War Stories Our Mothers Never Told Us

Film (Full Length and Trailer) – 1995

Anyone

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In this acclaimed documentary, seven women look back on their personal experiences of World War ll. Their intimate, unadorned stories are filmed talking heads style, alongside personal photographs and old newsreel clips. From tragic love stories to long-suppressed revelations of romance and death, War Stories is a revealing touchstone of New Zealand history. It won a long line of rave reviews, many from overseas. LA Times critic Kevin Thomas praised how director Gaylene Preston takes "a simple idea and turns it into a rich, universal experience". Read here about the film's long journey, and the acclaim that followed.

We went to a little place and we had a meal. And all through the meal I got the giggles. and he kept saying to me "what are you laughing at?." And I said, "I wonder if all these people that are sitting here, eating all this steak and stuff, knew that we just got out of bed!"
– Flo Small on the joys of being a newlywed

Key Cast & Crew

Gaylene Preston

Director, Writer, Producer

Jonathan Besser

Composer

Robin Laing

Executive Producer

Judith Fyfe

Interviewer

Alun Bollinger

Cinematographer

Paul Sutorius

Editor

See all 34 credits

Produced by

Gaylene Preston Productions

Source

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Acknowledgements

Featured interviews, in order of appearance: Pamela Quill, Flo Small, Tui Preston, Jean Andrews, Rita Graham, Neva Clarke McKenna, Mabel Waititi
Made with funding from the NZ Film Commission and NZ On Air, in association with TV3
Presented with thanks to the Aotearoa/New Zealand Film Heritage Trust – Te Puna Ataata