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| Issue 45: July 2000 |
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Archival Films at the Film Festival
The Archive continues its annual collaboration with the Film Festival. To
celebrate the centenary of Rudall Hayward’s birth is a screening
of his 1928 feature The Bush Cinderella. Recently restored
to its original tinted glory by the Archive, the film’s musical
accompaniment will be performed by a piano, cello and clarinet ensemble
playing a specially commissioned score composed by Dorothy Buchanan.
Curated by Jonathan Dennis, The Max Factor, a selection of films by Max Ophuls,
honours the nomadic career (Germany, France, Hollywood, France) of the director
whose “chosen terrain was love: never straightforward love, but desire
without love, pleasure without love, unrequited love…”
The Archive has assisted in obtaining three of the prints to be shown in the
series: Caught (USA 1949) is a ravishing print from the UCLA Film & Television
Archive, Los Angeles. The Earrings of Madame de ... (France 1953) comes from
the NFTVA, London and Letter from an Unknown Woman (USA 1947) from the Department
of Film and Television, MoMA, New York.
The Max Factor features screenings of three other Ophuls treasures;
The Reckless Moment (USA 1949), Le Plaisir (France
1952) and Lola Montes (France 1955).
The Film Festival is also returning four Hollywood classics to the big screen.
Live cinema is celebrated with screenings of Modern Times
(1936) Charlie Chaplin’s last great silent comedy. Musical
accompaniment for Modern Times in Auckland will be provided
by the Auckland Philharmonia, and in Wellington and Dunedin by the
Wellington Symphonia and the Dunedin Symphonia respectively.
The Wizard of Oz, Victor Fleming’s glorious 1939
fantasy of the Yellow Brick Road, glows and hums in a new, 60th
anniversary, digitally restored print with a remastered Dolby digital
stereo soundtrack.
The visual onslaught continues with screenings of Hitchcock’s
1954 masterpiece of voyeurism, Rear Window. The colour
restoration is by Robert Harris and James Katz whose work on Vertigo
delighted festival audiences in 1997. The Hollywood selection is
complete with Carol Reed’s original cut of the 1949 film noir
classic The Third Man.
For screening details please refer to the Film Festival brochures.
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On the Friendly Road
Notes from the Travelling Film Show, Lawrence Wharerau and Johnny Morris
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Top: South to Lands End, Bluff
Middle: East to the Chattams
Bottom: North to Russell |
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Over the past five months, the New Zealand Film Archive has projected
over 90 free screenings as part of the Bank of New Zealand Travelling
Film Show 2000. The Film Show is a nation wide tour that celebrates
New Zealand filmmaking and the completion of the successful Last
Film Search project.
The screenings feature a core selection of silent and sound films
from the Archive’s collections. Included on each programme
are items of relevance to the area being visited and highlighted
throughout the Film Show are treasures that were discovered during
the Last Film Search. All the silent material on the programmes
has been accompanied by live piano.
The public has voted with their feet and the response to this highly ambitious
partnership speaks for itself: an audience of more than 17,500 at over 45 different
venues. These venues include local school and community halls like The Mora
Hall on Waiheke Island, through to the grand old picture palaces of the past
like The Regent Theatre, Dunedin.
Travelling over 12,500 kilometers Archive staff have visited The Chatham Islands,
New Plymouth, Te Awamutu, Hamilton, Wellsford, Whangarei, Dargaville, Kerikeri,
Russell, Oruru, Kaikoura, Rangiora, Christchurch, Oamaru, Timaru, Dunedin, Wanaka,
Arrowtown, Te Anau, Colac Bay, Stewart Island, Bluff, Invercargill, Wanganui,
Palmerston North, Waipukurau, Napier, Wairoa, Manutuke, Gisborne, Tolaga Bay,
Te Araroa, Ruatoria, Auckland (Mission Bay, Otara, Takapuna, Pakuranga, Waiheke
Island, Avondale and Central City), Blenheim, Nelson, Takaka, Karamea, Westport,
Hokitika, Greymouth and Masterton.
Among the many memorable highlights of the tour so far two stand out: screening
to 2,800 people at one venue, The Regent in Dunedin and showing the 1928 Community
Comedy Mary of Marton in Wanganui. When the presenter announced that,
“.... the Archive believes Mary is still alive,” a wee voice from
the audience piped up saying, “I am!” As the Archive’s co-ordinator
for the Travelling Film Show Jane Paul says, “these images of our past
belong to all of us. To be able to show the programmes all around the country
and see people’s response to them has been really exciting.”
The Bank of New Zealand Travelling Film Show 2000 will be visiting the Coromandel,
Bay of Plenty, Central Plateau and Wellington districts later this year. Keep
an eye out for it at a theatre near you – large or small you’ll just
never know where.
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Government Funding Boost
The recent announcement by the Government of an immediate boost in state funding
for the arts contained particularly welcome news for the Film Archive.
A sum of almost $840,000 (excluding GST) was added to the annual funding from
the Ministry of Culture and Heritage – currently around $175,000.
The Budget submission put to the incoming government in January pointed out
the growing pressure on the Archive’s core activities and infrastructure
arising from more than five years of rapid growth. In particular, the Archive
argued that increased investment in acquisition and preservation of at-risk
video material and in staff training were urgent.
The Government accepted these points and agreed to aggregate the three-year
projection of the Archive’s needs in the submission into a single advance
payment which will used for a variety of tasks in 2000, 2001 and 2002.
It is worth noting that while the Archive’s share of the Government’s
package is rather modest compared with the likes of Te Papa or Creative New
Zealand, it represents a remarkable step forward in comparison with other non-governmental
organisations. The Royal New Zealand Ballet, which receives $3,250,000 in government
funding, was given a one-off payment of $750,000 and the Aotearoa Maori Traditional
Performing Arts Society ($1,100,000) received nothing extra.
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Studying Video
The growing popularity of the Film Archive’s Auckland Office and VACCESS
sites is opening up the Archive’s collections to students around the country.
Film of erupting geysers, home movies and seven episodes of the documentary
series Inside New Zealand are some of the items that have been requested
for viewing at different sites around the country. University and fine arts
students are especially keen to access moving image material, researching them
for their projects and dissertations.
One collection that has proved very popular is video works from last year’s
Film Centre exhibition PALeo Neo Video. Exploring the development of
video art from the 1970s to the 1990s, the exhibition included works from artists
Andrew Drummond, Philip Dadson, Leon Narbey and Sean Kerr and others. While
PALeo Neo ended in June 1999, it lives on in the exhibition catalogue,
which has recently been reedited by PALeo Neo’s curator, Lawrence
McDonald. Now a work in two volumes, the catalogue includes a comprehensive
list of artist’s holdings and indepth descriptions of video art works held
at the Film Archive. It provides a thorough list of video art held at the Archive,
and is a valuable document for those researching the videos and their creators.
The catalogue has been collated for distribution to universities, galleries
and art schools, where interest in these works is highest.
PALeo Neo tapped into an existing interest in New Zealand video art.
Viewing requests for titles have been high in both Wellington and Auckland,
where artists such as Philip Dadson are using their own art works and the works
of their contemporaries to teach media art to a new generation of students.
According to Michael Brook, the Manager of the Archive’s Auckland Office,
“moving image has deservedly become an important fine art form and students
are eager to reflect on, and learn from, what has been done in the past.”
Central to the accessibility of these works is the interloan system that operates
between the Archive in Wellington, the Auckland Office and the network of VACCESS
sites around the country. This system means that VHS viewing copies of specific
films can be sent to a site for a short time, making even the most unique film
available to people outside the Wellington region.
VACCESS sites can be found in Dunedin, Palmerston North, New Plymouth
and Hamilton. For enquiries about VACCESS or the Paleo Neo catalogue, please
contact the Film Archive.
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Helen Clark Pays a Visit
On March 29, the Film Archive received the first Prime Ministerial visit of
its 19 year history when Helen Clark, along with Associate Minister Judith Tizard,
attended a screening and presentation of the Archive’s plans to establish
a Museum of the Moving Image on the Wellington waterfront.
Archive Chief Executive Frank Stark emphasised that the MOMI project is only
a part of a commitment to nation-wide access, saying, “It isn’t enough
to establish a central base in Wellington and declare yourself open for business.”
He went on to outline the key challenges faced by the Archive over the next
few years, with particular emphasis on the imminent loss of important video
tape from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. “While well-stored film material
has been demonstrated to last for up to 100 years, we are discovering that video
tape has a much shorter life and video machines shorter still. There is a rising
tide of at-risk video tape.”
In response the Prime Minister applauded the work of the Archive and offered
her support. “The Archive is absolutely worthy of better presentation and
storage facilities,” she said. “We must work together to see what
we can do to preserve this resource.”
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Rory O’Shea
Cinematographer 1949 - 2000
I met Rory at one of those infamous film parties that abounded in the early
70’s. We hit it off straight away as we were both passionate about the
film industry. Soon after that I put 2 and 2 together and realised that he was
John O’Shea’s son. He was an experienced cinematographer that belied
his age.
It wasn’t until finally got to work for Pacific Films on
Ngati that we renewed our friendship. Rory’s sense
of fun, enjoyment and professionalism on film sets was an inspiration
to all around him . Who will ever forget his Elvis impersonation
at the crew party at the Waipiro Bay? His artistically composed
images epitomised the feeling of the East Coast. The next time I
worked with Rory was on Te Rua. He the old boy: me
the new boy on the block.
At Pacific Films and later at the Film Archive, I was lucky enough to look
at the large library of Pacific’s images. Rory’s unmistakable signature
was across large proportion of these items. He was always particularly proud
of the documentary The Hum in which he was able to indulge in his twin
passions of sailing and cinematography.
Rory was diagnosed with cancer late last year and died in February 2000. I was
talking to Wi Kuki Kaa recently about Rory and he made the comment that he “never
met anyone who didn’t like or get on with Rory.” I believe that truly
sums up Rory the man.
Farewell Rory, thanks for being a mate—Johnny Morris
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Street Diary
Katrina Kyredis, supreme winner for her film Taranaki Terrace, in
the Pulse of the Nation: Shortland Street Short Soap Opera Competition.
Taranaki Terrace, a fervid tale of lust and betrayal in the provinces,
was the universal choice of the judging panel. Katrina’s prize was a return
trip to Auckland and a day on the Shortland Street set. This is her
diary of that weekend.
My name is Katrina Kyredis, and I won the Pulse of the Nation – Shortland
Street Short Soap Opera film competition. First prize, I was told was a walk
on part on the set of Shortland Street. Not only did I find myself
lying on a bed in triage with Dr Al and Nurse Tamzin prodding my ears and un-wiring
me, I enjoyed sitting at the monitors with director John Callen; in the control
room with the vision mixers; and lunch with some of the cast and crew. An overall
successful day with my applause going to Christopher Hobbs (Dr Frank Malone)
who enlightened me on the “unglamourous-ness” of life on the set of
“shortys”.
Day Two began again at TVNZ, where as a Stage II finalist for TV2’s 2000s,
I attended a workshop with around 20 other budding filmmakers from around the
country. Hosted by Belinda Todd, and a number of other industry people, this
intensive but rewarding day had me laughing with joy, cringing with nerves,
shocked by the size of some sets (eg One Network News), and hopeful for the
future of New Zealand Television.
Thanks to all involved in my journey and I hope to see you all down the line!
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News Clips
Film and History Conference
The Film Archive in association with Victoria University is hosting the 10th
biennial Film and History Conference from 30 November to 3 December 2000.
Themes of the conference are: The Control and Dissemination of Images relating
to indigenous peoples; The role of film & television in creating a sense
of place through the representation of specific localities; and How film and
television creates a sense of time in our understanding of history.
Keynote speakers are planned from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom,
Australia and New Zealand. Special film screenings will be held.
For more information about the conference contact The Film Archive at info@nzfa.org.nz
Wallace Award
The Film Archive has a won an Electoral Commission Wallace Award for raising
public awareness of the New Zealand electoral system. The community organisation
award went to the exhibition Kissing Babies: 60 Years of Spin.
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