Abstract:
This thesis is a feminist inspired history of women's contribution to New Zealand film which attempts to answer historian Gerder Lerner's question, "What would history be like it were seen through the eyes of women and ordered by values they define?"1 As such, it represents the first extensive research project on the subject. Based on a variety of sources, including in-depth interviews with 6l film makers -- directors, writers, editors and other members of the production team -- the history spans 76 years (1923-1999), of documentary, drama, feature and short film making. Proceeding from the discovery that, while there has been a strong tradition of women working in film, their contribution has often been either obscured or marginalized in New Zealand film historiography, this thesis challenges androcentric interpretations and seeks to document in detail the missing film makers and their films. The thesis progresses chronologically, beginning with the re-discovery of early film maker Hilda Hayward (1898-1970). Subsequent chapters are organised around certain major shifts in development, key debates and dominant themes. The profound influence of the upsurge of feminism in the 1970s on the development of women's cinema in New Zealand is documented. The history is framed by a self-reflexive introductory chapter which explores the process of constructing feminist film history. Case studies of international film maker Alice Guy-Blaché and New Zealand film maker Ramai Hayward highlight issues surrounding the marginalization of women in traditional histories of film. The work of overseas feminist historians Gerder Lerner, catherine Hall and Kathryn Borland and New Zealand historians Charlotte Macdonald, Shelagh Cox, Anna Hall and Kay Edwards are discussed. This thesis argues that previous accounts of New Zealand film history have been influenced by a romantic mythology which dramatises the male film pioneer as a resourceful, "man alone" figure, struggling against the odds to produce his masterpieces. This mythology, and, more generally, the uncritical adoption of auteur theory, has obscured the contribution of other key team members, particularly women. This thesis, while not entirely rejecting an emphasis on directors, argues for a "creative team" approach that acknowledges the collaborative process. The interviews with women film makers are discussed in the introductory chapter within the context of feminist oral history methodology and my adoption of a participatory model of research, whereby the narrators were involved in the editing process. Also discussed are the difficulties inherent in being a Pakeha woman writing on behalf of Maori women and women who bring multicultural perspectives to bear on their film making. Gerder Lerner, The Majority Finds its Past:Placing Women in History, (Oxford University press, New York, 1979) 162.