Sarah McMullan reviews 'When A City Falls', a documentary about the Christchurch earthquakes.
A photograph of a chalkboard painted on the wall of a building. The chalkboard advertises upcoming Gap Filler events. A woman is chalking a message on the wall.
A photograph of people watching a film projected on the side of a building. The outdoor cinema was part of Gap Filler's 'Film in the Gap' project.
A photograph of people watching a film projected on the side of a building. The outdoor cinema was part of Gap Filler's 'Film in the Gap' project.
A photograph of metal bedsteads which have been used to create a fence at Gap Filler's 'Film in the Gap' project.
A photograph of a film being projected on the side of a building. The outdoor cinema was part of Gap Filler's 'Film in the Gap' project.
A photograph of fairy lights strung over metal bedsteads. The bedsteads have been used to create a fence at Gap Filler's 'Film in the Gap' project.
A photograph of children running across the site of Gap Filler's 'Film in the Gap' project. On the wall behind them is a chalkboard advertising upcoming events.
A photograph of a woman hanging bunting at Gap Filler's 'Film in the Gap' project.
A PDF copy of pages 158-159 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'Film in the Gap'. Photos: Gap Filler
A video about the studio in Templeton where the earthquake drama series "Hope and Wire" was filmed. The video includes interviews with Jordan Mauger, owner of the studio, and Chris Hampson, co-producer of the series.
For her first feature, writer/director Gillian Ashurst (Venus Blue) wanted a “big wide road movie; big skies; big long roads.” Cruising the Canterbury landscapes are small-town dreamers Alice (Heavenly Creature Melanie Lynskey) and Johnny (future Almighty Johnson Dean O’Gorman). The duo’s adventures go awry after encountering a charming American cowboy. Reviews were generally upbeat: there was praise for the talented cast, plus Ashurst’s ability to mix moods and genres. Snakeskin won five awards at the 2001 NZ Film and TV Awards, including Best Film and Cinematography.
Damage to the Knox Church. The walls of the church have collapsed, but the woodwork ceiling is still intact. A small film crew is filming in front of the Church.
A photograph of a film being projected on the side of a building. The outdoor cinema was part of Gap Filler's first project.
A photograph of people watching a film projected on the side of a building. The outdoor cinema was part of Gap Filler's first project.
This research is a creative exploration of transmedia’s ability to offer up a model of distribution and audience engagement for political documentary. Transmedia, as is well known, is a fluid concept. It is not restricted to the activities of the entertainment industry and its principles also reverberate in the practice of political and activist documentary projects. This practice-led research draws on data derived from the production and circulation of Obrero, an independent transmedia documentary. The project explores the conditions and context of the Filipino rebuild workers who migrated to Christchurch, New Zealand after the earthquake in 2011. Obrero began as a film festival documentary that co-exists with two other new media iterations, each reaching its respective target audience: a web documentary, and a Facebook-native documentary. This study argues that relocating the documentary across new media spaces not only expands the narrative but also extends the fieldwork and investigation, forms like-minded publics, and affords the creation of an organised hub of information for researchers, academics and the general public. Treating documentary as research can represent a novel pathway to knowledge generation and the present case study, overall, provides an innovative model for future scholarship.
Chimney Book takes rubble from the Christchurch earthquake, and turns it into the building blocks of a film exploring life in the quake zone. Christchurch musician Blair Parkes took bricks from his chimney — destroyed in the 22 February 2011 aftershocks — painted a letter or symbol on each, then scanned them into his computer. Sound and word form the spine of the result, which is part diary, part experimental film. Parkes explores his experiences of living in Christchurch since the quake through words like 'dust', 'memory', 'place', and a question: 'is it over?'
The movie that won splatterking Peter Jackson mainstream respectability was born from writer Fran Walsh's long interest in the Parker-Hulme case: two 1950s teens who invented imaginary worlds, wrote under imaginary personas, and murdered Pauline Parker's mother. Jackson and Walsh's vision of friendship, creativity and tragedy was greeted with Oscar nominations, deals with indie company Miramax, and rhapsodic acclaim for newbie actors Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet. Time magazine and 30 other publications named it one of the year's 10 best films. Read more about Heavenly Creatures here.
A graph showing revenue for the film, "When a City Falls".
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This edition of the long-running National Film Unit magazine series goes from south to north, then loops the loop. In Christchurch the cathedral and its history are toured and a service for Queen Elizabeth II is shown. Then there’s international get-togethers: a “Jaycees” congress in Rotorua; then Massey, for a Grasslands Conference. At Milson Aerodrome legless British war-hero Douglas Bader is amongst the attendees at the world’s first International Agricultural Aviation Show, and top-dressers demonstrate their “need for speed” skills above a hill country farm.
Sir Miles Warren and Maurice Mahoney were architectural revolutionaries who built a legendary partnership spanning 37 years. A new film currently in production aims to celebrate their incredible legacy and document the bitter fight to save their most iconic building - the Christchurch Town Hall - from demolition after the 2011 earthquake. Co-director and Maurice's daughter Jane Mahoney talks to Mark Leisham about the pairs legacy and the process of making the film.
This chronicle of the Christchurch Commonwealth Games marked one of the National Film Unit's most ambitious productions. Though a range of events (including famous runs by John Walker and Dick Tayler), are covered, the film often bypasses the pomp and glory approach; daring to talk to the injured and mentioning that most competitors lose. The closing ceremonies of the "friendly games" feature the athletes gathering to — as the official song's chorus put it — "join together". The directing team included Paul Maunder, Sam Pillsbury, and Arthur Everard.
CTV journalist Emily Cooper was out filming when the Canterbury earthquake hit. Fifteen of her colleagues are unaccounted for.
A photograph of the entrance to the Re:Entry event.
A graph showing the effect of the earthquakes on ticket sales for the International Film Festival.
A photograph of a musician performing at the Re:Entry event.
The first full-length film documenting the lives of those affected by the Canterbury earthquakes had its premiere in Christchurch last night.
A time-lapse video of excavators demolishing the Heritage Tower in Cathedral Square. The video was filmed over three months.
The Ballantynes' Department Store fire in November 1947 claimed 41 lives and left a lasting scar on Christchurch — the city’s biggest single disaster until the 2011 earthquake. The events of that spring day are explored in this short film which intersperses archive footage with a fictional account of workers and customers in the tailoring department as the dramas of everyday life are suddenly overwhelmed. It was directed by Aileen O’Sullivan, shot by Alun Bollinger and made with the NZ Drama School graduating class of 2002 (with music by Gareth Farr).