In conjunction with the Adam Art Gallery's current exhibition Breaking Ice: Re-Visioning Antarctica, the Adam Art Gallery in association with the New Zealand Film Archive, presents an engaging and informative 40-minute compilation of film extracts, including some of the earliest footage ever recorded in Antarctica by prominent Australian photographer and film maker Frank Hurley.

Image: Frank Hurley, Ernest Shackleton, Captain Frank Worsley and crew setting out from Elephant Island, Easter Monday, 24 April 1916, Shackleton expedition

In conjunction with the Adam Art Gallery's current exhibition Breaking Ice: Re-Visioning Antarctica, the Adam Art Gallery in association with the New Zealand Film Archive, presents an engaging and informative 40-minute compilation of film extracts, including some of the earliest footage ever recorded in Antarctica by prominent Australian photographer and film maker Frank Hurley.

Image: Frank Hurley, Ernest Shackleton, Captain Frank Worsley and crew setting out from Elephant Island, Easter Monday, 24 April 1916, Shackleton expedition

This free public screening will be presented at the New Zealand Film Archive on Tuesday 16 August at 6.15pm.

Drawing on the first visual recordings of Antarctica by Frank Hurley, this screening will investigate the way this great white continent has been represented in film. The screening begins with Hurley's highly acclaimed 1919 film South: Sir Ernest Shackleton's Glorious Epic of the Antarctic. As these film extracts reveal, Hurley was a master of manipulation. He employed photographic and film techniques to heighten the sense of drama of exploration in Antarctica. Serving predominantly as fund raising ventures, these early 20th century accounts were largely created for public consumption. Back home, it was the story that sold.

The screening also follows the advancements in Antarctic exploration, reviewing government-produced tourism films and documentaries of the 1950s and 60s to show how the 'history of heroism' and nation-building continued to be the basis of recent moving image production.

Re-framing Antarctica will be introduced and presented by Film Archive Mediaplex Manager and expert in this field, Steve Russell. Russell has a long standing fascination with films from the Heroic Era of Antarctic exploration, particularly those by Frank Hurley. His presentation will explore the ways in which this blank terrain was framed, to reflect on how our visions of Antarctica continue to be influenced by these early visual representations.

This screening is a unique opportunity to view some the earliest and most captivating footage in film history. It will also provide an entertaining insight into the ways that this vast white continent was perceived and represented during the first years of its exploration.

VENUE: N.Z Community Trust Mediatheatre, New Zealand Film Archive, Cnr. Ghuznee and Taranaki St, Wellington

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Adam Art Gallery, Victoria University of Wellington
Gate 3, Kelburn Parade, Wellington
hours: Tuesday - Sunday, 11am - 5pm (closed Monday/ University and Public Holidays)
tel: 463 5489 or 463 5229
email: adam-art-gallery@vuw.ac.nz
website: www.vuw.ac.nz/adamartgal