The World War I Collection
More than 100,000 New Zealanders served overseas in World War l. Over 18,000 died; at least 40,000 more were wounded. Campaigns involving Kiwis, from Gallipoli to the Western Front, were identity-forming, and the war's effects on society were deep. The World War l Collection is an evolving onscreen remembrance. Military expert Chris Pugsley writes about the collection here.
Kaleidoscope - Frances Hodgkins
By the time she died in 1947 aged 78, expat Frances Hodgkins was recognised as a key figure in British art. Subtitled 'A Painter of Genius', this 1989 Kaleidoscope portrait mixes archival material with recreations of Hodgkins working in England in the 1940s, and being interviewed by Vogue. Her "gypsy" life ranges from a Dunedin upbringing, leaving New Zealand in 1901, to painting and teaching in Europe, and struggles with poverty and health. After embracing modernism in the 1920s, her art combined still life and landscape in original ways. TV veteran (and artist) Peter Coates directs.
Lisa Harrow: A home-grown international actress...
Lisa Harrow left New Zealand in the 1960s to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in England – it was this move that cemented her love of theatre and later enabled her to build an international screen career. She has visited New Zealand periodically and starred in locally-shot movies Other Halves and Shaker Run. Nowadays Harrow lives in the US and is involved in environmental campaigning. Her most recent Kiwi project was a role as the grandmother in TV2’s Step Dave.
Gallipoli: The New Zealand Story
This documentary tells the stories of the New Zealand soldiers who were part of the identity-defining Gallipoli campaign in World War I. In the ill-fated mission to take a piece of Turkish coastline, 2721 New Zealanders died with 4752 wounded. As part of research, every one of the then-surviving Gallipoli veterans living in New Zealand was interviewed, with 26 finally filmed. Shot at a barren, rocky Gallipoli before the advent of Anzac Day tourism, this important record screened on Easter Sunday 1984, and won a Feltex Award for Best Documentary.
Lisa Harrow
Lisa Harrow's CV marks her out as one of New Zealand's most prodigious acting exports. After starring in Twelfth Night for the Royal Shakespeare Company at age 25, she got serious about screen acting in the 1980s and worked everywhere from Iceland to Australia, as well as starring in Kiwi films Other Halves and Shaker Run. Alongside her acting, Harrow now campaigns for ecological responsibility on stage and page.
Michael Scott-Smith
Michael Scott-Smith’s four decade career as a producer/director spanned everything from Compass and Close to Home to Crime Watch. In the 1970s he helped open the doors of television to many of the decade's emerging independent filmmakers. As head of drama for TV1, he oversaw a rush of new production — before stints in information programmes, and back at the production coal face.
Yvonne Lawley
Yvonne Lawley's acting career spanned more than 60 years. She began acting on television and radio in the 1960s, and the following decade on the big screen. Lawley's work in 80s soap Gloss, and as star of Ruby and Rata and Rud's Wife provided proof positive that elderly women could be a commanding presence on screen.
Barbara Ewing
New Zealand-born actor Barbara Ewing attracted early notice in 60s British horror films, and became a UK household name as buxom Agnes Fairchild on TV comedy Brass. Ewing was raised in NZ, before leaving to train at RADA in London. In 1979 she won a Feltex Award as the lead in NZ returning expat drama Rachel. Ewing has written plays and several acclaimed novels, including Victorian theatre-set bestseller The Mesmerist.
Alice Fraser
Wellington-born Alice Kemp, NZOM, took her stage name from her step-grandfather — Prime Minister Peter Fraser. At 16 she moved to London to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She worked in theatre, film and television (including a role in Crossroads). Returning home in 1977, she began an extended run on soap Close to Home, as Lorraine. She was nominated for a starring role as Maisy in married couple comedy Bert and Maisy, and for her work in classic movie Ngati. Fraser also acted in Country GP and in Wellington theatre. Fraser died on 28 October 2004, at the age of 70.
Shayle Gardner
From a turbulent beginning in Auckland, self-styled adventurer and traveller Shayle Gardner was regularly employed on the British stage, and managed NZ troops’ entertainment during World War I. He also played his part in UK silent film history, starring in Comin’ thro' the Rye and The Three Passions. Gardner also had a short, tantalising stay in Hollywood; but in the end he came to rest in the place of his birth.Image credit: Alexander Turnbull Library, Eph-A-DRAMA-1922-01 (Detail)