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| Issue 42: December 1998 |
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John O’Shea: Looking Back
One of New Zealand’s most important filmmakers, John O’Shea, has
written his autobiography Don’t Let It Get You: Memoirs
and Documents.
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John O’Shea and Eliza Keil
during the filming of Don’t Let It Get You, 1966 |
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The title comes from his enduring 1966 comedy pop musical of the
same name. John O’Shea heads New Zealand’s oldest and
most prolific independent film company, Pacific Films. Productions
include Broken Barrier 1952, Runaway 1964, Don’t
Let it Get You 1966, Ngati 1987 and Te Rua
1991, documentaries, short films, newsreels and commercials.
Don’t Let It Get You is richly illustrated with
material sourced from the Pacific Films Collection of stills and
papers at the Film Archive. With an introduction by Jane Campion
Don’t Let It Get You will be published early 1999.
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New Faces at the Film Archive
In late July 1998, Lawrence Wharerau was appointed Kaituitui, Taonga Maori
Collection and in October Himiona Grace joined the Archive to work
on the recently deposited Aotearoa Television Network collection.
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Lawrence Wharerau (left) and
Himiona Grace. Photo Kurt Otzen |
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Lawrence Wharerau brings twelve years of film and television experience
to the position of Kaituitui and hopes to continue to bring the
work of the Archive to the notice of Iwi/Maori.
“After five months, I now know there is a lot here that anyone interested
in our country’s history would find of great value. As Maori we are moved
by images of our ancestors and leaders, and being able to view them on film
is wonderous,” he adds.
Lawrence has very quickly come to terms with the work of the Archive and what
it can offer Maori. He also has ideas on how Maori can benefit from closer ties
with a heritage repository such as the Archive.
“The Film Archive offers Maori the opportunity to determine who has access
to their images, how they are used and for what purpose. Very few other heritage
organisations would even consider this.”
Since 1996 Te Hokinga Mai o Nga Taonga Whitiahua, the Archive’s outreach
programme, has presented marae screenings to Ngati Tuwharetoa, Whanganui River
Iwi, Tainui, Ngati Tuhoe, Ngati Porou and Te Arawa.
Lawrence’s first major task is to return to these areas to continue developing
alliances with whanau/hapu relating to the guardianship of images featuring
their ancestors. Following this, Te Hokinga Mai o Nga Taonga Whitiahua will
visit other areas.
Himiona Grace is from Paekakariki and is best known for his work as a musician
(Nga Pou Wahine, Purapurawhetu) and has also worked as a cameraman. He is assessing
and cataloguing over 3000 video tapes deposited by Te Mangai Paho after the
controversial demise of Aotearoa Television. Over 330 hours will be selected
for the National Television Collection to be available for public viewing and
research.
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Reel Summer Fun on the Big Screen!
Taking inspiration from the Film Centre’s summer show, Tiki Touring Tipi
Haere, there’s a definite summer flavour to our holiday screening
programme.
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The End of Golden Weather,
1991 |
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The highlight of the season is the special live cinema presentation
on 14 December of Venus of the South Seas (1924), featuring
Australian swimming sensation Annette Kellerman, with piano accompaniment
by Nicholas Palmer. Billed as the “story of girls and pearls,
love and adventures, mermaids and wonders of the South Seas”
the film was shot in and around Nelson during 1922. Locals eagerly
assisted with the production, including financial support, keen
to put Nelson on the map. But when the film was released in the
States, New Zealand was never mentioned, much less Nelson, and no
money was ever returned.
The programme continues through January 1999 with screenings of Pacific Films’
comedy pop musical Don’t Let It Get You and Les Blank’s hot
documentary gumbo I Went to the Dance (USA, 1989), focusing on the
Cajun and Zydeco music of Lousiana.
The series rounds out on 15 February with a showing of Ian Mune’s screen
adaptation of Bruce Mason’s The End of the Golden Weather.
Cinema Europe
In May the Film Centre, in association with the diplomatic missions of the European
Union, will present Cinema Europe 1999. The two week programme of features
will focus on immigration and multi-ethnicity in contemporary Europe, and the
associated issues of integration, displacement and alienation. In Wellington
the screenings will again be at the Film Centre and in a new venture, the festival
will screen at Rialto Cinemas in Auckland later the same month.
Steve Russell, Visitor Programmes Co-ordinator, says “Cinema Europe offers
an exciting opportunity for the Film Centre to extend its film programming and
attract new audiences. We are looking forward to once again working with the
European Union.”
Education Programme
Acknowledging the growing success and potential of the Film Centre’s schools
education programme, the Film Archive has secured a two and a half year contract
with the Ministry of Education under its Learning Experiences Outside the Classroom
programme. The contract will allow the Film Centre to continue to provide an
on-site screening programme for secondary, intermediate and primary students,
as well as expand its schools outreach programme through to 2001.
The contract also allows for the appointment of a part-time presenter to assist
the Education Programmes Co-ordinator, Alex Burton, with visiting groups and
production of resource material.
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Te Rau Tau o nga Whitiahua
100 years of New Zealand Filmmaking
December 1998 heralds 100 years of New Zealand filmmaking. A H Whitehouse was
among the first when he recorded The Opening of the Auckland Exhibition on 1
December 1898.
A Maori broadsheet Te Paia-Korono-Koope has intriguing links to the
career of filmmaker A H Whitehouse.
Published at the turn of the century the broadsheet is held by the Alexander
Turnbull Library and a copy was given to the Film Archive several years ago.
The broadsheet refers to Whitehouse and his films and there is a photograph
captioned ‘na A.H. Whaitihouihi’, but there is no indication as to
who translated the article into Maori, where it was displayed or how many copies
were made.
Lawrence Wharerau, Kaituitui, Taonga Maori Collection, says the broadsheet is
a literal translation promoting Whitehouse’s touring films. It speaks of
the wonder of the Bio-Chrono-Scope projector and the Theatrophone, an enlarged
phonograph.
A letter from Whitehouse, ‘Korero Pono Tenei’, describes the power
of the inventions, his association with Thomas Edison and the difficulty he
had in raising the money to purchase the equipment in Paris.
A H Whitehouse had made ten short films by 1900 including The Departure
of the 2nd Contingent for the Boer War (fragments have been preserved by
the Film Archive), Men’s Canoe Hurdle Race (Maori Regatta Scenes
at Ngaruawahia) and Uhlan Winning the Auckland Cup at Ellerslie on
Boxing Day 1898. In 1899 he requested, but did not receive, government support
to take his films to the Paris Exhibition in 1900. He took them anyway.
Clive Sowry, authority on A H Whitehouse and contributor to The Dictionary
of New Zealand Biography, believes the broadsheet was prepared to promote
Whitehouse’s Bio-Chrono-Scope and Theatrophone entertainments at the Assembly
Hall, Rotorua, in June 1901.
At this time, Maori from all over New Zealand gathered in Rotorua to welcome
and entertain the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York. Clive says that Maori
at the gathering would have been a potential audience for Whitehouse’s
season which commenced on June 12 and ran for the three following nights.
The fact that Whitehouse was showing footage of Queen Victoria’s funeral
procession limits the publication date of the broadsheet from early April to
about August 1901 when Whitehouse stopped showing funeral films in his travelling
shows.
The broadsheet photographs show a scene at Ellerslie racecourse, and a canoe
hurdle race at Ngaruawahia, possibly taken at the Ngaruawahia Regatta of 1899
where Whitehouse made three films. Clive says there is no evidence to confirm
who took the photographs as no other copies have been sighted.
If anyone is able to shed more light on the broadsheet please contact
Lawrence Wharerau or Diane Pivac at the Film Archive.
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Video Visions
Video artist and Film Archive dub queen Robyn Venables talks to Sarah Hunter
about her work and aspirations as a young filmmaker.
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Robyn Venebles. Photo Sarah Hunter |
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Video art with a strong narrative is at the heart of Robyn Venables’
work.
“Definitely not traditional” she says over the clamour at Ed’s
Juice Bar in central Wellington. It’s a short distance from the Film Archive
where Robyn works as a video technician, dubbing videos for the Film Archive
Library and Film Centre programmes. Robyn is familiar with all formats, from
the outdated 2 inch through to digital video.
Beyond the Film Archive, Robyn focuses on her own fledgling career, intertwining
video art and experimental filmmaking with human issues. Her approach is intimate
but Robyn also harbours ambitions to move on to larger scale productions. She
would like to move into either 16mm or a digital medium.
“Film is a language that we’ve grown accustomed to. I like to use
that language poetically.”
Aged 25 Robyn is of a generation literally raised by television, “As a
kid from primary school upwards I’d come home from school and there would
be no one else in. Mum was working, a solo parent and the older siblings had
grown up and moved out. Television became part of my language and that’s
true probably for 97% of children today.”
In 1991, Robyn attended the South Seas Film and Television School studying directing,
acting, editing and on-screen presentation. She then worked as production assistant
for Elam graduates Alexander Campbell and Lucy McDonald before moving to Wellington
with her video camera.
Robyn first tried her hand at acting before heading to Victoria University to
study film. Her main desire was to learn how to critique her films. To support
herself she took up a part time job at the Film Centre. With the establishment
of the National Television Collection in 1997, Robyn was offered her current
position upstairs at the Film Archive.
In 1997 Robyn made 15 seconds of feminist black comedy which screened as part
of the RAD series on TV4. Her work has also been screened at Fringe Film Festivals
and the DIVAs. Her films include Firecat, a Super 8 experimental film;
Portrait of Artist Richard Lomas, a 10 minute documentary and Trash,
a video drama and installation.
“I like films with an intellectual slant, films that take the creative
process seriously, that are provocative and thoughtful, that take a risk to
say something serious; political or feminist - films that expose their beliefs.
“It’s always been a minority market for these films in New Zealand,
it’s sort of like the top of the pyramid, the more commercial films at
the bottom appeal to a wide audience and make the big bucks.”
“I like to explore human issues and develop them into dramatised works.
“A person is made up of every part of their life. It’s the combination
of experiences that makes someone unique. My work is definitely a culmination
of all parts of myself and my observations.”
Robyn is involved in the selection process for Wellington based OTHER,
a group which facilitates funding and a mentor programme for young filmmakers.
To contact OTHER phone (04) 3851474.
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News Clips
Piano Forte
In October Film Archive pianist Margaret Ogilvie made history as the first woman
to play at the 17th annual silent film festival in Pordenone, Italy. Another
Film Archive pianist, Tama Karena also attended the festival. He accompanied
the Archive’s restored print of Under the Southern Cross 1927.
In March 1999 Under the Southern Cross travels to the Hawkes Bay,
where it was filmed, to screen at the Century Cinema in Napier. Piano accompaniment
by Margaret Ogilvie.
Broadcast News
The Film Archive’s National Television Collection has just celebrated its
first birthday with a milestone of 1500 productions, ranging from the latest
music videos and TV commercials to Shortland Street and Havoc.
Television Collection Co-ordinator, Rachel Healy, says the Collection’s
first year has seen enormous support and encouragement from broadcast producers.
NZ On Air provides funding for the collection which aims to collect and preserve
about 900 hours of New Zealand programming a year.
All programmes can be viewed free of charge at the Film Archive Reference Library,
open Mon - Fri, 9am - 5pm.
Search Returns
The NZ Film Archive and Bank of New Zealand Last Film Search collected 700 films
from the Bay of Plenty/Coromandel/Taupo region during a three week search in
October. Return film screenings were held in November in Palmerston North, Wanganui,
Stratford and New Plymouth, featuring a programme of newly preserved films collected
during the 1997 search of the region.
Jane Paul, 1998 recipient of a Winston Churchill Fellowship, has postponed her
trip overseas to research New Zealand films until February 1999.
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