MairiGunn
- Cinematographer
Mairi Gunn began working in the camera department in the mid 80s. Since then she has shot music videos (including Outer Space for The 3Ds), short films, and the feature-length Gravity & Grace (directed by Chris Kraus). Gunn shot and co-produced award-winning documentary Restoring the Mauri of Lake Omapere, looking at the history and future of a Northland lake.
Biography
When Mairi Gunn began working on film sets in the 80s, women were a rarity in the camera department. Though Kiwi Ramai Hayward had been a pioneer female camerawoman back in the 1940s (initially overseas), Hayward remained a rarity in the traditionally male-dominated world of cinematography.
Screenography
Awards
2008 Wairoa Māori and Indigenous Film Festival
Best of the Festival: Restoring the Maui of Lake Omapere
2006 WIFT Unsung Heroine of NZ Screen Industry Award
1994 International Television Association NZ (ITVA) Award
Best Cinematography: for Community Video on Domestic Violence
“When the army was rolling up the road I started crying and had to sniff back the tears and say, 'Come on, this is a job girl. Get out there and at it.' That's when I first saw Merata Mita on the back of a truck. She was elevated and I thought, 'That woman knows what she's doing.' ”