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The Man in the Hat

Film (Full Length) – 2009

This feature-length documentary is a portrait of Wellington art dealer Peter McLeavey, who spent over 40 years running his influential Cuba Street gallery. In the Leon Narbey-shot film, McLeavey talks about his life: a roving North Island railway childhood, an early love of art, discovering his New Zealand identity while living in London, and returning home to run over 500 plus exhibitions, initially from his flat — including key showcases of artists such as Toss Woollaston, Gordon Walters, and Colin McCahon. McLeavey died in November 2015; director Luit Beiringa passed in June 2022. 

I always think Cuba Street is a street, but it's also a state of mind — it's an attitude. In one way while Cuba Street has changed in the sense it's becoming more gentrified, in another sense it hasn't changed at all.
– Peter McLeavey

Produced by

Logo for BWX Productions

BWX Productions