Under the Macrocarpas at the Film Archive

Treasures of early European Cinema - the Alan Roberts collection

One hundred fascinating films dating from the beginning of cinema were, for 30 years, stored carefully in Alan Roberts' Hawkes Bay garden. In a very rare screening this astounding hoard will be presented by the Film Archive in Wellington. Recently the Century Cinema in Napier turned eager patrons away after a swift sell-out. Following the Wellington screening, National Programmes Manager of the Film Archive, Jane Paul, will be presenting Under the Macrocarpas in Dunedin.
Alan Roberts lived in Havelock North and was an engineer and projectionist by trade. He was a keen collector of objects, telephones, cameras and the like were arranged in an orderly fashion in his own museum-cum-garage.

Alan's also had a passion for nitrate film. A large collection came into his possession in the 1960s, and presumably for safety reasons (nitrate is highly flammable), he kept them away from the house, under a tarpaulin beneath the macrocarpa trees.

This extraordinary film collection was gradually deposited with the Film Archive from 1981 onwards.

Alan's didn't project the films during his lifetime, preferring instead, to wind them over a bench to check their condition and marvel at their delicate beauty.

Internationally recognised film historian Paolo Cherchi-Usai examined the collection in 1994. He recognised instantly the rarity of the unique films, and organised their preservation by the Cinematheque Royale de Belgique supported by a grant from the Lumiere Foundation.

The collection comprises a wondrous variety of drama, comedy, nature films and Travelogues. Unusually for a collection from Havelock North, all were made by premiere European production houses, Pathe, Lux, Gaumont and Eclipse in the period prior to World War One.

New Zealand features in the travelogue, Fiji and the South Sea Islands. The film also shows extraordinary footage of the Waimangu geyser in 1902 playing to heights of 460 metres! The clips of Waka racing down the Waikato must have amused the early 20th century Europeans no-end.

Highlights of the programme include a step-by-step guide to growing dahlias, an astonishing film on the life cycle of the carrot caterpillar and numerous films featuring slapstick, early special effects and animation. The films are strangely beautiful, many being hand stencilled in colour. All are silent and feature French and English inter titles describing the action.

The 75 minute screening will be accompanied by acclaimed Wellington pianist Nicholas Giles-Palmer and preceded by Seeking the Lost

The talk is given by film historian and archivist Clive Sowry A personal account of searching for early New Zealand. This talk examines the claim that one of the world's first science fiction films was made in Wellington in 1900, and gives an account of the search for the facts behind our earliest but little-known fiction films.

Seeking The Lost
Thursday 24 August 6.40pm
Free

Under the Macrocarpas
Presented in Conjunction with the Friends of the Film Archive
Thursday 24 August 7pm
$8 Admission $6 Concession

Film Archive Mediaplex
Corner Taranaki and Ghuznee Streets

Check out www.filmarchive.org.nz for more details....