Festival, Germany), Leipziger Award: There Once Was an Island: Te Henua e Nnoho 2010 Raindance Film Festival (United Kingdom), Best Documentary: There Once Was an Island: Te Henua e Nnoho 2010 CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival (Hungary), Best Documentary: There Once Was an Island: Te Henua e Nnoho