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War Stories
War Stories
Film (Trailer) – 1995 Documentary War
Anzac Day Collection
This collection brings together 50+ titles covering Kiwis...
Pioneering Women
A collection celebrating women and feminism in New...
Dead Letters
A look at how war and distance can affect relationships
One Network News - 1995 Cannes Film Festival
War Stories at Cannes in 1995
Home by Christmas
More war stories from Gaylene Preston
The Time of our Lives
Gaylene Preston follows veterans to a new UK war memorial
The Nineties
Another film featuring women talking frankly about their...
Compilation - Memories of Service 1
A doco recording NZ veteran's wartime experiences
Turangawaewae / A Place to Stand
A short film about a Vietnam War vet
Mr Wrong
Also directed by Gaylene Preston
The Making of Home by Christmas
Behind the scenes film featuring Gaylene Preston
Tama Tū
Taika Waititi short about Māori soldiers in WWII
Children of Gallipoli
Descendants of soldiers who fought at Gallipoli remember
Māori Battalion - March to Victory
A documentary about the Māori Battalion
Our Lost War
Robyn Malcolm visits Ypres, site of the Battle of...
Il Magiorre - My Father's War in Italy
Political cartoonist Malcolm Evans tells his father’s...
Deer Wars
More accounts of women with their men away fighting
Poppy
A short film based on a WWI war story
Casualties of Peace
A drama of post-war family secrets
Ruby and Rata
Also directed by Preston
Sedition
More memories of life in NZ during WWII
The Years Back - 4, The New Decade (Episode Four)
New Zealanders mobilise as war breaks out
The Years Back - 6, The Italian Campaign (Episode Six)
New Zealanders at war in Italy, 1943-45
The Years Back - 8, Making Do (Episode Eight)
More home front experiences
The Years Back - 7, The Women's War (Episode Seven)
Overview of Kiwi women at war
Return from Crete
A newsreel on the 1941 evacuation of Crete
Tātarakihi - The Children of Parihaka
Another documentary produced by Gaylene Preston
Weekly Review No. 195 - New Zealand Celebrates VE Day
NZ celebrates Victory in Europe
Voiceover
More wartime memories
Coffee, Tea or Me?
More women’s stories, produced by Gaylene Preston
The Last Tattoo
A fictional home front story
Earthquake
More memories directed by Gaylene Preston
Absent Without Leave
A movie inspired by events during WWll
Standing in the Sunshine - Work
More women's stories
My Year with Helen
Trailer for Gaylene Preston's 2017 film on Helen Clark
Memories of Service 5 - Gwen Stevens
Serving with the WAAF
Memories of Service 5 - Joan Butland
Memories of New Zealand's Women’s Land Service
In Gaylene Preston's documentary, seven elderly women recall their personal experiences of World War II. Their intimate, unadorned stories are filmed talking heads style, interspersed with personal photographs and period newsreel clips. From tragic love stories to long-suppressed revelations of sex and death, War Stories is a revealing touchstone of New Zealand history. It received international acclaim. LA Times writer Kevin Thomas enthused that Preston takes "a simple idea and turns it into a rich, universal experience".
More information
Acknowledgements
Made with funding from the NZ Film Commission and NZ On Air
Presented with thanks to the New Zealand Film Heritage Trust – Te Puna Ataata
Music
Music composed and arranged by Jonathan Besser