Nau mai ki te kawerongo o Ngā Taonga
Welcome to our newsletter

Kia ora e hoa – in this issue we take a 'deep dive' into the origins and preservation of the oldest-known piece of New Zealand film. We present two videos that explore our precious nitrate film collection, seeing how we care for it and why we go to so much effort to safely keep the originals. There's also a new biography online of New Zealand Film Archive founder Jonathan Dennis, plus surprisingly engrossing footage of the Ōtaki River being dredged in 1946.

Let us know if you have any feedback or suggestions for the newsletter – your comments are always welcome.

The First Picture Show

As part of the 40th anniversary of the Film Archive, we’re republishing this story that takes an in-depth look at our earliest surviving New Zealand film. It explains how footage from 1900 showing troops departing for the South African Boer War was identified, and how the highly fragile film was preserved.

Tāpiri ake ki te huritau 40 o Ngā Taonga, kei te whakaputa anō tēnei kōrero e ruku hōhonu ana ki te wā i puta mai te kiriata mōrehu tuatahi o Aotearoa. Ka whakamāramatia nei ngā āhuatanga i mōhiotia ai tēnei kiriata o ngā hōia e wehe ana ki te Pakanga Boer ki te Tonga o Āwherika i te tau 1900, waihoki te rautaki i whakauka ai te kiriata ngoikore nei.

Nitrate on Film

We recently shared a well-read blog about the annual nitrate wind through – an important part of caring for fragile film. In this pair of videos we share more about our precious collection of nitrate film, how we care for this notoriously volatile substance and why we keep the originals after digitising. We also take a behind-the-scenes look at the wind through process.

Jonathan Dennis biography

Dredging the Ōtaki River

Briefs

• The National Library in Wellington is abuzz with free exhibitions Mīharo Wonder and The Simple Image.
• Ngā Taonga recently signed a relationship agreement with Te Whakaruruhau o Ngā Reo Irirangi Māori, the National Māori Radio Network. Both parties will work together to explore and advance opportunities centred around the preservation and access to Māori audiovisual material produced by its 20 member iwi/Māori radio stations.
• Two of our most popular online items of the past month have been the classic re-creation of huia calls, and Alexei Sayle’s commercial adapting "Ullo John! Gotta New Motor?" for Morrison bikes.
• Congratulations to Jan from Somerfield who won our most recent DVD prize! The answer to the question – Mi-Sex snuck in to Sydney's Control Data Corporation.

Not subscribed to this newsletter? Sign up for our emails.