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Otago Daily Times
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Epic films' special guest
A promotional image for Vincent Ward's Rain of the Children. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Whakatipu residents get a unique opportunity next week to see two iconic films by internationally-acclaimed Kiwi film-maker Vincent Ward — and then engage with him in Q&A sessions. Auckland-based Ward's Rain of the Children screens next Tuesday at Queenstown's Te Atamira at 6.30pm, then Vigil screens at Arrowtown's Dorothy Browns on Wednesday at 5.45pm. He's being brought to Queenstown by Milford Galleries, which next Saturday hosts the launch of his unique photography exhibition, 'Palimpsest', featuring photos of human bodies he's painted. Ward calls Rain of the Children, released in 2008, "sort of my favourite, because it's got such a personal connection to the people in it". It came 30 years after a documentary, In Spring One Plants Alone, about his experience living in the remote Urewera Ranges with an elderly Maori woman, Puhi, who was caring for her adult schizophrenic son, Niki. Rain of the Children sees Ward return to the area to explore who Puhi — played by Rena Owen — was. She'd been chosen, aged 12, by Tuhoe prophet Rua Kenana — played by Temuera Morrison — to marry his son. At 14, with their baby, she escaped from the 1916 police raid on Rua's community, in which he was arrested. She subsequently had another 13 children — when Ward stayed with her, Niki was her last remaining. Radio New Zealand called the movie "one of the most moving films to come out of NZ cinema". Meanwhile, Vigil, released in 1984, was the first film by a New Zealand director to be officially selected 'in competition' at the Cannes Film Festival, where it received a standing ovation. It follows 11-year-old Toss, who navigates grief, isolation and change in a remote, primeval valley — it's said to be partly autobiographical as Ward grew up on a farm in the Wairarapa. He says it's "about an imaginative way of seeing the world — these kids that are a little bit isolated live in their own heads and come up with almost an alternative reality to try and understand what's going on". To celebrate Vigil's 40th anniversary last year, former child actor Fiona Kay, who played the central role — "and was compared by the Los Angeles Times to one of the great silent film stars" — was brought over for a screening at Wellington's Embassy Theatre, and the producer appeared for another. "And then Queenstown gets me," Ward quips.
Otago Daily Times
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Printmaker's poignant homecoming
Te Atamira exhibitor Vanessa Edwards. PHOTO: SUPPLIED A prominent Māori printmaker has dedicated an exhibition at Queenstown's Te Atamira to her mother, who died in a Kingston Rd car crash when her family lived in the resort. Whanganui-based Vanessa Edwards, who helped found Toi Whakaata Māori Print Collective in 2006, says she moved from Perth to Queenstown with her Māori father Neil Edwards, 'southern' mother Debra Louise, from Wyndham, and older brother in the early 1980s, when she was 3. She recalls attending Queenstown Primary — "I thoroughly enjoyed school, the outdoor education was amazing" — and she was also into art. Her parents managed the Pinewood backpackers lodge and her mum started Queenstown's first nail salon, Elegant Nails. In March 1992 her mother died in that car crash, aged 35, and is buried in the Frankton cemetery — "it was really sad for us," Vanessa says. After year 7 at Wakatipu High she left with her dad and brother for Taumaranui in the North Island. "It was a massive cultural shock for me and my brother because we realised what being Māori was as we moved in with our Māori grandparents." Vanessa later trained at art school in Whanganui, majoring in printmaking — she later completed a masters in Māori visual arts at Massey University. She says she decided to exhibit in Queenstown because she's noticed Te Atamira's "already had some powerful print shows, and there's not many places that advocate for printmaking". "I've returned to honour my mother with this beautiful exhibition" — 'karanga atu, karanga mai', or 'calling outward, calling inward'. Also exhibiting are three other collective members, Alexis Neal, Jasmine Horton and Tessa Russell. Officially opened last Saturday, the exhibition runs till September 22.
