Janet Frame On Screen

Janet Frame On Screen

NZ On Screen has today launched a collection of titles remembering New Zealand’s most distinguished writer, Janet Frame.

Frame passed away, aged 79, six years ago today; this collection celebrates Frame’s life and work on screen, from applauded Vincent Ward and Jane Campion adaptations to a rare TV interview with Michael Noonan.

Janet Frame (1924 - 2004) is an icon of New Zealand literature; her “edge of the alphabet” use of language has seen her acclaimed as “one of the great writers of our time” (San Francisco Chronicle). The collection brings together film adaptations, interviews and documentary excerpts.

The collection includes Vincent Ward’s debut short film, A State of Siege (1978). Made when Ward was still at Ilam Art School, the film established Ward’s directing career. “Internationally-acclaimed film A State of Siege is a taut and sensitive treatment of an aging spinster’s retreat into isolation, memory and madness” (Sydney Morning Herald). The makers have generously made the film available in full for the collection.

There is an extensive 1975 TV interview of Frame with Michael Noonan for the Three New Zealanders series. The rare footage of Frame - here aged 50 - presents a confident writer in her prime, and negates any stereotypes about her inarticulacy or shyness.

Lengthy excerpts from the 2004 documentary Wrestling with the Angel feature interviews with friends and key figures in Frame’s life, including biographer and historian Michael King (this was his last filmed interview before his untimely death).

The trailer for Jane Campion’s award-winning translation of Frame’s autobiography, An Angel at My Table; a 2000 Holmes interview with Frame and Michael King; and a full-length documentary on Frame mentor and NZ literary pioneer Frank Sargeson, round out the collection.

“Have any filmmakers been able to create images equal to her sharp eye or her highly original way with words? Or as vivid as her insights into the inner life, into subtle thoughts and feelings, rather than the kinds of physical action that drive most commercial films?”

Eminent film historian Roger Horrocks considers that question and offers a response in a background essay accompanying the collection. 'Framing Frame' focuses on the poetic adaptations of her work by Vincent Ward and Jane Campion.

These adaptations, "helped to create new readers for Frame's books and we hope our special collection inspires a similar stampede in the direction of libraries and bookstores!"

NZ On Screen was established in 2008 to showcase New Zealand television, film, and music video. The Janet Frame Collection, and 700 other titles, can all be seen on www.nzonscreen.com.

ENDS

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