“I
like films where goodies are baddies,” says
Preston. “I’m sick of going to pictures
where everyone can guess the end before it’s
even a quarter of the way through.”
Gaylene Preston is writer, director and producer
of Perfect Strangers. With this movie,
she returned to her roots as a genre filmmaker,
delivering a perversely chilling romance - but one
which is riddled with black humour.
Her debut feature Mr Wrong (1984) was followed
by Ruby and Rata, Bread & Roses, and
War Stories Our Mothers Never Told Us,
which had its European debut in official selection
at the 1995 Venice Film Festival. She has produced
several documentaries, including the award-winning
feature Punitive Damage and Coffee,
Tea and Me?
Preston’s work has won 11 New Zealand film
awards as well as many international awards, including
a Silver Clio and Mobius Award for outstanding direction
of a commercial. Her films have been selected for
major film festivals, including Venice, Sundance,
Toronto, London, Melbourne and Sydney – where
in 1995 she was a member of the International Jury.
Preston is currently a member of the Board of New
Zealand on Air. In 2001, She was honoured by the
NZ Arts Foundation, becoming New Zealand’s
first Filmmaker Laureate and was appointed an Officer
of the NZ order of Merit in 2002 for services to
filmmaking.
www.artsfoundation.org.nz/gaylene/
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Gaylene Preston (click
to download large picture) |
