Director: Gavin Hipkins
Date: 2012
Duration: 12 minutes
Format Super 16mm film transferred to blueray
Courtesy of the artist and Starkwhite, Auckland

This Fine Island revisits Charles Darwin's journey to the Bay of Islands in New Zealand in 1835. In this filmic adaption, Darwin's nineteenth-century travel writing in The Voyage of the Beagle becomes a vehicle for present day tourisms, travel romance, and racial othering, against the backdrop of New Zealand's lush landscape.

Best known for his expanded photographic projects and multipart art-installations, Gavin Hipkins’ first short film The Master premiered at the New Zealand International Film Festival in 2011. His second film This Film Island previewed in November 2011 at Centre Pompidou, Paris in Recontres Internationales: Nouveau Cinema & Art Contemporain, and was included in the 2012 inaugural edition of Armory Film, The Armory Show, New York (curated by Moving Image New York). This Fine Island was selected for the 2012 New Zealand International Film Festival.

Read some online reviews:
starkwhite.co.nz
circuit.org.nz
art-action.org

Image credit: Gavin Hipkins, This Fine Island (Production Still)