One October night In 1938 Orson Welles famously fooled radio listeners into believing that the United States was under attack from martians. New Zealand’s War of the Worlds moment arguably came in 1995, when directors Costa Botes and Peter Jackson unleashed moviemaker Colin McKenzie on an audience of unsuspecting patriots. Forgotten Silver joined a sly tradition of on screen Kiwi leg-pulling: from turkeys in gumboots and John Clarke as a rock star, to fence-playing farmer musicians, phallic molluscs and Māori porn stars.

This collaboration between dancer Douglas Wright and director Gregor Nicholas was one of a series of music and movement-based shorts that established Nicholas’ reputation. A dramatised film noir sequence leads to a cross-dressing dance duel between Wright and Debbie McCulloch, shifting between an Orwellian cityscape and retro nightclub. Wright choreographs the bodies, and Nicholas the bold and sensual visual rhythms (shot by Stuart Dryburgh). Nicholas went on to direct high profile commercials and movie Broken English. Wright passed away in 2018.

This classic short film provides an unusual showcase for the founding talents of musical theatre group The Front Lawn — Harry Sinclair and Don McGlashan. The duo play every character in this slice of life set amongst the pedestrians of Auckland's Karangahape Road. The narrative unravels like a baton relay. Walkshort was directed by editor Bill Toepfer. Sinclair would go on to do some directing of his own (Topless Women Talk about their Lives), while as lead singer of the Mutton Birds, McGlashan sang an ode to another famous Auckland street, Dominion Road.