‘To the Is-land’ to be filmed

Press, 13 April 1989, Page 11

‘To the Is-land’ to be filmed

Jane Campion (Palme d’Or winner, Cannes 1986, Best Short Film) is returning to her native New Zealand to direct the mini-series “To the Island," based on the award-winning trilogy of autobiographies by Janet Frame. The producer is Bridget Ikin of Hibiscus Films, Ltd, an independent production company in Auck-

land, with John Maynard (the producer of Vincent Ward’s “Vigil” and “The Navigator”) as co-pro-ducer. The three 50-minute episodes of “To the Is-land” have been pre-sold to Channel 4 in Britain, to the A.B.C. in Australia, and to Television New Zealand. The New Zealand Film Commission is a major investor.

Production will take place in New Zealand, Spain and England from August to October, with delivery in April next year. An international theatrical release is planned for 1990 before broadcasting. Jane Campion says: “After reading all three books, I felt committed to making Janet and her

style of story widely available to people. Janet’s fresh exploration of her childhood and life opened up my own, stimulating many painful and funny memories that somehow under Janet’s courage and beam of honesty no longer seemed so bad or so embarrassing. It’s my ambition to share this experience with the audience.”