Month: July 2015

31 Jul 2015
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Documentary Focus on Fantasy Cave

Sticky Post By On July 31, 2015
Film still from short documentary Fantasy Caves.

The magical kingdom that is Dannevirke’s Fantasy Cave and the 100 volunteers who keep the fairy dust flying star in a new documentary.

Film-makers Matt Henley and Michelle Savill have released the documentary in conjunction with the Loading Docs Project and the short video has run as a prelude to the International Film Festival at Auckland’s Civic Theatre this week.

With its theme of “why do people create?”, the documentary is one of 10 short New Zealand films and for Henley returning to the Fantasy Cave was something he had wanted to do since his first visit when he was 9.  Read more

30 Jul 2015
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Loading Docs 2015

Sticky Post By On July 30, 2015

gh_logo_150x150A couple of weeks ago I went to the Academy Cinema on a freezing evening for the launch of Loading Docs, and it was so great I wanted to try to recreate the experience for you. Loading Docs is a platform and incubator for short form documentaries dreamed up by two Aucklanders, Anna Jackson and Julia Parnell. Each year, ten short documentary proposals are selected for the initiative, and by the end of the process ten beautiful three minute films are released across a wide variety of networks including Air NZ In-Flight, TVNZ on demand, and this year, the New Zealand International Film Festival. Loading Docs is an incredible opportunity for young film makers, and this year’s crop of documentaries were a joy to see on the big screen.

The coolest thing about Loading Docs is that I don’t have to stop at just telling you about them, they are all available online so I can show you as well. So maybe take yourself to a quiet place, select full screen, and spend 30 minutes watching all of them, one after the other.

Read more

29 Jul 2015
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Loading Docs: Tihei

Sticky Post By On July 29, 2015

tumblr_static_wireless_alt_cmyk-870pxLoading Docs is a launching pad for New Zealand short documentaries which has just released 10 new films. We’ll be featuring each of the films and profiling the directors behind them.

DIRECTOR PROFILE: HAMISH BENNETT

Tihei Harawera has a way with words. Weaving meanings and style into stream of consciousness lyrics, he stands at the Otara markets once a week with a sign and a stereo, offering to rap about a topic of the passers-bys choosing.

Director Hamish Bennett (Te Arawa, Ngāpuhi, Kāi Tahu), who grew up in the same town as Harawera, had been intrigued by his unique talent ever since seeing a video of his performance.  Read more

27 Jul 2015
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Californian city to get ‘marijuana innovation zone’

Sticky Post By On July 27, 2015

The_GuardianCity links: Growing the green stuff in Arcata, bike-friendly Jakarta and Auckland’s ancient underground waterway feature in this week’s best city stories 

Lost city waterways

This week we came across Waihorotiu, a beautiful short documentary by Loading Docs about an ancient waterway under the streets of Auckland. The film uses the history of the Waihorotiu stream to explore the relationship between urbanisation and waterways: as the city of Auckland grew, Waihorotiu was turned into a sewer and made invisible, cut off from its spring and the sea.

Waihorotiu, directed by Frances Haszard and Louis Olsen

 

via The Guardian

27 Jul 2015
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Frail, in Pain, and Craving Dignity

Sticky Post By On July 27, 2015
Filmmakers hope Gina’s story of battle with mystery defect will open people’s minds to voluntary euthanasia.
Filmmaker Jeremy Macey said learning Gina's story had been a humbling experience.
Filmmaker Jeremy Macey said learning Gina’s story had been a humbling experience.

Gina can’t see, is bedbound and has to avoid light and sound as they are painful to her eyes and ears.

She has to eat quietly, avoiding noisy foods such as potato chips or apples, eating only pureed food. Gina is pro-euthanasia.  Read more

27 Jul 2015
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Loading Docs: Waihorotiu

Sticky Post By On July 27, 2015

tumblr_static_wireless_alt_cmyk-870pxLoading Docs is a launching pad for New Zealand short documentaries which has just released 10 new films. We’ll be featuring each of the films and profiling the directors behind them.

DIRECTOR PROFILE: LOUIS OLDEN AND FRANCES HASZARD

In their new Loading Docs film, Louis Olsen and Frances Haszard are uncovering the Waihorutiu Stream or the Queen Street River, names of the river remnant that flows unseen under Queen Street in Auckland.

The river, which was covered up in the 1800s due to urban expansion, has attracted ongoing interest from archaeologists to artists, and now filmmakers, who hope to bring attention to the loss of waterways.  Read more

26 Jul 2015
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Entering Michelle Savill’s Fantasy Cave

Sticky Post By On July 26, 2015

GGG-LogoNew Zealand filmmaker Michelle Savill has been writing, directing, and producing films, music videos, and animations for years. At GGG, we’ve been a fans for a while. Her works are dreamy and surreal peeks into a world that’s similar to ours, but a little more magical.

We’re not the only ones digging her dreamy style, as her films have been screened around the world, and her last short film Ellen Is Leaving won the Best Narrative Short Film Award at SXSW Film Festival and the Golden Gate Award for Best Narrative Short Film at San Francisco International Film Festival.

Her latest project Fantasy Cave is based on, and named after, a real place in Dannevirke, NZ. Fully devoted to dioramas of fairy tales, it’s been a strange but beloved children’s favourite for decades. Michelle’s produces Matthew Henley spent time there as a child, and introduced her to it as a possible documentary subject.  Read more

24 Jul 2015
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Loading Docs: Wilbur Force

Sticky Post By On July 24, 2015

tumblr_static_wireless_alt_cmyk-870pxLoading Docs is a launching pad for New Zealand short documentaries which has just released 10 new films. We’ll be featuring each of the films and profiling the directors behind them.

DIRECTOR PROFILE: J.Ollie Lucks

Larger than life former pro-wrestler Wilbur Force (William McDougall) commands the screen in a new Loading Docs film, battling his ‘worst self’ alongside director and friend J.Ollie Lucks.

Lucks first became aware of McDougall when he was a student taking theatre 101 classes in Dunedin.

“I was the German sitting in the front row taking notes, paying attention, being there on time, and he would usually get in late, sit in the back and yell inappropriate remarks and annoy me,” says Lucks.  Read more

23 Jul 2015
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A Wilbur to be Reckoned With

Sticky Post By On July 23, 2015

tumblr_static_wireless_alt_cmyk-870pxYes, pro wrestling does exist in New Zealand – and one of its stars is poised to make a comeback.

Not many people can say they’ve made a career out of an obsession, but this Otago lad isn’t your average person.

Wilbur McDougall, 28, is an actor, comedian and wrestler who came to prominence in the New Zealand wrestling scene in the late ‘00s with his alter-ego “Wilbur Force”.

Before Wilbur became the “Force”, the self-confessed beach boy grew up in the coastal-suburb of Broad Bay, Dunedin. “I was obsessed with wrestling from the age of 9, it’s a bit embarrassing but I have about 50 toys that I’ve kept.”  Read more

22 Jul 2015
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Loading Docs: Kusuda

Sticky Post By On July 22, 2015

tumblr_static_wireless_alt_cmyk-870pxLoading Docs is a launching pad for New Zealand short documentaries which has just released 10 new films. We’ll be featuring each of the films and profiling the directors behind them.

DIRECTOR PROFILE: HENRY OLIVER AND AMBER EASBY

First-time film directors Henry Oliver and Amber Easby explore award-winning winemaker Hiro Kusuda’s philosophical and unique process with their new Loading Docs film.

Arriving in Martinborough with visions of filming idyllic sunny landscapes, the filmmakers were instead hit by an unexpected cyclone.  Read more