Standing Room Only for Sunday 26 July 2020

 

12:36  Ann Shelton's eco-exhibition Mother Lode

The Wairarapa Eco Farm was ahead of its time, the first Community Supported Agriculture venture where people paid in advance for a season's produce.

One of the first to sign up was photographer Ann Shelton, and after 14 years of enjoying fresh vegetables and eggs from the farm, she's photographed it.

Ann says her work's not just pictures of an unconventional farm where nothing's grown in neat rows, but is also an exploration of big issues like sustainability, food security and ethics, and the history of gardens in art.

The exhibition, Mother Lode is on at Bartley + Company Art in Wellington.

She's also publishing a book of the same name, including digital drawings and a short story by Wellington writer Pip Adam.  Lynn Freeman asks Ann Shelton why the Eco Farm means so much to her.

 

12:45  World Science Fiction Convention hosted by NZ

It reads like a classic sci-fi scenario.  A deadly pandemic strikes just as an massive international convention is about to open, throwing everything into chaos.

Ten years of planning have gone into New Zealand's first time hosting the World Science Fiction Convention.  Several thousand ardent fans, guests and speakers were due to come to Wellington - about now, as it happens.

The show must go on - and now it will, with more than 750 events planned, including the presentation of the Julius Vogel Awards for best New Zealand sci fi..

The talks, sessions and workshops will now be beamed out around the world virtually, including planned sessions for the 78th WorldCon's guest of honour - Game of Thrones author, George R R Martin.

Lynelle Howells is Vice-Chair Experience for ConZealand, which is what we're calling the event.  She tells Lynn Freeman what to expect.

 

 

1:10 At The Movies

 

This week, Simon Morris reviews Armando Ianucci's star-studded The Personal History of David Copperfield, featuring Dev Patel, Tilda Swinton, Peter Capaldi and Hugh Laurie.

He also looks at The King of Staten Island, featuring the latest star from Saturday Night Live and Radioactive, starring Rosamund Pike as Nobel Prize-winning scientist Marie Curie.

 

 

 

1:31  Artist Daegan Wells reminds us of our debt to Wool

Southland artist Daegan Wells aims to remind people about the place of wool in New Zealand's history - social, economic and political.

He has a mentor teaching him spinning and weaving skills, which he's put to good use in his upcoming exhibition Bush Coat.

There are photographs, rugs and garments in the show that he worked on while Artist In Residence at the Rita Angus Cottage in Wellington earlier this year.

Lynn Freeman called Daegan at his Southland home.
 

1:44  Wendy director Benh Zeitlin's unique take on an old children's story 

The International Film Festival offers a wide range of delights, but often the best ones are the films that shine a new light on a story we thought we already knew well enough.   

One of the most intriguing films at the International Film Festival is called Wendy.  Yes, it's a re-imagining of J M Barrie's old favourite Peter Pan, but it's like nothing you've seen since Beasts of the Southern Wild about eight years ago.  

Like that extraordinary film, it's shot on location with very young children, and more than a hint of magic.  Simon Morris talks to the director of both films, Benh Zeitlin. 
 

2:06 The Laugh Track - Robyn Malcolm and David White

A new comedy movie from New Zealand is always something to celebrate, and This Town is about to be launched around the country.

This Town has been described as "one man's attempt to return to normality, and one woman's utter determinatjon to prevent it." 

But that's putting it mildly.  Sean is accused of murder, and detective Pam is convinced he's guilty.  Not your standard romcom setup. 

This Town's producer, writer, director and star is David White.  But he's got stellar backup from one of our most celebrated and versatile actors - why isn't she a dame yet? - Robyn Malcolm.   David White and Robyn Malcolm's Laugh Track picks include John Clarke and Bryan Dawe, Whoopi Goldberg, Ricky Gervais and Saturday Night Live.

 

2:25  Good news for the annual Chamber Music Contest

Covid-19 came perilously close to scuttling a secondary school music contest that's been held here since 1965, the annual NZCT Chamber Music Contest.

But determined that months of work by the potential contestants wouldn't go to waste, and that it could still pay the musicians employed as adjudicators and coaches, Chamber Music New Zealand's Outreach Coordinator Beckie Lockhart came up with a plan.

Time was against her as she tried to figure out how do things digitally.

The National Semi-finals and Finals will still be live performances and will be held early next month.  Lynn Freeman asked Beckie how she pulled it off.

 

2:36 A new novel about the early settlers of the Far North

Life was extremely tough for isolated settlers trying to survive in the kauri forests of the Far North.

This is where Joanna Orwin has set her latest novel, Shifting Currents, bringing together two women whose lives and that of their children become entangled.

Lydia has married a successful but stern businessman.  The ambitious Eliza Noakes has survived a shipwreck to wash up in the same place.

They know each other - more precisely, Eliza knows Lydia's closely guarded secret that she must keep from her new husband at all costs. 

Lynn Freeman talks with Joanna Orwin about her self-published Shifting Currents:

 

 

 

2:50  Jane Wymark - 14 series of Midsomer Murders

Death by cheese, by cricket bat and guillotine....For 23 years the British TV detective drama Midsomer Murders has been killing off people in and around the fictional village of Causton.  Anthony Horowitz - of Alex Rider and Foyle's War fame - was the original writer for the series.

And starring in the first 14 series was actress Jane Wymark, playing the wife of DCI John Barnaby.

She also starred in the original Poldark TV series as the abused Morwenna Chynoweth.

Lynn Freeman asked Jane Wymark about the enduring appeal of whodunnits like Midsomer Murders, which is currently screening ion Acorn TV.

 

3:06 Drama at 3 - The Orderly by Michael Downey

The Orderly intertwines the telling of a medieval poem about the battle of Maldon (991AD, Saxons versus the Vikings) with the trials and tribulations of John; a hospital orderly, misfit, and a dead keen re-enactor of medieval battles.

As the story unfolds we discover that John has issues with both his love life and his health. John’s efforts to resolve the issues are mirrored in the twists and turns of battle as the ill fated Saxon’s strive to defend their homeland.