Anzac Day collection features on NZ On Screen
24 Apr 2009
An exclusive collection of war-themed New Zealand documentaries and films is now online - on the NZ On Screen website - to mark Anzac Day 2009.
New Zealanders had always had a strong interest in Anzac Day war commemorations, and this interest was increasing as a new generation of New Zealanders wanted to find out more about the war stories of their grandparents and great-grandparents, NZ On Screen content director Irene Gardiner said.
"I think there will be a lot of interest in the excellent collection of titles we have collated for the site. We’ve got iconic full-length documentaries and short films, as well as significant excerpts from Gaylene Preston’s acclaimed documentary film War Stories."
New Zealand war documentaries
Documentaries featuring in the Anzac collection include:
- Our Lost War (2006), which sees Outrageous Fortune actress Robyn Malcolm re-tracing the war experiences of her great-uncle who was killed at Passchendaele in 1917
- Children of Gallipoli, a documentary made in 2001 by producer and director Anna Cottrell, which features the journeys of Gallipoli descendents to Anzac Cove and includes the Turkish point of view
- Maori Battalion - March to Victory, produced and directed by Tainui Stephens in 1990
- Our Oldest Soldier, filmmaker David Blyth’s 2002 documentary about his grandfather, WWI hero Curly Blyth.
Award-winning short films
Three award-winning NZ short films will be screening for the first time online:
- Oscar-nominated director Taika Waititi’s Tama Tu, about Māori Battalion soldiers at war (special mentions at Berlin and Sundance Film Festivals)
- Turangawaewae - A Place to Stand, directed by Peter Burger (selected for Cannes critics week and featuring the late Wi Kuki Kaa in one of his last performances)
- wartime romance Dead Letters, directed by Paolo Rotondo.
War history
The collection also features some classic historic titles, such as Maori Battalion Returns from the Weekly Review NFU newsreel series of 1946, and a Compass current affairs programme from 1966 about the RSA.
The collection is supported by written background information and profiles, with a special introductory piece by leading New Zealand war historian Chris Pugsley, and a reflection on the meaning of Anzac from veteran broadcaster Ian Johnstone.
The full list of titles in the Anzac collection is:
• The Time of Our Lives
• Children of Gallipoli
• Our Oldest Soldier
• The Shadow of Vietnam
• Our Lost War
• Maori Battalion - March to Victory
• Vietnam - My Father's War
• Gallipoli: The New Zealand Story
• Our People Our Century - Families At War
• Weekly Review - Maori Battalion Returns
• Compass - The RSA
• Anzac Day Dawn Service 2008
• Anzac Day National Wreathlaying Ceremony 2008
• Dead Letters
• Tama Tu
• Turangawaewae
• War Stories.
NZ On Screen website
The Anzac Day collection will run for four weeks, and can be viewed on the NZ On Screen website (link below).
NZ On Screen is a project designed to make the library of New Zealand television production freely available to the public. More than 380 titles are available, including television, film, music video and new media produced in New Zealand. The project is funded by NZ On Air.
More information:
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