New IMZ Member: Minerva Productions

Minerva Productions is an independent production company founded by New Zealand-based filmmaker Rebecca Tansley.

Let's welcome our latest IMZ Member Minerva Productions, the independent production company founded by New Zealand-based filmmaker Rebecca Tansley.

Rebecca has a track record in the production of documentaries and live performances spanning classical music, ballet + opera, and featuring New Zealand stories with European connections.

Her feature-length documentary "The Heart Dances" follows Jiří and Otto Bubeníček’s creation of a ballet inspired by the film The Piano for the Royal New Zealand Ballet. The film’s festival selections include 2020 Golden Prague, 2020 Festival International du Film Sur l’Art in Canada, and the 2019 Naples International Film Festival, where it won the Focus on the Arts award. The film has been screened on HBO in Europe and on Arts. Film in Canada.

In 2021 Rebecca completed a film of New Zealand Opera’s immersive performance of Handel’s "Semele". Filmed live with an audience in New Zealand’s largest cathedral, "Semele" features a cast of internationally recognised New Zealand-based talent including soprano Emma Pearson and tenor Amitai Pati, conducted by Peter Walls.

The feature documentary "Crossing Rachmaninoff", also selected for international festivals, follows an aspiring Italian pianist who returns home to perform with an orchestra for the first time to play Rachmaninoff’s famous second piano concerto.

Minerva Productions’ development slate includes feature documentaries in the world of opera and flamenco, and a live opera production in partnership with New Zealand Opera and Greenstone TV.