NZ On Screen: Kiwis At War Remembered On Screen

Kiwis At War Remembered On Screen -The ANZAC Day 2010 Collection

http://www.nzonscreen.com/collection/anzac-day
NZ On Screen
21st April 2010

NZ On Screen is marking Anzac Day 2010 with the addition of several significant titles to the well-received 2009 Anzac Collection.

The acclaimed account of Corporal Willie Apiata's Victoria Cross story, Reluctant Hero , is available in full. This 2008 doco had exclusive access as the shy SAS solider struggles with sudden celebrity after being awarded the Cross for carrying a wounded solider to safety while under fire in Afghanistan.

Classic 1941 newsreel Country Lads was the first National Film Unit Production and first of the Weekly Review series. The short film follows Kiwi soldiers as they leave to fight, motivated to prove Adolf wrong (he'd described them as "poor deluded country lads"!).

The trailer for Gaylene Preston's just-released feature account of her parents' life during wartime — Home by Christmas — is accompanied by behind the scenes footage , featuring Tony (Goodbye Pork Pie) Barry and Martin Henderson as her father Ed, and daughter Chelsie as her mother Tui.

2008 doco Turangaarere: The John Pohe Story is about a WWII hero and the first Māori pilot in the RNZAF. This excerpt sees a captured Pohe plotting the legendary 'Great Escape' from Stalag Luft III. Listener reviewer Diana Wichtel called it "a terrific yarn".

Two of the seven interviews from Gaylene Preston's moving documentary War Stories are featured; Flo Small and Mabel Waititi recall their personal experiences of World War II. LA Times' Kevin Thomas enthused that Preston takes "a simple idea and turns it into a rich, universal experience".

In a specially-commissioned background written piece — 'Sorrow and Pride' — historian and Te Ara general editor Jock Phillips muses on memory, mourning and identity, and considers what the collection says about 'Anzac'.

"Anzac Day continues to have the meaning it had in 1920. It is still about young men, and a few women, who lost their lives because they believed it was worth fighting for some higher purpose."

The collection features landmark documentaries — Gallipoli , Maori Battalion - March to Victory , Children of Gallipoli ; award-winning short films, such as Taika (Boy) Waititi's Tama Tū ; and archive newsreels.

As well as Phillips's thoughts, the collection is supported by an introductory piece by leading New Zealand war historian Chris Pugsley, and a reflection on the meaning of Anzac from veteran broadcaster Ian Johnstone.

Fully funded by NZ On Air, NZ On Screen was established in 2008 to showcase New Zealand television, film, and music video. The Anzac Collection The Anzac Collection , and over 950 other titles, can all be seen free of charge on www.nzonscreen.com

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