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Melanie Rodriga
Melanie Rodriga (née Read; born 30 September 1954) is a New Zealand- Australian film maker, lecturer, and author. Early life Born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Rodriga was the third child of Daphne Mary (Billie) and Albert Thomas (Bertram) Read. She is of Eurasian (Malay-Chinese-Portuguese) ancestry on her mother's side and British ancestry on her father's side. Her father was a pianist arranger of the British Dance Band Era, playing with Bert Ambrose and Henry Hall (bandleader), among others. The family moved from Malaysia to Sydney in 1961, and lived in the eastern suburb of Vaucluse. Rodriga graduated from Kambala CofE Foundation School for Girls in 1972. She then traveled to England where she studied filmmaking at Ravensbourne Polytechnic, Bromley, Kent. Early career Rodriga's career began in Sydney in 1974 at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, where she was trained in production management and film editing for both drama and documentary. Her first film as writer/d ...
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New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country by area, covering . New Zealand is about east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. The country's varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps, owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland. The islands of New Zealand were the last large habitable land to be settled by humans. Between about 1280 and 1350, Polynesians began to settle in the islands and then developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight and record New Zealand. In 1840, representatives of the United Kingdom and Māori chiefs ...
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Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned body that is politically independent and fully accountable, with its charter enshrined in legislation, the ''Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983''. ABC Commercial, a profit-making division of the corporation, also helps to generate funding for content provision. The ABC was established as the Australian Broadcasting Commission on 1 July 1932 by an act of federal parliament. It effectively replaced the Australian Broadcasting Company, a private company established in 1924 to provide programming for A-class radio stations. The ABC was given statutory powers that reinforced its independence from the government and enhanced its news-gathering role. Modelled after the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which is funded by a tel ...
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Teesh And Trude
''Teesh and Trude'' is a 2002 Australian drama film directed by New Zealander Melanie Rodriga, and was adapted from an original stage-play by Wilson McCaskill. The film was produced and shot entirely in Western Australia with Production Investment Funding Support from ScreenWest and Lotterywest. It was shot on video at Murdoch University where Rodriga teaches. The film received three nominations at the Australian Film Institute Awards in 2003 and one at the Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards. Plot Teesh (Susie Porter), an unemployed single mother in her twenties, shares a flat with an older, divorced friend, Trude (Linda Cropper). Teesh is starting to crack under the strain of taking care of her son Kenny (Mason Richardson) and her problems only get worse when her abusive father (Bill McClusky), who's just been released from prison, visits. Trude is also having problems with her macho boyfriend Rod (Peter Phelps), who must complete a major paving contract at the shopping ma ...
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Annette Kuhn
Annette Frieda Kuhn, FBA is a British author, cultural historian, educator, researcher, editor and feminist. She is known for her work in screen studies, visual culture, film history and cultural memory. She is Professor and Research Fellow in Film Studies at Queen Mary University of London. Career Kuhn earned a bachelor's degree in 1969 and master's degree in 1975 in sociology at the University of Sheffield. While at Sheffield, she served as the Research Officer at the Sheffield Students' Union, during which period she worked on a campaign for a University crèche. Kuhn also co-convened the Sheffield University Women's Studies Group, organising public seminars and film screenings. While a student in the early 1970s, she co-authored a survey of British university graduates with Anne Poole which supported the notion that first children among several have higher educational achievement than their siblings. During the same period, she also co-authored a second survey with Anne Po ...
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Send A Gorilla
''Send a Gorilla'' is a 1988 New Zealand comedy film directed by Melanie Read. Synopsis Valentine's Day is the busiest day in the year for three young women and their singing telegram service. Their Send A Gorilla Singing Telegram Company has started badly they are short-staffed and drowning in orders. The boss is missing, and one of the singers has lost her voice. Cast Reviews * 1988 Variety * 1994 The Women's Companion to International Film - "...the film has a lot of crazy energy..." * 2000 Reframing women: a history of New Zealand film - "...a feminist critique of the commercialisation of romance..." Awards and nominations * Nominated for 3 New Zealand Film and TV Awards New Zealand film and television awards have gone by many different names and have been organised by different industry groups. As of 2017, New Zealand has relaunched a standalone New Zealand Television Awards after a five-year hiatus. The film awar ... * 1989 Montreal Women's Film Festival - Audience Ch ...
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Mr Wrong (1985 Film)
''Mr. Wrong'' is a 1985 New Zealand horror film, directed by Gaylene Preston. The film was based on an Elizabeth Jane Howard short story. It was released in the US as ''Dark of the Night''. Synopsis Meg buys a Jaguar car, unaware that the previous owner was murdered and the vehicle is haunted. She soon finds herself stalked by the killer. Cast Production It was the first film made by Preston-Laing Productions (Gaylene Preston and Robin Laing). Reception The film received positive reviews from New Zealand critics, with ''The Press'' calling it "an assured, gripping thriller". Overseas reviews were more mixed; the ''New York Times'' described it as "a mild effort" that "isn't quite sure whether it wants to be a chiller or a comedy." The ''Los Angeles Times'' said the film "may be vulnerable to the charge of silliness from time to time, but it leaves us wanting to see Preston's next film." Film historians have compared ''Mr. Wrong'' to Melanie Rodriga's '' Trial Run'' (1984), an ...
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Gaylene Preston
Dame Gaylene Mary Preston (born 1 June 1947) is a New Zealand filmmaker with a particular interest in documentary films. Early life and family Born in Greymouth on 1 June 1947, Preston was educated at Colenso High School (now William Colenso College) in Napier, New Zealand, Napier. She went on to study at the Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury from 1966 to 1968, and then the University of Hertfordshire, St Albans School of Fine Art in Hertfordshire, England, where she completed a Diploma of Art Therapy in 1974. Preston's sister is the pianist and songwriter Jan Preston. She has one daughter, the actor Chelsie Preston Crayford, who was born in 1987. Career Preston's first film was ''All The Way Up There''. As a producer she has contributed to the award-winning feature documentaries ''Punitive Damage'' (1999) and ''Coffee, Tea or Me?'' (2001) and ''Lands of our Fathers'' (executive producer). Her feature film ''Home By Christmas'' was a dramatised oral histo ...
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Finola Dwyer
Finola Dwyer (born 10 July 1963) is a UK-based New Zealand film producer and editor, best known for her films ''An Education'' and ''Brooklyn'', produced with frequent collaborator Amanda Posey. Career In 2015, Dwyer produced an historical drama film ''Brooklyn'', starring Saoirse Ronan, directed by John Crowley based on the screenplay by Nick Hornby. She received an Academy Award nomination for the film for Best Picture at the 88th Academy Awards along with Amanda Posey. In the 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours, Dwyer was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the film industry. Filmography * 1984: '' Trial Run'' (editor) * 1986: ''Bridge to Nowhere'' (editor) * 1986: '' Queen City Rocker'' (associate producer) * 1987: ''Raglan by the Sea'' (TV Movie documentary, producer) * 1987: ''Starlight Hotel'' (producer) * 1988: ''A Soldier's Tale'' (line producer) * 1994: ''Backbeat'' (producer) * 1996: ''Hollow Reed'' (co-executive producer) * 1997: ' ...
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Annie Whittle
Annie Whittle is a British-born New Zealand singer and actress who has appeared on such shows as ''Shortland Street'', where she played Barbara Heywood for four years and has had a singing career that has spanned three decades. She was previously married to director and producer Bruce Morrison. Her most notable film appearance was in ''The World's Fastest Indian'' (2005). Filmography Television * ''A Week of It'' (1977–1979) .... Various Characters * ''Castaways'' .... "''Castaways of the General Grant''" (1978) * '' Under the Mountain'' (1982) .... Mrs. Matheson in "''Maar''" (1982) * '' An Age Apart'' (1983) .... Air Hostess in Episode #1.1 (1983) * ''The Makutu on Mrs Jones'' (1983) .... Mrs Jones * '' The Billy T. James Show'' (1984) .... Various roles * "Heartland" (2001) .... Herself * ''Shortland Street'' (2001–2005) .... Barbara Heywood * '' Kai Korero'' (2006) TV series .... Muriel Spalding * ''Amazing Extraordinary Friends'' (2008) .... Madame Lulu in "''Love and ...
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Trial Run (1984 Film)
''Trial Run'' is a 1984 New Zealand film directed by Melanie Rodriga, Melanie Read starring Annie Whittle. The film is a feminist revision of the thriller genre. Plot summary Rosemary Edmonds, a photographer and runner, must temporarily leave her husband and two children when she moves into a remote coastal cottage to carry out an assignment to photograph a colony of rare penguins. It soon becomes apparent that she is being stalked in the cottage by an unknown tormentor. In a twist ending, the "stalker" is revealed to be Rosemary's own teenage son. Cast Production ''Trial Run'' was the first New Zealand feature film to be written and directed by a woman, and had a largely female cast and crew. Marathon runner Allison Roe and reporter Karen Sims appear briefly as themselves in a television interview seen early in the film. Reception The film received mixed reviews. In New Zealand, ''The Press'' described it as "enjoyable and satisfying in its small way", while ' felt the film ...
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NZ On Screen
NZ On Screen is a state-funded online promotional showcase of New Zealand television and film. Funded by NZ On Air, it provides free worldwide access to NZ-produced television, film and music videos. Content is streamed and the webpages provide authoritative background information. The site was launched in October 2008 and is updated constantly. It provides titles in full or as excerpts, with background notes, photographs and profiles of key cast and crew. All material is rights-cleared and there is some content now on the site that had not been seen since its mid-twentieth century screening. The ScreenTalk section is a videoblog with interviews with people from the NZ television and film industry – including Florian Habicht, Rena Owen, Margaret Mahy, Vincent Ward and Sam Neill. The site won a Qantas Media Award The New Zealand Newspaper Publishers’ Association awards are annual New Zealand media awards recognising excellence in the news print media. The first awards w ...
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Keri Hulme
Keri Ann Ruhi Hulme (9 March 194727 December 2021) was a New Zealand novelist, poet and short-story writer. She also wrote under the pen name Kai Tainui. Her novel ''The Bone People'' won the Booker Prize in 1985; she was the first New Zealander to win the award, and also the first writer to win the prize for their debut novel. Hulme's writing explores themes of isolation, postcolonial and multicultural identity, and Maori, Celtic, and Norse mythology. Early life Hulme was born on 9 March 1947 in Burwood Hospital, Christchurch, New Zealand. The daughter of John William Hulme, a carpenter, and Mary Ann Miller, a credit manager, she was the eldest of six children. Her father was a first-generation New Zealander whose parents were from Lancashire, England, and her mother came from Oamaru, of Orkney Scots and Māori descent ( Kāi Tahu and Kāti Māmoe). "Our family comes from diverse people: Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe (South Island Māori iwi); Orkney islanders; Lancashire folk; ...
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