TWO IMPORTANT BOOKS FOR NZ MOVIE BUFFS

CONTEMPORARY NEW ZEALAND CINEMA
From New Wave to Blockbuster
Edited by Ian Conrich & Stuart Murray
I.B.Tauris - $59.95 (Macmillan in NZ)

THE CELLULOID CIRCUS
The Heyday of the New Zealand Picture Theatre
Wayne Brittenden - Godwit - $49.99

CONTEMPORARY NEW ZEALAND CINEMA

The aim of the Tauris World Cinema Series is to reveal and celebrate the richness and complexity of film art across the globe.
This new title is the fourth in the series and it provides an astute and definitive analysis of the NZ film industry.
It surveys the diversity of film production, features critical accounts of internationally-acclaimed features like The Piano and Once Were Warriors and includes a comprehensive filmography detailing all NZ feature and television films.

THE CELLULOID CIRCUS
This is a lavishly illustrated celebration of the heyday of the New Zealand picture theatre providing a record of the crucial part these theatres played in our social history. In my teenage years the local picture theatres – Regent, Majestic, and Kings – were the places we met on Friday and Saturday nights for entertainment, socializing, courting and being kept up to date with world news via the newsreels always shown before the feature film. We also used to stand up at the beginning of the evening while God Save the Queen was played over the sound system!
Wayne Brittenden has done a fine job in bringing a former era back to life. Filled with gorgeous, fascinating photographs.
Be prepared to lose several hours if you start browsing