For the first time newly digitised versions of New Zealand features The Quiet Earth and The End of the Golden Weather will be screened in select commercial cinemas across New Zealand.
The season kicks off with special presentations in Auckland and Wellington of Geoff Murphy’s sci-fi classic The Quiet Earth. Shot in 1985, the film stars Bruno Lawrence, Alison Routledge and Peter Smith.
Screenwriter and producer Sam Pillsbury will introduce the film at Auckland’s Academy Cinema on Thursday March 12 and director Geoff Murphy will introduce the film at Wellington’s Lighthouse Cuba on Monday March 16. There will be opportunities for Q & A after both screenings.
Ian Mune’s The End of the Golden Weather screens at The Vic Devonport on March 22 and at the Lighthouse Cuba on March 23. Mune will be present at the Auckland screening to introduce the film and for Q & A after the screenings.
In 2013 the New Zealand Film Commission began a curatorial initiative to digitise the films in its library not available in hi-res formats and create a living archive of films for future generations to watch and enjoy.
To date 25 features and 17 shorts have been through digitisation and are available for cinema screenings and on our NZ Film on Demand website. Another 15 films and shorts will have been digitised by the end of 2015.
Tickets for the screenings are on sale at the Academy Cinema, The Vic Devonport and The Lighthouse Cuba Street. Sessions of these and other recently digitised New Zealand films are being scheduled in Christchurch, Dunedin and Hamilton. Cinemas in other locations interested in hosting screenings of their own should contact the NZFC.
The Quiet Earth
Thursday March 12, Academy Cinemas, 44 Lorne Street, Auckland City
Monday March 16, Lighthouse Cuba, 29 Wigan Street, Wellington
The End of the Golden Weather
Sunday March 22,The Vic, 48-56 Victoria Rd, Devonport, Auckland
Monday March 23, Lighthouse Cuba, 29 Wigan Street, Wellington www.lighthousecuba.co.nz