‘The Comics Show’ [NZ]

In the Wellington Festival, the screenings are Wednesday 1st August at
12.15 and at 1.45 pm, in the NZ Film Archive’s theatre (84 Taranaki
St).

The Comics Show surveys the history of local comics (including Eric
Resetar, the 1950s anti-comic panic, and the arrival of Strips) then
focuses on a number of contemporary artists (including Barry Linton,
Karl Wills, Chris Knox, Jared Lane, Robyn Kenealy, Coco and Pretika,
Jason Brice, Tim Bollinger, Grace Campbell, and Cornelius Stone, among
others).

It visits comic shops (such as Cherry Bomb and Gotham), events
(such as Armageddon, Craftwork and the Eric Awards), and groups (such as
Funtime in Christchurch). It looks at comics’ links with animation
(such as Ant Sang and Bro’Town) and with music (from Flying Nun to
hip hop). It also takes a trip with Dylan Horrocks to the comic shops of
Paris, confirming that comics from New Zealand have a growing reputation
in the land of la bande dessinée.

The documentary derives its visual style from the camerawork of Craig
Wright and Leon Narbey (of Whale Rider), and from its lively use of the
visual conventions of comics. Shirley Horrocks is an award-winning
documentary director whose work has been screened in film festivals
around the world. She reports that she’s had fantastic cooperation
from the comics community for this project. She was hugely impressed by
the number and range of artists, and admits there are many more she
would have liked to feature. She hopes The Comics Show will help to turn
on lots of new people to the pleasures of reading and publishing comics
in New Zealand.