"Under the Southern Cross" Screening
The Friends of the Film Archive are a group of the New Zealand Film Archive's most enthusiastic supporters.
The Committee of the Friends is made up of elected members and Film Archive staff representatives. They organise screenings and events, publish their own newsletter, and channel funds towards special projects.
Having promoted the Archive's work for many years the "Friends" were even more thrilled than most when the new Mediaplex opened in the middle of 2004.
This year to celebrate Christmas and take advantage of the wonderful opportunities the new venue affords, the Friends of the Film Archive are inviting the public to a very special event.
On Sunday 12th of December at 7.00pm the Film Archive presents "Under the Southern Cross". Shot in the Hawkes Bay in 1925 and directed by Gustav Pauli, a Danish director working for the British company Sphere Films, the cinematographer was New Zealand pioneer Ted Coubray. The cast and crew were made up of local people and this very colonial story takes place in against a familiar background.
The film was released to great local acclaim in 1927 but little is known of it's subsequent history. However in 1998 more than 70 years after it's completion a newly preserved and tinted print was screened at the New Zealand Film Festivals. Described by Bill Gosden of the Festival as "An ode to the pastoral splendor of the New Country" The Friends of the Film Archive Special presentation of "Under the Southern Cross" will be accompanied by well known local pianist Nicholas Giles-Palmer. The film runs for approximately 60 minutes and entry is by koha.
For further information on this and other Film Archive events please contact
Rebecca Adams
Publicist
Nga Kaitiaki O Nga Taonga Whitiahua
The New Zealand Film Archive
PO Box 11449 Wellington
Aotearoa, New Zealand
ph +64 4 384 7647 ext 823
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Member Profile
The Film ArchiveThe New Zealand Film Archive has three key missions: to collect,
protect and project New Zealand's moving image heritage.Having just celebrated its 30th year of a unflinching commitment to New Zealand’s film and television history, the New Zealand Film Archive is an independent charitable organisation.
Housed within the Film Archive are more than 120,000 films, videos and television programme from 1895 to the present day. Every genre of film making – feature films, documentaries, short films, home movies, newsreels, TV programmes and advertisements – can be found at the Film Archive, meaning it’s a great source of information of New Zealand’s cultural past and present, as well (of course) as a great source of entertainment.
But the Film Archive is more than just film. There is also a significant documentation collection which includes publicity materials, stills, posters, production records, props, costumes and equipment housed in Wellington.
The Film Archive draws on its rich repository from the collections for regular screenings and events in its purpose-built cinema and gallery in Wellington, with screenings also held regularly around New Zealand as part of the community access and Te Hokinga Mai programmes.
The Archive has research libraries in Wellington and Auckland available at no cost to the public, with staff on hand to assist.
And from Wellington, the Film Archive is meeting the interests of New Zealanders from all corners of the country through its Medianet initiative, which is a network of digital access sites in art galleries and museums across New Zealand with more signing up each year.
