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Gaylene Preston is
a storyteller whose films have a distinctive flavour
that entertain while presenting serious subjects with
humour and warmth. Her
compassion and understanding of real life and real people,
combined with her immense talent for portraying on film
metaphoric stories, has contributed to Gaylene’s
peerless reputation as a distinct local voice.
Preston has made some of New
Zealand’s most enduring
classics in both Documentary and Drama. Her films have
been in official selection for most major International
Film Festivals including Venice, Sundance, Toronto, London,
Sydney, Melbourne and New Zealand and have won awards
in the USA, Canada, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland,
Russia, Australia and New Zealand.
In 2001 Gaylene was honoured
by the Arts Foundation, becoming New Zealand’s
first filmmaker Laureate and was appointed an Officer
of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2002 for her services
to filmmaking.
MR WRONG(1985) RUBY
and RATA(1990) BREAD&ROSES(1993)
WAR
STORIES Our Mothers Never Told Us(1995) PERFECT
STRANGERS(2003)
ALL THE WAY UP THERE(1978) LEARNING
FAST(1980) MAKING UTU(1982)
HONE
TUWHARE(1996) GETTING TO OUR
PLACE(1999)
PUNITIVE DAMAGE(1999- as
Producer) TITLESS WONDERS(2001)
COFFEE,
TEA or ME(2002- as Producer) EARTHQUAKE(2006)
TIME
of OUR LIVES(2007) LOVELY RITA (2007)
Interview
with Screen Directors Guild 2007: LOVELY, GAYLENE
Gaylene Preston
has been celebrated as one of New Zealand's leading
filmmakers, having made some of the most enduring
popular classics of New Zealand cinema.
Preston is
a storyteller whose films have a distinctive flavour,
that entertain while presenting serious
subjects with humour and warmth. Her compassion
and understanding
of real life, real people, combined with her immense
talent for portraying on film metaphoric stories
has contributed to Gaylene’s peerless reputation
as a distinct local voice.
In 2001, she was honoured
by the New Zealand Arts Foundation, becoming New
Zealand’s first Filmmaker
Laureate.
Since her first film ALL THE
WAY UP THERE, winner of the Special Jury Prize Diableret Film
Festival,
Switzerland
and the Banff Festival of Mountain Films (1979),
she has constantly returned to documentary; a highlight
being the popular cinema documentary WAR
STORIES Our
Mothers
Never Told Us; Hoyts New Zealand Cinema - best
film (1995); voted most popular film and best documentary
at the Sydney
Film festival (1996) and was in Official selection
Venice, Sundance and Toronto Film festivals. 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 films, MR. WRONG, RUBY
AND RATA, and the mini
series BREAD & ROSES (with producer
Robin Laing) have garnered multiple awards
in New Zealand and abroad
and become New Zealand classics.
Gaylene Preston
is writer, director and producer of PERFECT
STRANGERS a darkly humorous, perverse
tale
about the
overriding human need to love and be loved.
Starring Sam Neill and Rachael Blake it was
in Official
selection for numerous International Film Festivals
during
2004, winning two Best Actress awards at Fantasporto
in Portugal
and Vladivostok. In accepting the Russian award
Rachael Blake acknowledged the authenticity
within the work
and thanked Gaylene Preston for “…creating
on set an invaluable, limitless arena of flexibility,
trust
and ease.”
Preston Chaired the Academy of Film and Television
Arts (1997 – 99) and was a member of
the board of the NZ Film Commission (1979 – 85)
as well as chair of the Film Innovation Fund
(1981 – 85).
Preston is currently a member
of the Board of New Zealand on Air (The NZ
Broadcasting
Commission)
and was recently
awarded the Officer of the New Zealand Order
of
Merit by the New Zealand Governor-General,
for services
to filmmaking.
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