History of N.Z. films on record

Press, 29 October 1981, Page 21

History of N.Z. films on record

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

Eighty-three years after films first began to be made in New Zealand, and 25 years after the first meeting was held to discuss the establishment of a national film archive, the New Zealand Film Archive has at last been born.

A trust deed drawn up by the Film Commission, and subscribed to by all interested parties, which enabled the film archive to be set up as an . autonomous charitable trust, was negotiated last March. In the deed, the aims and objectives of the film archive are: to collect, preserve and catalogue film materials; to provide premises and facilities for preserving, storing,

consulting, viewing and displaying film materials; to provide access to material held by the archive consistent with overriding preservation and copyright requirements; to issue publications, screen archive, films and by similar means encourage and promote public interest and awareness in film materials, film history and culture, preservation matters and film archives generally.

“Film materials” include everything from feature films, shorts and document-

aries to television programmes, stills, posters, equipment and any promotional, critical and historical material relating to films.

The archive has inherited nearly one million feet of motion pictures made on nitrate film, a material that begins an absolutely irreversible process of decay from the moment it is manufactured.

Many of New' Zealand’s most historically and artistically significant films are

still missing, including at least 13 feature films and hundreds of shorter and nonfictional works.

Commenting on this, the archive's director. (Mr Jonathon Dennis) says .it would be sad if these unique records of New Zealand's history and culture were not found, but it would be tragic if they were found and then lost through lack of finance.

The chairman of the archive trust board is Mr David Fowler, a former director of the National Film Unit, now representing the Film Commission. Others are the chief archivist (Ms Judith Hornabrook), Mr Ron Ritchie of the Federation of Film Societies, the manager of the National Film Unit (Mr Doug Eckoff), Mr Frank Mahoney representing the Minister of

Education, Television New Zealand's head of film services (Mr Ken White), and the veteran film maker, John O'Shea, representing the Minister for the Aris. As a charitable trust, the film archive is charged with establishing and maintaining a continuing programme of preserving New Zealand's motion pictures as national works of cultural value tor future generations. To date it has received grants totalling $33,000 from the Film Commission. Television New Zea-

land, the Department of Internal Affairs and the Federation of Film Societies. Mr Fowler says the archive's funding is of critical importance as transferring its nitrate films on to acetate of “safety" stock will cost at least $30,000 a year for the next five years. The National Film Unit offers special rates for laboratory work, and vault storage space al no charge, but even so it is an expensive business. To help the programme, Kodak (N.Z.) Ltd has contri-

buted $3OOO worth of black and white stock needed to make safety copies of the old films, and IBM has given a typewriter.

Mr Fowler says it is ironic that the largest cash donation has come from an Australian firm — Colourfilm — which has processed many New Zealand movies and feels that by making a donation it is heloing to guarantee their preservation. .

"The Tin Shed,” the first book on film history to be published in New Zealand, marks the first publication by the film archive. This booklet is available from the film archive in Wellington for $3.50.