The Making of The Lord of the Rings, Part One: The Fellowship of the Rings 2004

Wellington filmmaker Costa Botes, a long-time associate of Peter Jackson and his co-conspirator on Forgotten Silver, assembled a small team in July 1999, three months before cameras rolled on principal photography for The Lord of the Rings, to shoot and compile a behind-the-scenes video record. By the time production of the trilogy finally ended late in 2003, they had over 800 hours of footage. In the first of the three documentary features to be cut from this material, there’s a much fuller and more playful appreciation of activity behind the scenes than you might have seen on the more formal, guided tours provided by the excellent DVD extras or Te Papa show.

“It was never designed to be part of a marketing effort. It wasn’t even meant to be seen for another couple of years, when it and its two companion pieces are provisionally earmarked for release as part of a DVD box set. It is presented here, exclusively to this Festival, as a work in progress, and a taste of things to come.” — Costa Botes