NZ On Screen Marks Anzac Day

24 April 2009

NZ On Screen Marks Anzac Day With An Exclusive Collection Of Documentaries And Films

NZ On Screen is marking Anzac Day with an exclusive online collection of war-themed New Zealand documentaries and films from through the years.

NZ On Screen Content Director Irene Gardiner says New Zealanders have always had a strong interest in Anzac Day war commemorations, and this interest is increasing over the years as a new generation of New Zealanders want to find out more about the war stories of their grandparents and great-grandparents.

“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.”

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; and Our Oldest Soldier, filmmaker David Blyth’s 2002 documentary about his grandfather, WWI hero Curly Blyth.

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); and wartime romance Dead Letters, directed by Paolo Rotondo.

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 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, and War Stories.

NZ On Screen’s Anzac Day collection will run for four weeks. You can see the collection, and hundreds of other NZ titles, for free on www.nzonscreen.com

NZ On Screen is fully funded by NZ On Air. All content is free to view.

ENDS

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