Song of the Kauri to Screen at the Film Archive

Listing details: Song of the Kauri (2011) film screening and Q&A with director Mathurin Molgat

When: 7pm, Wednesday through Saturday, 28 - 31 August. Also 4.30pm, 31 August.

Where: The New Zealand Film Archive, 84 Taranaki St, Wellington

Ticket price: $8 general admission / $6 concession

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Song of the Kauri to Screen at the Film Archive

Can kauri become our currency in the new world of green economics? Poetic, political and timely, Song of the Kauri (2011) is a surprisingly frank and firmly grassroots documentary film that every New Zealander needs to see.

The director, Mathurin Molgat, will be present for a Q&A session after the Wednesday screening.

Kauri are New Zealand’s majestic and mythological native trees. They are deeply rooted in the cultural and economic history of New Zealand, yet were nearly eradicated by early settlers and questionable government policies.

Song of the Kauri explores the current perspectives and tensions surrounding sustainable planting of kauri, and the latent economic and creative potential of our sleeping giants.

Northland local, and internationally renowned luthier Laurie Williams is one of a select few who works with this wonderful timber. His instruments resonate with the heart and soul of New Zealand. Laurie Williams guitars have been played in orchestras and symphonies, in stadiums and in solitude, their unique qualities attracting enormous world wide attention.

The film features acclaimed musicians Jackson Browne, Nigel Gavin, Michael Chapdelaine, Tiki Taane and Miranda Adams, alongside philosophers, economists, historians, scientists, professors and woodsmen.

Song of the Kauri will entertain and anger, challenge and enchant. Poetic, political, surprisingly frank and firmly grassroots, this film reveals a story which has remained hidden from the mainstream.

Song of the Kauri is directed by Mathurin Molgat, who has been involved in the New Zealand film industry since 1985. He was played the lead in the 1987 cult film The Leading Edge. Molgat and Academy Award nominee Michael Firth went on to produce several more films and in 1989 won “Best Short” at the International Festival of Adventure Films for their production Skifield in the Sky. In 1990 Molgat represented New Zealand film at the Singapore International Film Festival, where he was a keynote speaker. He has worked on over 50 film productions and television commercials. The multi-talented Molgat is also a world ranked adventure skier, an action camera operator, a professional stills photographer, and a songwriter / composer / guitarist.

Song of the Kauri will screen at 7pm, Wednesday through Saturday, 28 - 31 August.

Also 4.30pm, 31 August. At the Film Archive, 84 Taranaki St.

Credit for images: Song of the Kauri (2011).

ENDS

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