Gaylene Preston

Gaylene Preston began in film by accident, while trying to give a voice to those that did not have one. Her first filmmaking experiences occured while working at a psychiatric hospital near London. Since many of the patients could not talk, the idea of drama therapy did not seem so useful an idea; a friend proposed shooting a film instead. Preston found that the film, the first of many, offered these "people who everyone ignored" respect and a public voice.

After seven years in England, Preston returned to New Zealand in 1977 (she already had three years study at Ilam art school behind her). She began working for John O'Shea at Pacific Films, a place whose spirit of creativity reminded her of "Walt Disney's garage in about 1938".

Upon leaving Pacific, Preston combined stints as an art director and director, with freelance cartooning and photography. She worked closely with cinematographer 'Waka' Attewell on award-winning documentary short All the Way up There, which chronicled the struggle of quadriplegic Bruce Burgess to climb Mt Ruapehu.  When Preston's film played in New Zealand cinemas alongside Middle Age Spread, (which she coincidentally worked on as production designer) theatre managers complained that viewers were feeling too emotional to go get snacks during intermission.

Worried at the direction new right economics were taking New Zealand, Preston then decided to make Learning Fast (1980) which documents life and looming unemployment for a group of teenagers. Three years later she directed Making Utu, a behind the scenes chronicle of Geoff Murphy's epic Māori western.

After meeting Robin Laing, partner of director John Laing, Preston decided that Laing had all the right qualifications to be a film producer. The pair formed Preston Laing Productions, and found themselves at meetings where people would continue to look at the door after they had sat down. "It gradually dawned on us that they were waiting for the man to come in, and we had to say: 'Well there isn't one. You'll have to talk to us.'" 

The Preston Laing team would go on to work together on  Mr Wrong, Ruby and Rata, War Stories Our Mothers Never Told Us and Perfect Strangers. War Stories would have its European premiere in official selection at the 1995 Venice Film Festival. Preston and Laing have been strong advocates of equality within the industry, and role models for a number of emerging women filmmakers.

Mr Wrong (1985), Preston's feature film debut, was partly an attempt to avoid genre conventions of glamour, sexism and cultural vagueness. Based on a short story by English writer Elizabeth Jane Howard, the movie follows a woman whose car may be haunted. The film undercuts thriller conventions that the woman must always get rescued by Mr Right. After facing disinterest from New Zealand cinema chains, Preston successfully rented out cinemas, proving that the film had an audience. 

There was a five-year gap before Preston's next feature, during which she had a child, and was commissioned by Thames Television to make a documentary about writer Keri Hulme (Kai Purakau).

Originally conceived as a television series, Ruby and Rata is a cross-cultural comedy about an old Pākehā woman, a young Māori solo mother, and her son. Written by Preston's longtime writing collaborator Graeme Tetley, the film won five awards at the 1990 NZ Film and Television Awards. 

Preston's next two films made nods to the past. Mini-series Bread and Roses (1993) dramatises the formative experiences of social activist and politician Sonja Davies. Keen to make a fictional film based around the World War 2 period, Preston and Laing soon realised that Davies' autobiography had the qualities they were looking for.

Evening Post reviewer Ian Pryor wrote that Bread and Roses "overflows with memorable impressions of our country and our people". Australian actor Genevieve Picot's portrayal of Davies also won wide acclaim.

A rare Kiwi documentary to win a theatrical release, War Stories (1995) revolves around a group of women recalling their experiences of World War 2. The film was inspired partly by Preston's mother, one of those interviewed. Preston has said that having grown up in the aftermath of the war, "the stories that I heard around my mother's skirts were stories of the war".

Over the next few years Preston concentrated on documentaries, directing Hone Tuwhare, Getting to Our Place (about the creation of Te Papa museum), and Titless Wonders (about women who have experienced breast cancer). 

With the twisted romance Perfect Strangers (2003), starring Sam Neill and Australian Rachel Blake, Preston  returned to her roots in the thriller genre. She made the film partly to see how much she could push the conventions of genre storytelling.

Preston's latest project is 40s-period feature film Home by Christmas, based on her father's memories of serving in World War 2.

Preston's work has won 11 New Zealand film awards (including best film) as well as many international awards including a Silver Clio (Cannes) and Mobius Award (Chicago) for outstanding direction of a commercial. Her films have been regularly selected for major film festivals including Venice, Sundance, Toronto, and Melbourne.

In 2001 Preston was honoured by the NZ Arts Foundation, becoming New Zealand's first filmmaker Laureate. She was appointed an Officer of the NZ Order of Merit in 2002 for services to filmmaking.

Preston is glad that long ago she decided to return home from England. "I must say that the decision I made in 1976 to leave my lovely life in South London and come back to New Zealand as a bit of a fish out of water has ultimately given me a community of amazing artists. We’ve all developed together and we are very blessed to have each other. I love the new people and the young people coming through, and I think we’ve got a great filmmaking community."