Wellington Film Society for November

Welcome to our final month of the 2005 season.

The whole month (if we can include Monday 31 October)features the work of German film producer Artur Brauner. Arguably the most influential film producer of post-war Germany, he was also driven to produce films about victims of the National Socialist regime (when the Nazis invaded Lódz, Poland, Brauner's home town, they killed forty-nine of his relatives). Though the majority of his production output consisted of musical romantic comedies and mysteries, he returned from time to time to a topic which lay close to his heart - to honour the victims of Hitler's regime. The films are made by reputable directors and well-known actors.

This season of five films are all on Monday nights at 6.15pm at the Paramount and have been made available to the Wellington Film Society by The Goethe-Institut. The screenings will be free to members, with the public admitted by way of donation at the door - paper (or quiet) money please.

The first film in the season on Monday 31 October is CHARLOTTE S (Frans Weisz, Germany/Netherlands 1980). It tells the story of painter Charlotte Solomon, portrayed by Birgit Doll - who won a Bavarian Film Award for her performance. Born in Berlin in 1917, Charlotte pursued her dream of becoming a painter in the midst of domestic melodrama and historical tragedy. When the Third Reich came to power she took refuge in the South of France, where she created her life in a collection of almost 800 gouaches. Before being sent to Auschwitz in 1943 at the age of 26, she packed her work in a suitcase and presented it a local doctor. "Please keep these safe", she said. "It's my whole life".

On Monday 7 November, Andrezej Wajda's A LOVE IN GERMANY (1983), based on the novel by Rolf Hochhuth about a forbidden love affair during World War II. In
a small Germann town, Paulina runs a grocery store while her husband is serving in the army. She falls madly and passionately in love with a Polish prisoner of war who is young enough to be her son. The penalty for their love is death for the POW and imprisonment for Paulina. Hanna Schygulla's portrait of the reckless wife whose thirst for a love which admits no limits is a tour de force performance.

ANGRY HARVEST, made by Agnieszka Holland in 1985, is the film on Monday 14 November. The setting is occupied Poland and the drama centres in the relationship between a farmer, played by Armin Mueller-Stahl, who is reaping the benefits of wartime scarcity, and a jewish woman, played by Elisabeth Trissenaar, whom he finds in the woods after she has escaped from an Auschwitz-bound train. He harbours her in his cellar and brings her back to health. The dynamic performances of these two characters (played by actors who were prominent in the films of Rainer Werner Fassbinder) contribute to the strength of the film.


Istvan Szabo is the director of HANUSSEN, which was nominated in the Best Foreign-Languge Film category for both the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards in 1988. It screens on Monday 21 November. Together with Mephisto (1981) and Colonel Redl (1984) it is the third part of Szabo's 'wartime trilogy' - all starring Klaus Maria Brandauer with cinematography by Lajos Koltai. While recuperating in a military hospital, Karl Schroeder comes under the influence of a Jewish psychologist who guides him through the subtle art of hypnotism. He also learns how to market his bizarre gifts with a new name and image. Reinvented as suave turbaned mystic Erik Jan Hanussen he quickly moves into influential circles and captures the attention of Hitler when he declares that the country is on the threshold of a new era: of order, and the triumph of the will. But he makes a fatal mistake when he predicts the burning of the German Reichstag...

The final film in the season on Monday 28 November is THE ROSE GARDEN (1990), directed by Fons Rademakers. Once again Brauner places his confidence in big-name stars such as Liv Ullmann, Maximilian Schell and Peter Fonda. Schell, otherwise an eloquent actor, convincingly makes the stammering and speechlessness of a traumatised survivor a part of himself. The central story, based on historical fact, deals with the hanging of 20 Jewish children in a school in Hamburg a few days before the end of the war. The former concentration camp commander who was responsible was living unbothered by the authorities when the film was being made. The film makes questions about the administration of justice and what is justice and injustice its main theme.


Confirmed after the current issue of "Cinephile" was issued, is another selection of recent French documentaries on DVD presented by the Film Society in conjunction with the French Embassy and Film Archive. Admission will be free to Wellington Film Society members with the public paying normal admission prices at the Archive's Mediatheatre. Just present your card at the box office to receive a complementary ticket. You'll find details of the three strongest and best known on our website. Each will have two screenings - at 7.00pm on Friday and Saturday nights.

SALVADORE ALLENDE (2003), directed by Patricio Guzman. Friday 4 and Saturday 5 November.

WALL (2004), directed by Simone Bitton, was in this year's Wellington Film Festival. It deserves these extra screenings on Friday 18 and Saturday 19 November.

ODESSA ODESSA (2004), directed by Michale Boganim, depicts the lives of current Jewish residents from Odessa in Russia, as well as expatriates who have relocated to "Little Odessa" in Brighton Beach, New York, and Ashod, Israel. Its Jewish theme complements this month's Film Society season. Screens Friday 25 and Saturday 26 November.

Other feature-length films in this documentary season - all at 7.00pm are:
THE ROUGH BOYS [Les Mauvais Garcons] (2004), directed by David Carr-Brown, Pierre Bourgeois and Patricia Bodet. Screens Friday 11 November only.
PAUL IN HIS LIFE [Paul dans sa vie] (2004), directed by Remi Mauger, screens on Saturday 12 November only.
L'AFFAIRE VALERIE (2004), directed by Francois Caillat, screened on Friday 2 December only.

As well there are three short films, LE PEAU TROUEE, LE ROSSIGNOL and PARADIS, which will screen at 6.00pm on Saturdays 12 November, 19 November and 26 November respectively. Click here for the French Embassy listing of these films and as usual, check the Archive's events calendar

The 4th Chinese Film Festival runs at the Rialto from 10 to 13 November, with intensive filmgoing available on the Saturday and Sunday. Check the weblink for the schedule and links to descriptions of the films.
Bookings now open.

Here's an extra for the beginning of next month. As part of the Khandallah Arts Festival, our silent-film pianist, David Beatie will be accompanying Broken Blossoms at the Khandallah Town Hall on Saturday 3 December at 8.00pm. Final details are yet to be finalised but it is expected there will be a small charge to cover hall hire and supper.

And keep supporting the Paramount by attending their regular screenings. Coming up:

On 3 November, ELIZABETHTOWN (Cameron Crowe, USA 2005). Girl meets boy story in which Orlando Bloom flies to his home town of the title and Kisrten Dunst is the flight attendant who pays him special attention.

THUMBSUCKER (Mike Mills, USA 2005), opens on 10 November. This gentle satire of suburban family angst was in the Film Festival and reserves this return season.

Fernando Meirelles (City of God) returns to the screen with THE CONSTANT GARDENER (USA 2005), an adaptation of a John Le Carre novel. It opens on 17 November.

Another Film Festival title returns on 24 November. Costa Gavras' THE AX [Le Couperet] (France/Belgium/Spain 2005). Jose Garcia plays a man made redundant from a position at a paper mill. After two years searching for a job he hits on a plan to identify and eliminate his competitors. Black comedy doesn't come much blacker than this...

Oh, and the 24 Hour V Movie Marathon opens Saturday 5 November at 6.00pm. Thirteen films are promised in 24 hours!

Wellington Film Society

Links for Friday, 28 October 2005

• WellUrban has a new Mystery Bar for you to identify.
• Wellington rugby legend Tana Umaga is getting a pasting from the Brits over the new footage showing he and Kevin Mealamu spear-tackling Brian O'Driscoll on this year's Lions Tour. Check out the plethora of angry posts on the BBC rugby discussion boards.
  
• And speaking of discussion boards, some of the love being thrown at Wellington's original folk-comedy duo Flight of the Conchords on the 'What the Folk' fansite is hilarious. Their recent appearances on UK radio and US television seems to have taken their fanbase up to a whole new level. Here, for example, is a whole topic dedicated to the preferred length of Jermaine's hair.
  
• And Wellington Zoo's male gibbon - Vilson - finally has a partner to, er, keep him company. The new female gibbon - Robyn - despite being 13 (presumably old for a gibbon), "...has proved to be particularly acrobatic, doing forward rolls and showing off." Lucky old Vilson, eh?
  

Grocer's apostrophe

And since there seems to be a bit of a posting frenzy going on, what's the harm in one more?

Firstly, five whuffie points to the first person who can spot the grocer's apostrophe in the 'local news' iframe down on the bottom left right of the homepage.

And, secondly, who else wasn't surprised to find that Wellington has the highest rate of parking tickets per capita in New Zealand.

9th International Jazz Festival under way 26th October

Thanks to WellUrban for reminding us that the 9th Wellington International Jazz Festival gets under way tomorrow (26th October).

Much like WellUrban, we're not too au fait with the jazz end of the musical spectrum, but can make a few tentative recommendations. Firstly, the venues are great, so even if you're neither hither-nor-thither on the acts involved, both Happy and Cabaret are well worth a visit if you haven't been there before.

As far as the acts go, Skallander looks a good bet. They're a collaboration between NZ musicians Bevan Smith and Matthew Mitchell (Bevan is better known in the indie scene as the man behind Aspen and Signer) and both of whom have recorded music much more in the realm of minimalist indie electronica. Or something. The Skallander album The Camels is a bit more, well, jazzy, and should be a treat to hear live. Happy, Fri 28 Oct @ 9.30pm.

Lucien Johnston and the Galactic Treasures should also be a great live show. The disturbingly good-looking Lucien is recently returned from living in Paris (and playing shows around the other European capitals), and has rounded up a few of the usual local jazz legends for some gigs, one of which you can catch at Cabaret, Fri 28 Oct @ 9.30pm (err, yes, we realise that clashes with the above show).

And Norman Meehan, as well as being head of Massey's Jazz School, author of a book on jazz pianist Paul Bley, and a jazz muso of no ill repute himself, is also the brother-in-law of the Wellingtonista editor, and thus his gig comes with our warmest and heartiest recommendation. Cabaret, Sat 29 Oct @ 7pm.

Diwali: Festival of Lights

Diwali, the Festival of Lights - a Hindu celebration that, according to Wikipedia, celebrates the triumph of good over evil, was celebrated in Wellington over the weekend at an event at the Town Hall.

Deepavali or Diwali, is one of the most popular festivals of India and of Hindus. It is also one of the most eagerly awaited festivals in the Indian subcontinent. Business men and commercial establishments, consider it as an opportunity to boost their sales and increase profits, while individuals use the occasion to celebrate life and strengthen relationships. For children it is a great opportunity to experience the joys of growing up and get acquainted with all types of fire crackers. It comes in the Hindu month of Ashwayuja, (also known as Ashwin or Aippasi), as per the lunar calendar and corresponds roughly with either October or November depending upon the movement of the sun and the moon and their relative positions in space and time. [from wikipedia]

Photographer Karim Sahai was at the Town Hall, and took a few photos of the beautiful looking lights and action. Blogger Dave5 was also there, and he added some photos to his Flash5 flickr profile, of the lovely Diwali lights designed by the Massey Textile Design department.

Turn it down

Hataitai Park, a brilliant sunny day, and the gentle thwack and thwock of tennis balls interspersed with the birdsong coming from the surrounding trees, provides the perfect soundtrack for the weekly doubles match.

For some people at least. Others, it would seem, require the latest and greatest hip-hop beats to be played at top volume from their SUV parked beside the nearby netball court to truly create the correct playing atmosphere. Not that we have anything against Missy, Kanye, Fiddy et. al., it's just that we prefer to hear them in the comfort of our own home, when we choose to listen, and not as an enforced exercise while we're trying to impress the people on the court next to us with the speed of our ever-improving service. It's just distracting, isn't it?

Links for Thursday, 20 October 2005

• Not only another bar review over at Drinks After Work (Morocco, Cuba Mall), but also a few more hints and tips on where to drink on the cheap around Wellington (Tupelo, 2-for-1 cocktails on Wednesday!)
• Keeping on the vaguely alcoholic theme, you may (or may not) want to check out The 6 Million Dollar Blog's ongoing Half Nekkid Thursday series. This week: Smirnoff (previously: Jim Bean, Heineken. (Vaguely NSFW).

The New Zealand Film Archive

This lunchtime, I popped downstairs & around the corner from the Wellingtonista Towers, to the NZ Film Archive & spent a fascinating wee while browsing their catalogue of VCRs & DVDs.

I tried picking the brain of the technician on duty in the Media Library, but he was just relieving & had sketchy information at best to impart.

But the catalogue is user friendly, and there were lots of terminals available.

So after spending 10 minutes browsing through all manner of old listings, commercials, TV programmes, feature & short films, corporate promotions and home movies...

I settled on a small collection of old TV commercials, including the original Fruju ad, the Moro Man, Give Fluffy to Me (I was at school with that guy & I tell you, if a flight attendant that looked like that, had said "meeow" to me like that... well... ahem... probably very little would have happened), and some startlingly homoerotic ads for something or other featuring a lot of well known (in their day) rugby players & well known (in his day) Wellington publican Trevor Snowden...

I really need to take a month or so off & go through the lot & get back to you with the highlights...

Anyway, well worth a look if you're wandering past that way.

In the exhibition rooms, they had some old computers & some archival footage of the Rainbow Warrior affair. Fascinating!

The New Zealand Film Archive

More drinking in Wellington

Far and away our most popular post in the last wee while was Jo's 'Drinking Wellington on the Cheap' from last week. Discussion of watering holes around Wellington seems to be a popular topic, as Stephen of Dorking Labs' 'Drinks After Work' has joined in with his own bar review, the first of what he promises will be an occasional feature. What's really good about the first review though, is his quick assessment of Bar Bodega, which Stephen rates as...

...a stinkhole, and so never let me grace its boards with my presence; at least not for some time. That'll show them for cancelling The Puddle at the last moment, after the band had arrived in Wellington. Oh, and its proprietor Fraser MacInnes has shown (once again) (as if it was really necessary) that he is hands-down the biggest cock in the NZ band/bar scene.

The poor old Puddle. We saw the band putting their own posters up with sellotape down Cuba St the day before the gig: one member to hold the photocopied A4 'poster' in place, another to stick it down with sellotape, and another to pull the lengths of tape required from the spool itself. Now that's a band who work together well. We also hear via the grapevine that Fraser cancelled The Bleeders on Saturday night, also at the last minute, and after the band had pre-sold dozens of tickets, because the opportunity to host some lucrative corporate shin-dig had arisen. FFS, as the kids might txt.

Anyway, Bar Managment 101 aside, do check out Stephen's review of Blend, or, if the quick precis is what you're after, here's the summary...

Don't even bother. It's attached to a backpacker hostel, fer fuck's sake. In addition, the state of the "ladies" in the room - after several hours of free "bubbles" - led me to wonder if the bar-staff crumble E's into the flutes before serving. I was going to post a picture, but instead I think I'll just link to CollegeWildParties.com (warning: NOT work-safe). I'd rather go drinking at The Lazy Shag, and that's now a car-park.

Also worth taking a look at is WellUrban's ongoing Mystery Bar series.

Wrestling to hit Wellington: March 2006

In news that will surely warm the cockles of many a teenaged boys heart, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) have announced they're bringing the SmackDown Road to Wrestlemania 22™ Tour (not sure if they've trademarked the number 22, or the preceding words as well) to Wellington's Westpac Stadium, next year on March 4.

Westpac Stadium Marketing Manager, Steven Thompson told NZPWI [NZ Pro Wrestling Informer] that the arrival of WWE in New Zealand has been the result of three years of patient negotiations. "We have wanted to host WWE ever since the success of the "Global Warming Tour" at the Melbourne Telstra Dome in 2002, said Steven.

"RRRROOOAARRR!" he added afterwards, pointing out that spectators would "PAY THE PRICE!" for admission, and that the organisers would "SHOW NO MERCY!" in staging a show featuring fireworks, big screens, and all the WWE's biggest stars, of whom no-one here at the Wellingtonista could name one.

[hat-tip: Fear and Loathing in Wangavegas]

Wellington sunniest main centre in September

"September was drier and sunnier than normal in many regions especially during the first two weeks of the month, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) said yesterday.

Of the four main centres, Wellington, which was warmer and drier than average, was the sunniest with 185 hours, Christchurch was cloudier and drier than average, Auckland warmer than average and Dunedin sunnier, with near average rainfall and temperature. "

Read more here: New Zealand news on Stuff.co.nz: Wellington sunniest main centre in September

Yay! Bring on Summer!

Fat Freddy's Drop clean up at 2005 NZ Music Awards

Big ups to Wellington band Fat Freddy's Drop, who cleaned up at last night's NZ Music Awards. The Lyall Bay-based band picked up Album of the Year ('Based on a True Story'), Best Group, Best Roots Album, and the People's Choice Award.

Fellow Wellingtonians Shihad also got the nod for best Rock album, leaving a bunch of mostly Aucklanders to fight it out for the various hip-hop, electronic, solo artist and singles awards.

Chur, as they say...

UPDATE: Reports on the evening from Hard News, Cracker, Smacked Face, Shadow Footprints & Dub Dot Dash.

walking, 7:05am

Wellington is often a good city for walking: some would even say it's better for walking than cycling.

And so it was today.

The air was soft and cool, scrubbed by the overnight rain. There was not a breath of wind, and streamers of fog clung to the hills.

From Orangi-Kaupapa Road the view was breathtaking. Ranged around, the city was starting to hum. Out on the water, activity too: the Eastbourne ferry making its way to Queens's Wharf.

Fog obscured the sun, but found its way through anyway, reflecting off the utterly calm waters of the harbour. The scene was bathed in a lambent honey-coloured light; an instant of something that could not be captured by a mere phone camera lens.

Moments like this. Remember. This town.

"We will conquer utopia in space chariots."