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52: Summer 2004 |
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Action!
Five years ago Prime Minister
Helen Clark came to the Archive’s
former building, the Film Centre,
to pledge her support for an ambitious
plan to find and secure a new home
for the collections and for users
to access them.
That call for action
reached its culmination
on 28 May 2004 when Ms
Clark hailed the extraordinary
efforts of the Archive
and its supporters in
raising over $5 million
to build a 21st century
complex of storage, staff
and public facilities.
She delivered her tribute
in the brand new 120-seat
theatre which is at the
heart of the mediaplex – a
combination of cinema,
gallery, library and screening
rooms designed to open
up the collection of over
100,000 film and video
titles to the public.
In particular the Prime
Minister recognised the
contributions of the mediaplex’s
founding supporters, the
Lion Foundation, the New
Zealand Community Trust,
the Pelorus Trust, Pub
Charity and the Wellington
City Council and sponsors
Samsung and Wattyl Paints.
Together these funders
had matched the Government’s
own support through the
Regional Museums Fund,
providing, she said, a
welcome new model for
the development of such
public facilities. The
balance of the necessary
capital came from the
Archive itself.
A successful fundraising
campaign headed by Fiona
Read reached the basic
goal in January and work
on the mediaplex began
in earnest with the clearing
of the interior of the
three lower levels of
the Archive’s new
building, Te Anakura Whitiahua.
The unusual structure
of the building, with
its absence of interior
pillars and load-bearing
walls enabled project
architect Ken Davis to
make the best use of the
available space. A massive
double wall was constructed
to minimise sound leakage
into the cinema and a
new opening was cut between
the ground floor and the
basement to provide direct
access to the library.
All three levels of the
development were completely
rewired, including the
installation of kilometres
of data and video cables,
air conditioning was installed
and the exterior of the
whole building was refurbished.
It now dominates the Taranaki
Street area with its gleaming
white and aluminium surfaces,
its vast glazed areas
at street level and its
six-metre Film Archive
sign. It is a vivid reminder
of the size of the Archive
and the significance it
has achieved in the New
Zealand cultural scene.
The New Zealand Community
Trust Mediatheatre is
the most extensively equipped
cinema in Wellington.
It gives the Film Archive
the capacity to project
35mm silent and sound
film, 16mm silent and
sound film and almost
every available form of
video, both analogue and
digital. Programmes can
be remotely controlled
by presenters within the
auditorium and it also
provides a good acoustic
environment for speakers
and musical performers.
Its 120 seats have been
specifically designed
to provide comfortably
more space and leg room
than contemporary multiplex
cinemas. They can also
be easily demounted to
enable the theatre to
be reconfigured as a lecture,
conference or performance
venue.
The mediatheatre will
offer a repertory programme
of New Zealand and international
material at least five
nights a week as well
as serving as the venue
for the Archive’s
extensive education and
community group screening
programmes.
The Pelorus Trust Mediagallery
is a unique, purpose-built
multimedia exhibition
space. The 65m2 room with
a stud height of over
6 metres is extensively
wired for data, video
and audio delivered through
monitors, video projectors
and speakers. It also
has a gallery lighting
system and can be set
up as a second screening
venue. Programmes include
installations by video
artists, historical exhibitions
and interactive events.
The Pub Charity Medialibrary
holds over 20,000 titles
from the Film Archive
collection on VHS and
DVD. Users can select
viewing material from
the shelves with the help
of a computerised catalogue
and watch it at video
work stations. Like many
of the mediaplex programmes,
library access is free
of charge.
The whole complex revolves
around the Lion Foundation
Mediacentre – a
combination of coffee
bar, information centre
and screening lounge.
Visitors can watch mediaTV,
the Archive’s own
in-house channel, select
items from digital video
juke boxes or simply read
the latest film magazines
over coffee and snacks.
The dramatic space of
the mediacentre with its
enormous windows is designed
to throw the Film Archive
open to passers by. After
dark mediaTV also contributes
to Wellington night life,
with continuous programming
on a jumbo 1.3 metre street
screen.
The mediaplex is intended
to project the Film Archive’s
huge collection of film
and video treasures firmly
into the public domain,
but not just in Wellington.
It is the heart of a national
and international network
which delivers film and
television to more than
250,000 users a year through
screenings and exhibitions,
at video access sites,
marae and schools or over
the internet. Most of
the programmes and events
created for the mediaplex
will be made available
to a much wider audience
through this network.
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Nau Mai Hoki Mai
We welcome you back to
Newsreel, our redesigned
bulletin. After a year’s
break we are back with
more colour, more stories
and more photographs to
keep you up to date with
activities at the New
Zealand Film Archive.
This issue of Newsreel is primarily devoted to
our new mediaplex. Opened
in late May and incorporating
a theatre, gallery, library
and coffee bar, the mediaplex
is designed to enhance
public access to the Film
Archive.
Our focus remains national
in outlook, however, and
articles in this issue
will update readers on
activities at our Auckland
Office, Video Access sites
and the Archive’s
education and community
screenings programmes.
Feedback is always welcome.
If you have suggestions
for content, would like
to be added to (or removed
from) our subscription
list or have comments
to make, please write
to Newsreel at the Film
Archive, Box 11-449, Wellington.
If you are currently receiving
Newsreel by post but would
prefer an electronic version,
let us know.
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Sanctuary
In October the Auckland
office of the Film Archive
is exhibiting Sanctuary,
a video installation by
award-winning Christchurch
filmmaker Zoë Roland,
documenting Tiritiri Matangi
Island in the Hauraki
Gulf.
Tiritiri Matangi is one
of the world’s most
successful bird breeding
sanctuaries. Endangered
native species that have
prospered on the island
include takahe, kokako
and hihi. As one of the
inaugural recipients of
the Wild Creations artist–in–residence
grants, jointly funded
by the Department of Conservation
and Creative New Zealand,
Zoë Roland spent
time on the island filming
and studying the bird
life. Sanctuary profiles
and pays tribute to the
island's internationally
recognised restoration
and regeneration programme,
as well as offering a
platform for experts to
discuss the past and future
of New Zealand’s
endangered bird species.
Sanctuary is
a compelling and essential
video work that highlights
both the beauty and fragility
of our natural environment
and in particular our
bird life. Integral to
the video is the interweaving
of Maori mythology and
the ‘dawn chorus’ throughout
the work.
One of Roland’s
intentions with Sanctuary was to bring our natural
history to our city centres.
The work has already exhibited
in Christchurch and Dunedin,
and the Auckland office
on bustling Karangahape
Road will undoubtedly
provide a suitable environment.
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Final Credits
Roger
Mirams (1918-2004)
Roger Mirams made his
first film when he was
still at school. The
Gangsters Come to Christchurch was
good enough to screen
at a local picture theatre
and started him on a life
in film.
With writer/director
Alun Falconer, Mirams
established The Pacific
Film Unit in 1948. John
O’Shea joined in
1950 and together they
produced Broken
Barrier (1952), the first New
Zealand feature produced
since 1940.
Mirams left in 1957 to
set up a subsidiary company
in Melbourne. In 1966,
he moved to Sydney and
established Roger Mirams
Productions. Later, in
1977, Mirams joined the
Grundy organisation, where
he worked as a producer
until his retirement in
2002.
The Film Archive houses
the extensive Pacific
Films Collection of film,
documentation and equipment.
Professor
Bob Chapman (1922-2004)
It has been said that
although Professor Bob
Chapman lived in Auckland,
his main influence was
in Wellington. The reference
is to the influence Auckland
University’s founding
Professor of Political
Studies had on his students,
many of whom now reside
in the Beehive. It applies
equally to the Chapman
Collection at the Film
Archive.
Beginning in 1974, Professor
Chapman recorded the television
news off-air with an open-reel
audio deck. When the technology
arrived in the mid 1980s,
Chapman switched to VHS,
recording both sound and
picture. In 2002 the earliest
at risk tapes were deposited
and the Archive began
the massive task of preserving
and cataloguing over twenty
years of news.
The Film Archive continues
Professor Chapman’s
work recording the daily
news bulletins off TV1
and TV3.
Mike
Walker (1932-2004)
Mike
Walker started his film
career as a cadet graphic
artist in the National
Publicity Studios of the
Tourist and Publicity
Department. In 1951 he
joined Bob Morrow, a film
animation artist, at Morrow
Productions an independent
company specialising in
animated documentaries.
For Morrow Productions
Mike Walker worked as
a director, producer and
co-writer on Kingi’s
Story (1981), Kingpin (1985) and Mark
II (1987).
Dealing with the lives
of young Maori in contemporary
New Zealand, the trilogy
received critical acclaim for raising
important social issues.
In 1992 Mike Walker left
filmmaking to concentrate
on photography. A large
collection of films and
documentation from Morrow
Productions is deposited
with the Film Archive.
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Nationwide
This year our major focus
has been on the opening
of the mediaplex in Wellington,
nevertheless our commitment
to nationwide programmes
remains strong.
Outreach
Following the success
of the Last Film Search
and Travelling Film Show
programmes we have continued
to tour screenings to
all parts of New Zealand.
This year, crowds have
filled halls and picture
theatres in Taihape, Masterton,
Eltham, Nelson, Waipu,
Opotiki and Christchurch
at screenings co-hosted
by local organisations
and tailored for community
festivals and celebrations.
Highlights included:
a programme of historical
Wairarapa films for the
Masterton 150th Celebrations
which attracted over 900
people; the Opotiki Silent
Film Festival, held in
the beautiful Deluxe Theatre,
screened a programme of
features, dramas and newsreels
over three days; and for
the first time a screening
for Christchurch’s
annual Body
Festival.
Touring programmes are
planned for Hamilton during
November, and the Wellington/Kapiti
beach suburbs throughout
December.
For more information
on the Wellington/Kapiti
screenings, or an information
pack detailing how to
arrange a community screening
in your area, please contact:
Outreach Screenings Co–ordinator,
Jane Paul, touring@nzfa.org.nz
Over the past twelve
months outreach screenings
have also taken place
around the country to
support the Archive’s
Te Hokinga Mai and other
outreach access programmes.
Highlights include screenings
around the
country, in Oraka/Aparima Colac Bay
for
Te Hokinga Mai ki Ngai Tahu; at Bluff
for the
Te Roopu Whakahau AGM; at Te Wananga
o Raukawa to support teaching outcomes;
in Masterton for the photographic
exhibition Kahungunu
Ka Moe, Ka Puta and a full house at Hoani Waititi
Marae in conjunction with Waitakere
City Libraries Matariki programme.
Video Access
The Archive’s popular
nationwide network of
Video Access sites is
set to expand this November
when a new site opens
at the Hamilton Central
Library. The new site
opens in the Archives
Reading Room on the Library’s
third floor and replaces
one previously located
at Waikato Museum. This
brings the number of Archive
Video Access sites around
the country to seven.
More than 300 titles
will be available on VHS
in Hamilton. As with all
Video Access sites the
selection ranges from
items of local interest
to popular features and
shorts, independent documentaries
and commercials.
“Film footage adds
a real dimension to research
about the past; you can
really get a ‘taste’ of
what it was like to say,
walk down central Hamilton
in the early 1930s,” enthuses
Diane McAllen, Video Access
Developer. “We are
really excited to be opening
another site and promoting
the Archive to New Zealand.”
Education
Following the
disruption caused by relocating
and establishing new public
premises, the Archive’s
education programme is
fully operational again
and more popular than
ever.
“The mediatheatre
works superbly for education
programmes”, says
Education Co-ordinator,
Alex Burton, “being
able to operate projection
and commentary from the
front of the house gives
us flexibility and multiple
styles of presentation.”
The medialibrary is a
real asset for students
from secondary school
to university level. With
Media Studies established
as an NCEA subject and
visual language receiving
a stronger push in English,
the library of 20,000
titles available on VHS
or DVD is an increasingly
valuable resource.
On Tape
The Film Archive's
On
Tape secondary school
video library commenced
its national pilot in
May 2003 to test levels
of interest in regions
with little or no access
to our extensive onsite
education programme.
Some 15 months later,
the Archive processed
an On
Tape request from
Northland College, the
1001st order received
from all over New Zealand.
With an effective audience
of over 75,000 and hugely
positive teacher evaluation
the programme has established
its worth and has potential
for significant growth.
Subject to effective funding,
a growing On
Tape library
will prove a major contributor
to the Film Archive's
work in education.
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Programming the Mediaplex
Open five nights a week,
Wednesday to Sunday, the
mediatheatre offers Wellington’s
most diverse cinema experience.
Highlights range from
early cinematic treasures,
to rarely seen New Zealand
feature films, international
documentaries and experimental
video. Following the Archive’s
kaupapa to collect, protect
and project our moving
image heritage, programming
in the mediatheatre focuses
on New Zealand. Nonetheless
our moving image heritage
does not exist in a vacuum
and programming incorporates
a judicious, but strong,
international component.
The
New Zealand Feature
Project, in association
with the Film Commission,
aims first and foremost
to screen New Zealand
feature films regularly.
Curated by both staff
and invited guests, the
feature project encourages
new ways of looking at
New Zealand films; to
publish monographs and
essays, both in print
and on the website and
to maintain a comprehensive
and accurate New Zealand
filmography. In October,
Lawrence McDonald, Illusions editor,
presents Singing
in the Frame, a personal
selection of New Zealand
musical films, including
Don’t Let It
Get You (1966), Meet
the Feebles (1990) and Rollin’ Thru
New Zealand with Kenny
Rogers and the First Edition (1974).
The
Open Archive programme
explores the full extent
of the Archive’s
collections, bringing
to the screen seldom seen
gems alongside favourite
treasures in many different
combinations. Open Archive
screenings are a must
for anyone with an interest
in New Zealand social
history.
In association with the
National Library Gallery
exhibition, Handboek:
Ans Westra Photographs,
television material featuring
Ans Westra will screen
in late October. In addition
an Open Archive screening,
curated by Lissa Mitchell,
the Archive’s Documentation
Manager, will explore
the aesthetic and technical
relationship between photography
and film.
October and November
features a series of award-winning
French documentaries,
including a revealing
portrait of Marguerite
Duras, and highlights
from the long-running
West German crime series
Tatort alongside rarely
seen films from Polizieruf
110, its East German equivalent.
These programmes are made
possible with support
from the Embassy of France
and Goethe-Institut Wellington.
The Goethe-Institut is
also assisting with a
programme of recent German
video art under the auspices
of the Marl Video Art
Award.
In late November the
mediaplex hosts Telling
Tales: An Australian Perspective,
a 10-day festival of recent
feature films showcasing
the work of Australia’s
leading and emerging filmmakers.
Highlights include Tracker (2001),
Paul Cox’s
Innocence (2000),
Andrew Dominik’s
confrontational and unrelenting Chopper (2001),
Rachel Perkins’ Radiance (1998)
and on a lighter note,
the comic hit Crackerjack (2002).
The festival is presented
in association with the
Australian High Commission,
and with the generous
support of the Australian
Film Commission.
Open seven days a week
from noon to 6.00 pm,
the mediagallery showcases
the work of moving image
artists utilising the
potential of non-film
technologies (video, computer,
digital and analogue-based).
The gallery is also a
venue for small-scale
object and text based
exhibitions and installations
exploring aspects of New
Zealand’s moving
image history.
Following the opening
exhibitions Telecom
Prospect 2004: New Art
New Zealand and The
Dutch Film Show the mediagallery hosts
Secret
Century. This two-part
installation of industrial
and educational films
drawn from the Prelinger
Archives in San Francisco
depicts key trends and
developments of mid-20th
American century life.
Opening in early December,
Kia
Ora Wellywood: From the
Tin Shed to Filmcraft,
is the first in a series
of exhibitions looking
at the history of the
film industry in Wellington.
The exhibition will focus
on the history of the
company, Filmcraft, and
key participants Len Mitchell
(graphic artist) and Cyril
Morton (cameraman/filmmaker).
Through the late 20s and
early 30s Filmcraft produced
dozens of scenic films
promoting New Zealand
to an international audience.
Examples of these films
will screen in the mediatheatre.
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News Clips
Awarded
In the 2004 New Year Honours,
Ron Ritchie, past president
of the Friends of the Film Archive,
convocation member and former Trustee,
was made a Member of the New Zealand
Order of Merit for services to the
community.
Study Trip
Liz Stanley, a student
from the post- graduate film course
at University of East Anglia spent
her 4-week archive work placement
with the Film Archive in April/May.
Arriving in the busy weeks prior to
the mediaplex opening, Liz worked
mainly with staff in Conservation,
fitting in an outreach screening at
Taihape.
Comings & Goings
The Film Archive
farewells Caroline Forsyth (Television
Collection), Sue Hewitt (Facilities
Manager), Lawrence Wharerau (Kaituitui),
John Harmon (Accounts) and Cushla
Vula (Conservation).
And welcomes Owen Mann (Television
Collection), Jeanette Wiles-Cromie
(Administration), Rupert Reynolds-MacLean,
Emil McAvoy, Iona Forsyth, Hyo Jung
Lee and Yorick Brown (Front of House
Staff), and Richard Lomas (mediaplex
Technician).
Documentary Matters
Over Labour Weekend
the mediaplex will host a number of
events as part of the three-day conference
Expanding Documentary. The conference
is a collaboration between the Archive,
Massey University Wellington, Auckland
University Faculty of Arts and the
Screen Directors Guild of New Zealand.
Vietnam Conference
In April, Bronwyn
Taylor (Client Services) and Jamie
Lean (Collection Development) represented
the Film Archive at the joint FIAF/SEAPAVAA
international congress in Hanoi. Jamie
was elected to the SEAPAVAA Executive
Council replacing outgoing representative
Cushla Vula.
Board Changes
The terms of long-serving
Board members, Doug Eckhoff and Chairperson
Waana Davis, came to an end in August
2004. The Board paid tribute to the
valuable contribution both members
had made. New appointments to the
Board are Anne Phillips (Ngapuhi),
Graeme Everton (Ngati Raukawa) and
Mike Nicolaidi. Mike Nicolaidi was
also elected Chair of the Board for
2004/2005.
Symposium
The Film Archive is to host
a NZ on Air Symposium Sound & Light:
Challenges for Audio-Visual Archiving on Wednesday 3 November. The objective
is “to consider trends, changes,
problems and opportunities impacting
on audio-visual archiving in New Zealand
and to seek new possibilities for
coordination and cooperation.” Keynote
speaker is Canadian Sam Kula, one
of the world’s leading experts
on audio-visual archiving.
Signed
In July representatives from
Ngaphui signed the Memorandum
of Understanding bringing the number of Iwi signatories
to the Te Hokinga Mai programme to
five.
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