Attitudes to the Outdoors on Film

Listing details: Attitudes to the Outdoors on Film screening programme
When: 7pm Fri 19, Sat 20 & Wed 24 April
Where: The New Zealand Film Archive, 84 Taranaki St, Wellington
Ticket price: $8 public / $6 concession

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Attitudes to the Outdoors on Film

New Zealanders often define themselves and are defined by others in terms of their relationship to their natural environment. Attitudes to the Outdoors on Film is a compilation of films showing kiwis exploring the wilderness, drawn from The Film Archive’s collection. The films, which were made between 1910 and 2002, accentuate the contrasts and changeability of the New Zealand landscape.

Credit for images: Coasts of New Zealand, 1910.

The earliest film on the programme is Coasts of New Zealand (1910). This beautiful, colour tinted film shows tourists travelling around New Zealand during the early years of last century - by boat, horse, trap, and on foot through bush walks and across a glacier.

Another rare early film shows the first cycle race around Mount Taranaki in 1911, and the proud winner posing for the camera afterwards.

Outdoor leisure pursuits such as tramping, mountain climbing and skiing at the Mount Cook Hermitage in the 1920s feature in the programme.

Arguably the most entertaining film documents the exploits of the Canterbury Mountaineering Club in the 1930s. Nui Robins, the filmmaker, was a member of the club and provides the recorded commentary: “In my youth we took 3 cars up the Waimakariri, from the Bealey hotel up to Carrington hut - 12 miles straight up the river bed. No road, no track, nothing. Our first attempt was in 1938, in a Ford we bought for five pounds. It had no registration and no brakes, so we had to sneak up in the dark so no one could see us.”

The wild antics of CMC are followed by a group of films from the 1950s and 60s, which show Government tourism initiatives and marketing strategies.

The final film on the programme is an excerpt from Behaviors of a Backpacker (2002), tracing filmmaker Sandor Lau’s journey from Auckland up to Cape Reinga.

Live piano accompaniment to the silent films on the programme will be performed by Susan Alexander.

The programme is part of the New Zealand Film Archive’s regular Film Show series, a branch of the Travelling Film Show. Travelling Film Shows tour nationwide and present film glimpses of local and national history. Over 80,000 people have attended these shows in cities, towns and remote country areas since 2000. The Film Show series opens up the travelling shows to Wellington audiences.

Attitudes to the Outdoors on Film was at hit at the Outdoors Forum 2012.

Attitudes to the Outdoors on Film will screen at the Film Archive, 84 Taranaki St. 7pm Friday 19, Saturday 20 and Wednesday 24 April.

ENDS

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