Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: Te Rerenga Wairua

Islander

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:06:07 +1300

+1 +1
way way heaps
I'm just playing the songs & crying.
So silly, but-

Jackie Clark

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:11:20 +1300

There isn't a day goes by that I don't think of her. She and Don both left very very large amounts of emptiness.

merc

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:14:29 +1300

Awe. I'm going to have to see it now.

Joe Wylie

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:12:07 +1300

. . . he was a very good friend to dear Mahinaarangi.
It's funny how they're both gone, but Papa Will Survive sounds – in my memory – as hope-filled as ever.

Jackie Clark

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:01:27 +1300

Don Selwyn was a lovely, lovely man. I knew him briefly, but he was a very good friend to dear Mahinaarangi.

Joe Wylie

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:48:54 +1300

Thank you very much Russell, Paul from NZ On Screen, and everyone who's taken the trouble to express how Te Rerenga touched them in some way.

Although that film dominated a distant but significant chunk of my life I've never really been able to relate to it as being 'my'…

Kumara Republic

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:50:32 +1300

I’ll see if I can fill a few of those Wikipedia gaps over the summer.

Speaking of filled gaps, the NZ On Screen entry for Mi-Sex’s “Computer Games” now has the info about the Control Data building. And I’ve updated the Wikipedia entry too.

Tim Michie

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:33:06 +1300

I seem to recall a more recent festival screening in an animation section (will have to dig out the old guides). Either that or I recall more recent than it was...

Great to know who made this memorable work.

George Darroch

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 02:17:10 +1300

This film sounds like worth coming home to see.

Joe Wylie

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 23:11:50 +1300

About the people who made the film:

Susan Wilson, Producer: Background in teaching art and Super 8 animation in Australian and NZ high schools. Inspired to animate the Te Rerenga story when she came across it in a book while living in Australia. No particular vision as to how the…

Joe Wylie

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 22:15:23 +1300

you’ll be pleased to know there is a weather wane of a heron above a chimney in east texas that continues to provide comfort to a grieving father, and it’s largely your fault.
There were a few unsolicited predictions of things happening to those who tampered with stuff beyond their…

Che Tibby

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 20:54:57 +1300

holy crap. this film was a big influence on me. when a friend overseas was killed in a crash i used the symbolism learned in this film (and a bit of other background) to explain to his dad what may have happened to his soul.

you'll be pleased to know…

Russell Brown

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 10:35:51 +1300

About the soundtrack: It was a massive piece of good fortune that Chris Knox was able to give it a go. Not only Chris but Doug Hood. Both Chris and Doug had recently worked wonders with a TEAC 4-track on the Tall Dwarfs’ Three Songs, the Dunedin Double Ep, and…

Joe Wylie

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 23:05:25 +1300

Thanks very much Paul, that'd be great, whatever I can do.
BTW I remember forming a charitable trust back before we had Film Commission funding, and a PEP scheme paid the wages. The way things were done then, local bodies administered such schemes, and without the proper legal niceties the…

Geoff Lealand

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 22:59:13 +1300

A good explanation, Paul (in the interests of full transparency, along with Russell I am a trustee of NZ On Screen)

Paul Ward

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 22:30:23 +1300

Kia ora Te Rerenga Wairua fans, I'm editor for NZ On Screen. It's great to see such a rich korero take place around an awesome wee film. In reply to those of you who are off-island who are frustrated that you can't view it: we share your pain! Ideally everything…

Lilith __

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 19:11:21 +1300

Joe, this is amazing, I've never seen anything like it. A lot of haunting images in there (no pun intended!)

ChrisW

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 18:07:55 +1300

Thanks – enjoyed Te Rerenga Wairua, indeed the ending a highlight, second time round see the spirit brothers returning to molecules, atoms the building blocks to be recycled as – buses?! and ... all sorts of things, ultimately the stars of the future/past.

And the wairua/spirit merging with the water…

Joe Wylie

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 10:41:04 +1300

I should add that Doug Hood didn't simply suggest Point That Thing. He offered it, because he had access to the separate tracks, and he knew it would be cool with The Clean. A hell of a generous thing to do from all involved.

Joe Wylie

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 10:19:35 +1300

Lea:
I certainly hope so, though the legalities of these things are beyond me. It would help if you were warned before you attempted to view the video, because it does come across as a bit of a slap in the face with a wet fish when the message appears…

Lea Barker

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 07:05:28 +1300

Too bad I can't watch it because of copyright restrictions. Sigh! Is that just temporary?

3410

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 08:04:32 +1300

That was magic.

Joe Wylie

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 22:01:57 +1300

Nice to hear from you Ken. I read back through your posts re. When A City Falls. I look forward to the DVD, as I know a few others do, because a theatrical viewing is not something that many of us are quite ready to roll with. It sounds like…

Ken Sparks

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 13:50:45 +1300

A big hi back at you Joe – I wasn’t sure if you were the same Joe Wylie I used to know so it’s really nice to know you are. So sad to hear you've been whacked by some more quakes and I hope you're coping ok.
I loved seeing…

Joe Wylie

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 09:41:21 +1300

I’ve seen it theatrically, in (I think} 1984, at the Wintergarden. It went out as a short, when they still had such things, with Heart of the Stag. After a bit I forgot about all the cringe-inducing technical flaws magnified large, because the people around were whispering such nice things…

Russell Brown

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 21:14:03 +1300

I’d better stop now

Please don't! This is a good place to tell the story.

No rush, mind. This obviously hasn't been the best of days.

Russell Brown

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 21:09:34 +1300

Hmm. The embedded video isn't showing up on my iPad. iDevice users can go direct to:

http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/te-rerenga-wairua-1984

Joe Wylie

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:19:30 +1300

I see a Ken Sparks in the credits and I’m assuming it’s ‘our’ Ken who did such fine work on When A City Falls more recently…
It certainly is, hi Ken. The old building in Federal Street was The Schoolhouse, now subsumed by the casino. Film editors Pat Monaghan & Ken…

Ian Dalziel

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 19:56:34 +1300

Going up north for a while...
As I recall this was also made as part of a creative works scheme – in which unemployed artists were given work while learning at the master's feet – and Joe taught them how to become compleat animators, various people had certain sections to…

Mikaere Curtis

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:33:58 +1300

I watched the film when it was shown on TV, and it's great to finally see it again. Good work, Joe.

Isaac Freeman

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:06:20 +1300

I'd not seen it before. Beautiful work.

Russell Brown

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:00:08 +1300

Similarly. I joined the spirits departing the coast, but it seems I can’t view the homeland. New Zealand on screen, but not on air.

Damn, forgot to mention that. I presume it's a Film Commission stipulation.

George Darroch

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:42:34 +1300

Thanks for the reference, but is the not-viewable-outside-NZ-due-to-copyright thing intentional this time? :(

Similarly. I joined the spirits departing the coast, but it seems I can't view the homeland. New Zealand on screen, but not on air.

dyan campbell

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:21:06 +1300

That's an amazing little film – quite wonderful.

izogi

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:20:57 +1300

Thanks for the reference, but is the not-viewable-outside-NZ-due-to-copyright thing intentional this time? :(

Jackie Clark

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:12:06 +1300

I remember that film incredibly well. Wow.

binary.heart

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:02:04 +1300

One of the few films that I have carried with me since I saw it when I was young. I really enjoyed sharing it with a 7th form class as part of my teacher training. An amazing film. Thanks Joe Wiley. I never knew it was you. : )

Public Address

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:02:04 +1300

Discussion from blog post.