KellFowler
- Camera
During his 34 years as a National Film Unit cameraman, Kell Fowler filmed throughout New Zealand, and travelled as far afield as China and the South Pole. Career highlights included his work as cameraman and director of Oscar-nominated Antarctic film One Hundred and Forty Days Under the World (1964), and the filming of the sweeping three-screen vistas that featured in Expo 70 hit This is New Zealand.
Screenography
Biography
Variously credited as Kellar, Kel, or (most commonly) Kell, Hugh McKellar Fowler was born in May 1935. At the age of 20 he joined the New Zealand National Film Unit as a cameraman trainee, learning his craft alongside experienced cameramen. Almost all filming then was in 35mm black and white. Fowler's first assignment appears to have been assisting with the filming of news item Ross Sea Appeal – Children Meet Hillary (1955). Over the next 15 years he filmed or assisted with filming about 50 items for the NFU's long-running magazine-film series Pictorial Parade.
Awards
1964 Academy Awards
Nominated for Best Documentary - Short Subject: One Hundred and Forty Days Under the World
“The Film Unit adventurers found that this tea-drinking was a prime requirement in deciding arrangements, and when the time came for returning home, Kell Fowler was almost awash with the liquid.”
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