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 This is New Zealand

This is New Zealand

Short Film (Excerpts) – 1970

Directed by Hugh Macdonald, This is New Zealand was made to promote the country at Expo '70 in Osaka, Japan. An ambitious concept saw iconic Kiwi imagery — panoramas, nature, Māori culture, sport, industry — projected on three screens that together comprised one giant widescreen. Sibelius's rousing Karelia Suite backed the most spectacular images. Two million people saw the film in Osaka, and over 350,000 New Zealanders on its homecoming theatrical release. It was remastered by Park Road Post in 2007 for the NZ International Film Festival, and rereleased in 2021. This excerpt is the first three minutes.

With screenings increasing to eight per day, six days a week, the money that was taken paid for the total production cost in the one theatre — never been done to my knowledge ... we took it to the Odeon Christchurch where it continued it’s success, with ten screenings a day, and then, on to a sensational reception in Dunedin. The show then went to the Embassy in Auckland, where four rows of seats had to be pulled out, for the construction of a wide projection box.
– National Film Unit boss Geoffrey Scott on the success of the film at Wellington's Embassy Theatre, Flicks and Pix magazine, date unknown

Key Cast & Crew

Generic Profile image for Murray Creed

Murray Creed

Camera

Profile image for Hugh Macdonald

Hugh Macdonald

Director, Writer, Editor

Generic Profile image for David Jordan

David Jordan

Associate Director, Writer, Editor

Generic Profile image for Samuel Grau

Samuel Grau

Camera

Profile image for Kell Fowler

Kell Fowler

Triple Camera Photography

Profile image for David H Fowler

David H Fowler

Producer

See all 18 credits

Music

Soundtrack includes sections from the Karelia Suite composed by Jean Sibelius, conducted by John Barbirolli and performed by Manchester's Halle Orchestra


Also includes music by Acme Sausage Company, The Avengers, and the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band


 

More from the National Film Unit Collection...

Thumbnail image for Country Lads

Country Lads

Country Lads was used to advocate for a...

Thumbnail image for Weekly Review No. 140 - Easter Action on Bougainville

Weekly Review No. 140 - Easter Action on Bougainville

This intense newsreel reports from the war in the...

Thumbnail image for Weekly Review No. 183

Weekly Review No. 183

This wartime edition of the NFU's newsreel...

Thumbnail image for Weekly Review No. 249 - New Zealand and World War II

Weekly Review No. 249 - New Zealand and World War II

On the occasion of London's Victory Parade on 8...

Thumbnail image for Exhibition Loop

Exhibition Loop

This National Film Unit documentary provides a...

Thumbnail image for Weekly Review No. 355 - Railway Worker

Weekly Review No. 355 - Railway Worker

This 1948 documentary follows 24 hours of work on the...

Thumbnail image for Weekly Review No. 407

Weekly Review No. 407

Coverage of a major event in the history of the NZ...

Thumbnail image for New Zealand Mirror No. 3

New Zealand Mirror No. 3

New Zealand Mirror was a National Film...

Thumbnail image for Monkey Tale

Monkey Tale

In the anthropomorphic (and non-PC) tradition of the...

Thumbnail image for Pictorial Parade No. 24

Pictorial Parade No. 24

Members of the NZ team for the 1954 Vancouver Empire...

Thumbnail image for Kōtuku

Kōtuku

This short National Film Unit documentary travels to...

Thumbnail image for Snows of Aorangi

Snows of Aorangi

Shot by photographer Brian Brake as a National Film...

Thumbnail image for Born in New Zealand

Born in New Zealand

This National Film Unit production was made to...

Thumbnail image for Pictorial Parade No. 86 - Inside the Bag

Pictorial Parade No. 86 - Inside the Bag

This NFU documentary goes behind the scenes as Selwyn...

Thumbnail image for Pictorial Parade No. 129 - Twenty One Years

Pictorial Parade No. 129 - Twenty One Years

This special edition of the National Film Unit’s...

Thumbnail image for Peter Snell, Athlete

Peter Snell, Athlete

This NFU classic tells Peter Snell's story, up until...

Thumbnail image for One Hundred and Forty Days Under the World

One Hundred and Forty Days Under the World

New Zealand’s Antarctic presence is still in its...

Thumbnail image for Amazing New Zealand!

Amazing New Zealand!

In this award-winning tourism promo, an easy-going...

Thumbnail image for Pictorial Parade No. 185

Pictorial Parade No. 185

Pictorial Parade was a long-running series...

Thumbnail image for Bird of a Single Flight

Bird of a Single Flight

Renowned ornithologist and Dominion Museum head Robert...

Thumbnail image for This is New Zealand

This is New Zealand

Directed by Hugh Macdonald, This is New...

Thumbnail image for Gone up North for a While

Gone up North for a While

After a young woman (Denise Maunder) falls pregnant,...

Thumbnail image for The Water Cycle

The Water Cycle

Made by Philip McDonald (Such a Stupid Way to...

Thumbnail image for Flare - A Ski Trip

Flare - A Ski Trip

This short documentary about freestyle skiing was...

Thumbnail image for Coal Valley

Coal Valley

This short 1979 National Film Unit documentary heads...

Thumbnail image for Score

Score

The theatre of sport is given full-blown operatic...

Thumbnail image for Studio Tour

Studio Tour

This 1981 promotional short snaps the clapperboard on...

Thumbnail image for Painting in an Empty Land

Painting in an Empty Land

David Sims' impressionistic National Film Unit short...

Thumbnail image for Kids and Other People

Kids and Other People

This 1982 film, made for the New Zealand Council for...

Thumbnail image for The Frog, the Dog, and the Devil

The Frog, the Dog, and the Devil

Bob Stenhouse worked largely alone to visualise this...