We use cookies to help us understand how you use our site, and make your experience better. To find out more read our privacy policy.
Play

00:00

/

00:00

Full screen
Video quality

Low 0 MB

High 0 MB

HD 0 MB

Captions
Volume
Volume
Hero image for About Face - My First Suit

About Face - My First Suit

Television (Full Length) – 1985

Showcasing some new faces

Directors often find themselves caught in a waiting room between their early short films, and their first full-length feature. How do you go about building up filmmaking experience, and ensure potential talent is not being lost to the screen industry?

In the days before film courses, 48 hour film contests and cheap digital moviemaking, these could be tricky questions indeed. 1985's About Face was an attempt at an answer: seven contemporary dramas for television. Seven dramas which allowed a new wave of writers and directors to stretch out and tell a story that was longer than a short, shorter than Utu, and different from the television norm.

Peter Wells— who directed the Jewel's Darl episode — put it like this: "It was low-budget, fast turn-around, yet high quality, quite individualized drama. Each one was completely different, and it was like making seven mini-features very quickly."

Film-wise, not a lot was going on in 1984. The Government had just closed off tax loopholes, sending private investment scurrying. Frustrated by a lack of funding, Wells, Gregor Nicholas and other independent filmmakers formed the New Film Group. Among other ideas, they proposed a package of short dramas for television, knowing TV programmers prefer regularity over individual short films.

The NFG took their idea for an anthology series to producers Bridget Ikin and John Maynard (working under the banner of Ikin's company Hibiscus Films). The NZ Film Commission, keen to support new filmmakers, agreed to invest, alongside a finance company. Networks in England and New York bought the results, and five of About Face's directors would go on to direct feature films — with a sixth working extensively in television.

But first Ikin had to whittle roughly 150 script ideas down to seven; keeping her eye out for non-racist, non-sexist ideas that suited a half hour running time.

Each director was given a relatively generous two weeks to shoot, while the producers frantically juggled seven balls. The creative team often swapped jobs between episodes, as had occured on previous anthology series Winners and Losers.

The episodes screened in the following order (with directors in brackets):

1) Danny and Raewyn (Gregor Nicholas) - a portrait of a decaying relationship in suburbia

2) The Lamb of God (Costa Botes) - a horror-comedy about sheep staging a revolution

3) A Fitting Tribute (Greg Stitt) - a tale of a mythmaking Kiwi legend

4) Jewel's Darl (Peter Wells) - life for a transsexual and "her darl"

5) Return Journey (Shereen Maloney) - a mother and daughter recall past differences

6) Universal Drive (Martyn Sanderson) - conflicts between a car loving brother and sister

7) My First Suit (Stewart Main) - a gay teen's coming of age

Although not officially part of About FaceRud's Wife (Alison Maclean) screened at the tail end of the series.

The scripts chosen reflected a desire to move beyond familiar staples of the Kiwi screen — the macho, the rural, the romanticised — and mine drama from tales of ordinary people. Six of the seven stories were set in the city. Three episodes had women on the writing team, and five put women actors into key roles. Roughly half the writers and directors had never made a drama before.

Completed in 1985, About Face debuted in August 1986, at 10pm. The late time-slot was a compromise; television executives originally wanted to drop the Jewel's Darl episode entirely, arguing it violated public standards (starring future MP Georgina Beyer, it also featured strongly in the show's generally impressive reviews).

The signs About Face was on the right track began to appear even before it went on air. In-house TVNZ productions themselves begun looking in different directions — drama series Roche (1985) and Open House (which debuted two months before About Face) also shared working class characters, urban settings, and meatier female roles.

Producer Bridget Ikin remarked in 1986: "we took a lot of risks, working with directors and writers who hadn't been involved with narrative drama before. The series vindicates our belief that it is necessary to take risks like that."

The Return Journey episode received a Merit Award at the 1985 Chicago Film Festival. In 1987 About Face was nominated for five Gofta Awards. It was a finalist in Best Drama Series. Jewel's Darl was nominated for Best Writing for a Drama: (Anne Kennedy and Peter Wells), Director (Peter Wells) and Single Drama Programme.

Three of the five nominations for Best Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Role (including Danny and Raewyn winner Jennifer Ward-Lealand) were from About Face episodes. The other actress nominations came from a show whose title perhaps best encapsulated the About Face mission: Open House.

- Ian Pryor is Editor of NZ On Screen.

Back to top

If you liked this, you might also like...

Thumbnail image for About Face
Series

About Face

Seven (arguably eight) stand-alone contemporary...

Collection
Collection image for The Rainbow Collection

The Rainbow Collection

This collection showcases New Zealand lesbian, gay,...

Collection
Collection image for The Coming-of-Age Collection

The Coming-of-Age Collection

From The God Boy to Boy, plus singers, whale riders and...

Thumbnail image for One of Them!

One of Them!

Another tale of teenage males from Stewart Main & Peter...

Thumbnail image for Desperate Remedies

Desperate Remedies

Stewart Main and Peter Wells also made this movie

Thumbnail image for 50 Ways of Saying Fabulous

50 Ways of Saying Fabulous

Another coming of age story directed by Stewart Main

Thumbnail image for Old Scores

Old Scores

Martyn Sanderson also acted in this

Thumbnail image for Loose Enz - The Good Samaritan

Loose Enz - The Good Samaritan

Heather Lindsay also acted in this

Thumbnail image for Midweek with Holmes - Walkshorts

Midweek with Holmes - Walkshorts

Late 1980s report about the demise of the walkshort

Thumbnail image for Boy

Boy

A gay coming of age film

Thumbnail image for Beyond Gravity

Beyond Gravity

Another pioneering gay screen tale

Thumbnail image for About Face - Jewel's Darl

About Face - Jewel's Darl

Another About Face drama written by Peter Wells

Thumbnail image for Squeeze

Squeeze

Another tale featuring a young gay character

Thumbnail image for God, Sreenu and Me

God, Sreenu and Me

Also directed by Stewart Main

Thumbnail image for Singing Seas

Singing Seas

A pioneering short gay short film

Thumbnail image for The Intruder

The Intruder

Short film which involves a teenager coming out

Thumbnail image for Lost in Wonderland

Lost in Wonderland

Documentary about a cross-dressing rebel

Thumbnail image for Nights in the Gardens of Spain

Nights in the Gardens of Spain

Another tele-drama exploring dawning sexuality

Thumbnail image for Punch

Punch

Movie about a gay romance in a small town

Thumbnail image for 100 Men

100 Men

A feature documentary exploring sexuality

Thumbnail image for About Face - Return Journey

About Face - Return Journey

Also in the About Face series

Thumbnail image for About Face - The Lamb of God

About Face - The Lamb of God

Also in the About Face series

Thumbnail image for About Face - Danny and Raewyn

About Face - Danny and Raewyn

Also in the About Face series

Thumbnail image for Good Intentions

Good Intentions

A personal postcard of Auckland from Peter Wells