Film Festival 09 - Camera On The Shore
Camera on the Shore
New Zealand 2009, 101m
Director: Graeme Tuckett
'The camera on the shore' is Barry Barclay's metaphor for the
camera in the hands of indigenous people - who may or may not turn
it back on the 'ship people' who have so readily turned it on them.
When Graeme Tuckett turned his camera on Barclay, his subject was
in poor health, but he had a lot going on; a book just published, a
novel in the works and a film project to talk up. Nonetheless the
interviews he obtained before Barclay's unexpected death in
February 2008 have a ruminative, for-the-record weight to them that
make the film as moving as it is instructive. Barclay reviews his
early adult life and delivers his own quietly proud assessment of
his ground-breaking achievements as a filmmaker. He talks about the
issues - political, philosophical and formal - arising from his
lifelong project of putting Maori experience on screen. Future
generations will always have Barclay's remarkable films, but thanks
to Tuckett's dedication they will now also have a vivid taste of a
personal encounter with his ardent, testy intelligence.
