LyntonDiggle
- Director
- Camera
Lynton Diggle spent almost 25 years working as a director and cameraman for the government's National Film Unit, before launching his own company. Along the way, he filmed in Antarctica and the waters of Lake Taupō, captured major salvage operations at sea, and worked alongside legendary director David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia). Diggle passed away on 23 November 2018.
Screenography
Biography
For over a decade, Lynton Diggle was the only Auckland-based cameraperson employed by the government's National Film Unit. Diggle would go on to capture images of snow, shipwrecks and communes falling apart under the strain.
Born in Paeroa in 1936, Diggle grew up in Rotorua, Auckland and later Otorohanga. As a child he had no idea what he wanted to do for a job; he was more interested in "making stink bombs, learning violin and trying to play rugby". Encouraged by his mother to get a bank job, Diggle failed to make it inside the front door for his job interview, "freaked out" by the idea of working in banking. A former English teacher suggested radio might be of more interest.
Awards
1984 New York International Film and Television Festival
Bronze Medal: The Duke
1983 American Film Festival
Honourable Mention: Operation Overdue
1982 New York International Film and Television Festival
Gold Medal: Kiwifruit
“I always regarded documentary filmmaking as a very privileged occupation. Working in the Arctic and Antarctica, plus around the Pacific basin and New Zealand, and actually being paid to do so was a fantastic life. It never seemed like a proper job.”
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