Remastered This Is New Zealand premieres

Archives Minister Judith Tizard officially launched the remastered film This Is New Zealand, originally made for Expo 70 in Japan, at its premiere in Wellington this evening.

"This innovative and dramatic film had an astonishing impact, both here and overseas, when it was first screened in 1970. Two million people saw it in Osaka, and over 350,000 New Zealanders went to cinemas to see it,” says Judith Tizard.

At the premiere tonight, the Minister presented the original director, Hugh Macdonald, and the original sound director, Kit Rollings, with the Bronze World Medal which the film won at the New York Festivals Film and Video Competition in February this year.

This Is New Zealand, which was made by the National Film Unit for the New Zealand commission, is also one of three nominations for the Best Archive Restoration or Preservation Project Award at this year’s FOCAL International Awards, to be presented in London in May.

The original This is New Zealand has not been available for public viewing for over 30 years because three projectors were required to screen it. Archives New Zealand has recently restored and remastered the film at Wellington's Park Road Post Production facility so the three images can now be screened using one projector.

“We were lucky that the original director, Hugh Macdonald, and the original sound mixer, Kit Rollings, were available to be creatively involved with the digital intermediate process and the new sound track,” says Judith Tizard.

“After today’s launch This Is New Zealand will once again be available for public screenings,” Judith Tizard said. “Archives New Zealand is in discussion with the organisers of the New Zealand Film Festival to secure a spot in this year’s programme so it could be seen around the country later this year.”

“Having this iconic film is a great preservation success. It captures our innovative spirit and our stories from 1970. Hopefully, many young New Zealanders will experience the same emotional impact now as the audiences who first saw This Is New Zealand thirty-seven years ago.”

Caption: The Minister presented the Bronze World Medal to Kit Rollings (left) and Hugh Macdonald (right) at the premiere.

Background information

Archives New Zealand
In its role as "keeper of public records", Archives New Zealand is responsible for preserving important documents, including film, and making them readily accessible to the wider community.

Restoring and remastering the film
The original This is New Zealand has not been available for public viewing for over 30 years because three projectors were required to screen it.

There were previous attempts to create a combined film image using traditional optical methods, but the result was a severe drop in quality.

The process used to restore the image was digital intermediate. The three original This Is New Zealand films were scanned, combined, digitally manipulated and then put back on to film and digital formats. Now, This Is New Zealand can now be screened using one projector.

A 5.1 digital sound track was also created from the original three track premixes by the Park Road Post sound department.

The sound was also remixed, combining the three stereo sound tracks into one Dolby 5.1 track.