The blog of New Zealand’s Audiovisual Archive
Ngā Taonga recently completed an exciting film preservation project, at the request of Tauranga City Libraries, to digitally preserve 18 charming short films by Tauranga filmmaker Norman Blackie (1899-1993).
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In February 2021, I was taken on as an intern at Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision due to my established working relationship with Dame Gaylene Preston. I had been her personal assistant over the past five months, my work often veering into archival territory. By familiarising myself with the intricacies of her career and organising some of her personal digital archives, I had naturally gained a lot of relevant content knowledge.
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Occurring over multiple decades of the 19th Century, the New Zealand Wars played an integral role in shaping post-colonial New Zealand. Given their historical significance and enduring impact, some argue that the wars haven’t received their due attention since. With this in mind, it feels worthwhile to examine some of the portrayals of the wars that do exist in the cultural limelight – and consider how these might play a role in shaping our understanding of this period in New Zealand history.
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Cartoons and animation have an important place in New Zealand’s on-screen history. Reflecting this, Ngā Taonga holds a large collection
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In 1909, Mr. W. Franklyn Barrett of the renowned French film-making firm Pathé Frères was entrusted to travel through New Zealand and capture scenic sights that the world would otherwise not know existed. Barrett did exactly that, and the fruits of his labour were later featured in two short films from Pathé Frères – Across the Mountain Passes of New Zealand, and Coasts of New Zealand.
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In April 2011, Kiwi film maker, Steve La Hood travelled from Wellington, New Zealand to Quantico Virginia to receive the William Genaust award for an exhibition his company, Story Inc., produced about the US Marines stationed in New Zealand during World War II.
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The Collection of 30 films and over 673 black and white photographs includes: U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s visit to New Zealand in 1943 and shows her touring Whakarewarewa with Guide Rangi Dennan.
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The late Norman J. Hatch was a World War II combat cameraman who witnessed and filmed some of the most bitter fighting in the Pacific War.
His efforts ended with, an Academy Award for footage so brutal that it took special permission from President Franklin Roosevelt to allow his documentary on the Battle of Tarawa to be shown to the American public in 1944.
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Between June 1942 and November 1943, around 21,000 US Marines arrived in the Wellington region to prepare for or recover from combat in the Pacific. They were among about 50,000 American servicemen who would be posted in New Zealand during World War 2, an event that would have a lasting impact on local culture.
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A recent blog looked at fresh fruit and dairy from the fields of New Zealand. A real cornucopia, the country
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