Congratulations to acclaimed filmmaker, actor and acting coach Miranda Harcourt on her recognition in the New Year Honours list being appointed as a Dame Companion (DNZM) for services to the screen industry and theatre.

Miranda's honour adds to her collection of awards for 2022 which also included the 2022 KEA Supreme Award winner for New Zealanders, and she follows her mother, performer Kate Harcourt, into Damehood status.

We caught up with Miranda to talk about the award, and her relationship with film and NZIFF.

"I saw many films with my dad Peter Harcourt when I was growing up – he was a film historian on the radio. Now I look back and value all those amazing visits to the cinema. He took me to see classics like It Happened One Night, Sunset Boulevard, and Bringing Up Baby… all films featuring strong female characters which were so good to see as a teenage girl. Great parenting."

Miranda says her earliest NZIFF memory is in 1983 when she was studying at Toi Whakaari, New Zealand Drama School. "Lindsay Shelton gave us free tickets and I was lucky enough to see Merata Mita's Patu, Louis Malle’s My Dinner with Andre, and Jane Campion’s Peel."

And NZIFF played a part in her romantic life – she and husband Stuart (McKenzie) first dated at the festival. It was about 1989 and he took me to a screening of Kieslowski’s A Short Film About Killing. It was a revelation. We also saw Mephisto together as well as Nil by Mouth and Nosferatu… great viewing experiences."

Miranda also recalls a proud moment when Stuart’s film For Good was invited to be part of the festival (NZIFF 2003), screening at the Paramount. "Made on the NZFC low-budget scheme it then took us around the globe, from selection at Montreal and a Best Actress award for Michelle Langstone at the St Tropez Festival to competition at the Paris Film Festival."

Miranda says she is proud to have developed a global client-base for her work as an acting coach, but receiving the honour for her is about celebrating community service, “giving back and lifting others up. I aim to do that with the charities I am passionate about like Women’s Refuge and So They Can. An honour like this is not an end-point, it is a station along the way.”