David Blyth's original horror flick Death Warmed Up was New Zealand's first horror feature film. It is now available on DVD. You can buy it here, direct from DavidBlyth.com for just $NZ 25.00 including postage.
Angel Mine DVD
Angel Mine is David Blyth's second film release and a social commentary that renewed calls for more censorship when it was released in 1978 in New Zealand.
An interesting fact often overlooked was that it fairly predicted the advent of the viagra revolution.
Jackson Blyth
(L to R) David Blyth, Jackson Blyth, ME M. Michel Legras (French Ambassador), Ms Averill, Colin Averill, Allan Livingstone (Mayor of Cambridge)
Jackson Blyth with French Officers.
David Blyth attended a Commemeration Service in Cambridge for the laying of wreaths by Representatives from the WWI allies in celebration of Armistice Day, and attended the Averill Family dinner.
David Blyth is currently in post production on a new documentary on New Zealand's association with Le Quesnoy called French Connection, the project has received generous support from the New Zealand-France Friendshp Fund
Also attending the 90th Anniversary celebrations of the Liberation of Le Quesnoy are David's father and sister.
Photo one, family group at Le Quesnoy Railway Station, which my Grandfather helped to Liberate on November fourth 1918.
Photo two Mayor Paul and myself, Paul is Mayor of Le Quesnoy
Photo three My Grandfathers beret on display at the Le Quesnoy Town Hall
Photo four Group photo of Le Quesnoy Conference on final day..
Photo five Mayor Raymonde Dramez and myself in the Square named after my Grandfather in Beaudignies, nearby Le Quesnoy.
Photo six A portrait of my Grandfather in the Town Hall in Beaudignies
Our Oldest Soldier
We just received a newspaper cutting of an article reporting the Le Quesnoy engagement of Nov 4 1918 - a real historic find. Thanks to Andrew who sent it to davidblyth.com - he said:
"I think it was interesting how it was reported especially about the British aeroplane dropping Messages and the NZ commander sending two parties, both with German officers, pointing out the futility of further bloodshed. And how two War Correspondents were quoted. At the start of the Article was Mr Philip Gibbs and at the end Mr Beach Thomas. There is also a name for that famous drawing - Matania."
Our Oldest Soldier - London Screening
Centre for New Zealand Studies Birkbeck, University of London
Session 68
Wednesday 29 October 2008
B04, Birkbeck, 43 Gordon Sq.,
London WC1
6.30-8.00
British premiere of
Our Oldest Soldier (2002)
Introduced by the director, David Blyth
Ahead of Remembrance Sunday, CNZS presents a very special screening of David Blyth's acclaimed and moving documentary, Our Oldest Soldier. The film concerns David's grandfather, Colonel Lawrence 'Curly' Blyth, who died aged 105, and was New Zealand's oldest surviving soldier from the First World War.
Colonel Blyth was gassed and wounded in the First World War and was involved in the battle for the French town of Le Quesnoy. His heroic actions led to France awarding him the Legion d'Honeur, and to Le Quesnoy naming the local square in his honour. We are delighted that David will be available to introduce this film and answer questions post-screening.
Pandemonium
is a new film project written by David Blyth.
This is a new work following in the heels of Angel Mine and Bound for Pleasure. But this time the rubber gloves are off.
David's film tells the story of a Dominatrix with a difference.
Be warned, no dark secret is safe - Pandemonium is coming!
Heroes of New Zealand Film
New Zealand has become known as Middle Earth as film maker and self confessed "Hobbit" Peter Jackson returned, a world conquering hero. New Zealand is very proud of its world class heroes.
David Blyth is a contemporary of Peter Jackson. Indeed, David's first horror film, Death Warmed Up had fans running and screaming in the aisles about the same time Bad Taste was being made and Gremlins came out. Death Warmed up charmed the international festival circuit, see what Alejandro Jodorowsky said about his encounter with David and his high regard for this scarey film.
David went on to make Hollywood productions including Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and continued to make great New Zealand film, including Kahu and Maia - starring the Maori actor Cliff Curtis.
David Blyth has recently collaborated with maverisque muso Jed Town in a stunning collaboration, Fish Tank Telly.
Check it out. It's a new wave of fish tank videorama set underwater and brilliant music.
What makes a director a "cult director". Early films are treasured and sought
after due to critical acclaim, shock value or notoriety. Although each of
David's projects is complete in itself, there remain threads which tie
Angel Mine with Bound for Pleasure and cult favourite
Red Blooded American Girl .
Murder links Death Warmed up and Exposure .
With several offers and projects underway we expect to add to the Cult Credentials gallery.
Death Warmed Up
UK video cover
David Blyth's classic horror film Death Warmed Up is coming back to life,
watch for an American DVD release of DEATH WARMED UP is coming soon! You can usually get the VHS from our Amazon links below which are now genuinely hard to find. A hugely successful film with international multilanguage releases, it had many different covers. Here are a selection of some of our favourites.
German video cover
The blood shines on the menacing face of the Red Edition.
What other editions were there?
Japanese video cover
Careful with that axe...dept
Death Warmed Up was a very popular film in Japan, called My-Doku.
Thoughtful operation or was this a combination of Brian Dead and The Thinker?
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of his first feature film, Angel Mine, writer/director David Blyth discusses his career to
date
What first inspired your interest in cinema and encouraged you to begin making films yourself?
Well the very first film I remember seeing in a cinema was the wonderful poetic children’s film The Red Balloon. The film that really talked to me and sent me on my journey into filmmaking was seeing Luis Bunuel’s Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie at Auckland’s Lido Cinema when I was about 17. Bunuel’s seamless ability to move between reality and dream fascinated me. I was hooked.
Circadian Rhythms, a 14-minute film shot in black and white, grew out of watching films such as the expressionist The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and in particular Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali’s collaboration on the short film Un chien andalou, a film I watched multiple times, trying to deconstruct its unconscious cohesion. Circadian Rhythms was a collaboration with Richard Von Sturmer and to this day I believe it’s unlike any other Kiwi short film.
Did you have any formal film education or training as such?
I have a Bachelor of Arts degree from Auckland University, which included doing Dr Roger Horrocks’ film course as well doing the practical film papers at Elam with Tom Hutchings.
In the mid ’70s there were no film schools in New Zealand. My training came from watching lots and lots of films. Discovering different directors such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, with dynamic cinematic style, unconsciously assimilating the language of film.
What were the circumstances by which you came to make Angel Mine at the age of 22 in 1978?
One of Auckland’s film characters from the past was Jack George, whose film studio was in Pollen Street in Grey Lynn. Jack had the black and white processing machine that processed the 16mm Ilford Fp4 black and white film stock for Circadian Rhythms. He told me that Agfa were about to introduce a new 16mm colour newsreel reversal stock into the New Zealand market, so I approached Agfa with a proposal and they agreed to supply the reversal stock for free.
Ultimately Agfa had decided not to introduce the new stock into NZ when I shot Angel Mine, so in the end I had to send all the exposed film in one box to Belgium to be processed.
Shooting the film blind with no rushes was not an ideal situation but it was free and enabled Angel Mine to be made.
In those days the funding body was called the QE2 Arts Council. I got $5000 from them on the basis of a treatment for Angel Mine and them having viewed Circadian Rhythms, which by then had been selected for the Auckland, Wellington and Sydney Film Festivals.
After he read a proposal for the film, I also received money from a benefactor whose letterhead depicted a giraffe’s head – he liked people who stuck their head out. And I received a small amount of funding from Montana Wines, thanks to a promotions manager who was very sympathetic to the arts...
I met Warren Sellers who had just come off working on [historical television series] The Governor as the production designer – he was full of enthusiasm and, incredibly for me, took me seriously and put together a real film crew that included DoP/camera operator John Earnshaw.
Am I right in thinking the Interim Film Commission funded Angel Mine’s post-production?
Yes – while I had raised enough money to shoot the film, I couldn’t afford to complete it with a professional editor. At about the exact moment that I realised I had the opportunity to snare an editor, Philip Howe, the Interim Film Commission chaired by Bill Sheat was announced in the newspapers. I went to Wellington, and at John O’Shea’s Miramar premises, I showed the IFC a selection of footage from Angel Mine, which they loved. The Interim Board gave me approximately $19,000 to edit and complete the film, including a blow up to 35mm from 16mm...
I was definitely a beneficiary of a new institution that had not yet formulated funding guidelines. I believe it was my youthful enthusiasm and the unexpected timing of me being at the IFC’s first ever meeting, as well as there being some very compelling moving images on display.
Today a film like Angel Mine would not get past the New Zealand Film Commission’s assessment systems.
A review of Angel Mine, which recently screened in Wroclaw Poland as part of the biggest New Zealand Cinema Retrospective ever..
Polish Kiwi film Retrospective
There is a retrospective of NZ cinema for an international film festival in Wroclaw, Poland, 17-27 July 2008.
This will be the biggest retrospective of NZ film ever, with 34 features (more than one tenth of all NZ feature films) and 46 shorts screening. In addition, 10 NZ filmmakers will be flying in to the festival - with the filmmakers attending (just one left to confirm): Vincent Ward, Roger Donaldson, Gaylene Preston, Christine Parker, Peter Wells, Oscar Kightley, Donogh Rees, David Blyth, Leon Narbey, and Rob Sarkies.
The festival will include introductions to screenings, and a panel discussion on NZ film. Craig Potton will present a photographic display, and there will be performances from Shonagh McCullough, Moana and the Tribe, Pitch Black, and Manaia. Details can be found at on this link.
The event is open to the public.
Angelmine 30th Anniversary
March 2008 - 30th Anniversary retrospective in Wroclaw Poland festival
David Blyth's first feature film Angel Mine is celebrating its 30 year Annivesary. This was the first film funded by the New Zealand Interim Film Commission.
Angelmine along with the director is going to attend a large retrospective of New Zealand films in Wroclaw Poland in July of this year.
The festival has been curated by Dr Ian Conrich, Head of the New Zealand Media Studies Centre at London University.
David has also been invited to give a Master Class at the Media Studies Centre while in London.
Angel Mine
From the season: Content May Offend
Part of the regular series: New Zealand Feature Project
Angel Mine, ILA Productions, 1978
35mm, 79 minutes, R18
Director/writer: David Blyth
Producers: David Blyth, Warren Sellars
Associate producers: Jennifer Jakich, Larry Parr
Production manager: Warren Sellers
Director of photography: John Earnshaw
Editor: Phillip Howe
Music: Mark Nicholas
Music performed by: Auckland Youth Orchestra, Peter Kerin, Suburban Reptiles
With: Derek Ward, Jennifer Redford, Myra De Groot, Mike Wilson
"No locally made film has caused more hullabaloo since the advent of the State-sponsored NZ Film Commission than David Blyth's Angel Mine... It has been the cause of renewed urgings to the Minister of Internal Affairs Allan Highet to tighten censorship law, and to the Government in general to carefully watch how the taxpayers' money is being spent in the new surge towards a developed local film industry. Porn watchdog Patricia Bartlett, in particular, has been assiduous in penning letters to Government leaders and newspapers... Angel Mine, which has been made on a miniscule budget of about $30,000 and blown into 35mm from original 16mm footage, is much more than all the 'put down' ballyhoo suggests. Sensitively perceived and realized, if somewhat short in some areas on technical expertise, it is clearly a director's piece. What it does is make a particularly strong statement about urban materialism and the corrosive nature of visual advertising in the context of the relationship - sexual and otherwise - of a suburban couple. Highly amusing as well as thought provoking, Blyth has extracted good performances from his actors Despite the relative youth of 22-year-old Blyth, Angel Mine is as mature and entertaining an analysis on this there as has emerged in film here.” — Mike Nicolaidi, Variety, 10 January 1979
"Angel Mine is an elusive and difficult film work to discuss. So far, after a brief major-cinema season, the critical response has been largely negative. One Auckland critic found the film 'about as erotic as a belch' and Stephen Ballantyne in the Listener shredded Angel Mine and referred to 'the banality of its assertions about suburban life'. But as a pointer to the critical contradictions Hamish Keith, writing one week later than Ballantyne and in the same journal rightly thought the film 'genuinely original'. I too found Angel Mine original and often arresting. There are few enough rewards for those of us who want to see the New Zealand film industry develop strongly and with imagination. We know, after Sleeping Dogs, that a professional and exciting thriller can be made here and Roger Donaldson must be given his due as a director of skill and energy. But Donaldson was working from a published novel, Smith's Dream His scope for originality was determined by the conventions he accepted. Since he directed from a given text and was intent on making a commercial success of Sleeping Dogs he had to produce a film with an accelerating forward drive, with a convincing climax. His problems therefore were problems of realism - the gun fights had to look authentic, the escape in the car thrilling. David Blyth on the other hand has set himself harder problems - he has to discover his form - and it is not surprising that he does not always succeed. On one viewing Angel Mine has the impromptu feel of a movie which evolved in the process of being made. Because there is no apparent story-line there is no necessary linear development in his film. Sleeping Dogs had a trajectory, a plot; Angel Mine has no plot - it circles around in search of itself and this can lead to the shallow critical response that it meanders, or that it is a mere series of vignettes. Blyth has the courage, the youth and energy, to make mistakes and any serious artist must be given the opportunity to make mistakes. In an important sense that is the fertile ground from which maturity springs. I'm glad the Interim Film Commission and the QEII Arts Council had the audacity to give Blyth financial aid on this project. The serious danger is that those organizations might take fright at the open and violent sexual encounters in the film. There is a graphic scene where the actors copulate. But within the context of Angel Mine this scene is more necessary than the commercially choreographed sequence in Sleeping Dogs. So too the final shots of lovemaking taken through an uncurtained landing window. Blyth here is supporting the thesis of Leslie Fiedler that in an emotionally and sexually immature society - our New Zealand - sexuality is inevitably linked with death fantasies. And the suburban couple only really make it in the form of their punk surrogates who have gunned the deep-frozen pair to death. Angel Mine is a worthwhile addition to our small score of local productions. ... So we have a new film which makes a serious though not totally successful attempt to break beyond the boundaries of our cinema-narrative conventions.” — Russel Haley, Islands 7, April 1979
"Angel Mine (which came with the warning: 'This film contains punk cult material!') signalled in celluloid the arrival of punk and met with the kind of controversy you'd expect and more. 'Angel Mine came out of nowhere and caught a lot of people by surprise,' says Blyth. 'Twenty years down the track I don't know whether it's so controversial. I've gone on and become far more middle of the road in terms of my film-making. Blyth was coming to the end of his time at Auckland University where he had become influenced by European cinema rather than Hollywood as well as the values that went along with the music friends in a band were espousing. 'We all came from the garage band. I was a garage film-maker. I used an old red Bolex and like the musicians didn't have any formal education. They just got instruments and started making noises and I got a camera and started pointing it around the room. I thought 'why wait to get experience?' Everything was fermenting at the same time. The very first punk concert at Auckland University was raising money for Angel Mine. The thing about the film is that it was shot for $13,000 or $14,000, which meant I didn't have to go to any of the authorities and have my script fettered. It was an attack on the great suburban dream of New Zealand, the whole focus on 'get a job, get a house and a mortgage', a whole philosophy which I guess punk was about questioning. Despite the low budget and the controversy that followed the film's release, many critics today, as then, have hailed Angel Mine as a superb piece of film-making.” — Mark Amery, Sunday Star-Times, 12 February 1995
"Angel Mine is a film about hanging in, in the city. Most feature NZ films have been about escaping the tangle of city life and its commitments! (eg Sleeping Dogs, Solo, Runaway, Landfall, Test Pictures). Angel Mine is based upon the principal that what enables us to stay alive in the city are our day dreams and fantasies, these function as our escape valve from the pressures of mass living etc. But what is going wrong is that our dreams and fantasies are being regulated and modified into mass-produced consumerable entities by the visual media, especially TV and films and TV commercials. They are giving us replacement dreams from our own escape routes which cater for our specific personal requirements NZ hasn't matured sexually yet! The country is still young and feeling its way tentatively - it hasn't got to the fast cars and slick confidence eg American show biz fantasy etc. It's still humping in the back of a Morris Minor, with one eye watching out for cops and the discomfort of grit off the shoes on the car floor grinding into the knees etc etc routines! There has been no erotic cinema in NZ because we haven't got past the mawkishness of an embarrassed thrash in the back of a car, before resuming our roles in a normal society where sex is for married adults in their own homes with the lights turned off of course! and the door locked! A rank generalisation - but you know what I'm getting at. Angel Mine therefore represents the coming of age, if you like, of the young couple but also of NZ cinema erotica next time!!” — David Blyth
David's evocative documentary Our Oldest Soldier achieved the highest number of viewers of any New Zealand on Air funded program for the last year beating the nearest rival Country Calendar by 50,000 viewers. A remarkable achievement for a one-off-programme. John Keir, the producer announced. The programme was repeated on Easter weekend.
YouTube is a growing phenomena with individuals posting home made films.
Here is a clip of Werner Herzog talking about how hard it is to succeed making films.
Hope you got a chance to see the Jodorowsky clip from The Holy Mountain (before YouTube had to remove it). Searching for a replacement - found this, Alejandro Jodorowsky y El Cine (it is not in English, but still rather interesting).
Frances Lynn is an English writer and film columnist. Frances is currently writing a horror comedy screenplay for NZ film director DAVID BLYTH and is writing "Disguise", a humorous novel about a reincarnation conspiracy.
Targ-it.com lists David, quotes this site alongside Tim Burton and Luc Besson.
Film Archive entry about AngelMine.
DigitalWallpaper.net
creates wonderful DVDs with natural themes, brilliant ambient music by Jed Town.
www.NZBlues.com featuring New Zealand blues bands legends Windy City Strugglers and gospel stars in Jubilation.
Auckland Poetry fosters NZ writing and gives writers a place to get their work published on the web.
News-Directory.org / Magazines and E-zines - Magazines and E-zines Web Directory
www.echolist.com The Echolist online directory features a massive wealth of information, news and links about a wide range of topics for your edification.
Find your film at a cheap price with
Kelkoo ... David Blyth.
Death Warmed Up. Horror genetics is the subject for this
hyped-up, over-the-top tale of fast action, gore and revenge. VHS/SUR:
...
Kiwi Sauce
is a Dutch guide to wonderful products experienced in New Zealand.
Bound for Pleasure is mentioned in Richard Evan Lee's Edifying Spectacle, a weblog about sexuality.
A student of David Blyth it seems although the name is wrong, the films are all David's.
Martin Rumsby's article about experimental film making in New Zealand examines the role of critics. New Zealand film has "grown in a vacuum of curatorial silence". David Blyth is listed alongside his collaborator Richard von Sturmer, who wrote Circadian Rhythms and parts of Angel Mine.
The Big Idea notes the USA Theatrical release of Bound for Pleasure.
David Blyth has an entry in the Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film, 2007.
Now, with many international festival releases, David Blyth has carved a cult niche with digital film productions. He has released superb documentaries and feature films. We make available copies of David Blyth productions, DigitalWallpaper.net and DavidBlyth.com
releases plus provide links to find some rarer films via Amazon.
"One of the great mavericks of New Zealand Film"
- NZ Listener
On Simon Grigg's website David Blyth is given a mention in relation to the forming of Suburban Reptiles.
Wound - December 2009.
Shooting 9th - 31st January 2010
Wound is a new feature film, written and directed by David Blyth, New Zealand’s controversial cult / horror auteur. (Angel Mine, Death Warmed Up, and recent festival hit documentaries Bound for Pleasure and Transfigured Nights).
A Supernatural Horror Film, set against a backdrop of Internet web camera’s, explores the dark worlds of mental illness, incest, revenge and death. Wound is reinterpretation of the Demeter-Proserpine mythological story (mother having to save her child from the clutches of Hades).
We follow the ghostly Tanya as she searches for the mother she has never met – a mother (Susan) who gave her up for dead after being abused by her own father. After committing suicide, Tanya returns to confront and possess Susan with all her deepest fears and desires, sending Susan into a state of madness and gore filled retribution.
“Transfigured Nights” played during the recent Hamilton Underground Film Festival. The Saturday night screening was attended by the director himself, David Blyth. Blyth’s introductory comments and the question and answer session that followed the just under 50 minute documentary were a rare and valuable opportunity to hear from one of the veterans of New Zealand cinema. His physical presence also afforded me the opportunity to acquire three of his seminal works for Auteur House: the still startling 1976 surrealist short “Circadian Rhythms”, the notorious 1978 anti-materialist allegory “Angel Mine” and New Zealand’s first horror movie, 1984’s “Death Warmed Up”.
Watching four of Blyth’s films in close succession over the last few days has convinced me that he brings something to our national cinema that almost no one else does: sensuality.
Latest release of Brazilian magazine VOID has Transfigured Nights on the front cover
see Void #52 na rua. Here is a link to the downloadable version (8.6MB) of the magazine check out pages 38-40 for Transfigured Night article and pictures.
TRIANGLE FILM Festival
Triangle Television and Stratos Television are delighted to announce “SUNDAY NIGHT OUT”, the first ever festival season of iconic NZ-made gay and lesbian films and documentaries to screen on NZ television.
In what is described as a collaborative first - film and television makers, the Film Commission and Film Archive – have all joined together to showcase an outstanding line-up of productions from their collections; many of which have only had limited release.
Series producer, Deb Faith, is thrilled at the line up of programming with great classics such as SQUEEZE and JEWELS DARL along with a selection of award-winning documentaries from the recent TAKATAAPUI TV series screened on Maori TV.
UPDATE: On 20 September, David Blyth's extraordinary film TRANSFIGURED NIGHTS is scheduled.
“SUNDAY NIGHT OUT” opens on July 26th: on Triangle and Stratos Television at 9.30pm and runs for 11 weeks
SCHEDULE: You can see TRANSFIGURED NIGHTS THIS SUNDAY on Sky channel 89 and on Freeview Channel 23
Tranfigured Nights
Customer Reviews
This film is probably one of the best films I've seen, and I've seen a lot of really great films. It's on par with 'Waiting for NESARA,' as a film that can be watched over and over again, especially to show friends! The director of this film has an extraordinary career track record of documenting and creating some of the best films I've seen.
As a fan, I'm highly impressed! The wrapping scenes are pretty damn crazy. The housework scenes... I dunno, you just gotta see it. There is some really great footage that isn t in the trailer.
As a professional film producer, novelty hunter and mad scientist; I hope that the world will recognize the film for the following groundbreaking accomplishments:
Complete production done online - could have been created without leaving a single room, but has footage from almost every part of the Pacific Rim.
Mixing Media - a perfect balance of 'first person' screen capture, and direct digital capture of video streams.
Perfect Musical Score - a film like this really needs a musical score to capture the, uhh, well, 'individual beauty' of each of the documentaries subjects.
I'm hoping that Blyth will be remembered for these trend-setting achievements. Everyone I've shown this film to has applauded at the ending.
Worth every penny at $15.
- Nolan Farsistin, CA, United States
Transfigured Nights has been selected for the Hamilton Underground film festival this October 17th.
David Blyth has been asked to attend to introduce the film and answer questions.
Hamilton Underground Film Festival 2009 [HUFF09]
Saturday 17th October 2009 6pm @ Waikato Museum of Art and History[Lecture theatre]
NZ's premier Underground Film Director David Blyth {Angel mine, Death warmed up, Circadian Rhythms}
will introduce his new film "Transfigured Nights" + Director's Talk.
Available Internationally
Transfigured Nights is now available for international distribution on filmbaby.com
"Transfigured Nights" is a 48-minute experimental documentary that explores the wildly perverse, fetishistic pleasures of web cam mask performance.
Director David Blyth takes us into the cyber-homes of a variety of men who show their extreme-sexually charged online behind-the-mask personas...
From the Rubber-encased, Gas-masked MORE RUBBER PLEASE SIR, to the extreme 7-layered, gigantic boobed, and bound HOG-TIED, to the sensual asphyxiation bags of the doll-masked KUNIKO, to the forbidden and haunting Berkha-attired DEEBA, and the hysterically happy ex-Vietnam Vet goodtime gal MISS PIGGY, who wears Pig masks, and cocktail frocks, and twirls topless around her glamour-filled home.
The film, entirely captured from Internet sources, openly explores the new sexuality of the digital age ... and like forbidden videos its impact will be shocking for the honesty it portrays, and hopefully liberating to the world audience at large...
I recently attended the Hamilton Underground Film Festival for the Premier New Zealand Film Festival screening of Transfigured Nights. Film Maker Martin Rumsby introduced me to the audience and after the screening there were excellent questions. So a very successful screening.
While in Hamilton I visited Richard's RIFF RAFF statute on Hamilton's main street. Many years ago at the invitation of Australian Director Jim Sharman, I went to London and observed the making of SHOCK TREATMENT, the sequel to the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
- David Blyth Nov 2009
David Blyth and Martyn Rumsby
David Blyth and Richard O'Brien
David Blyth's first film Circadian Rhythms made in 1976 is screening at the Hastings Art Gallery in a special NZ surrealism exhibition.
David made the film with the help of Richard Von Sturmer.
Richard von Sturmer and David Blyth
1976 in the Quad at Auckland University
BOUND FOR PLEASURE
Screening at Fetisch Film Festival
Fetisch Film Festival Web page Sunday 23th of November 2008
Traum-Kino, Grasweg 19, 24118 Kiel, Germany
At the International Film festival in Wroclaw Poland
David Blyth and Vincent Ward at the 8.Era new Horizons International Film festival in Wroclaw Poland.
David Blyth was attending the major New Zealand Retrospective with Angel Mine. Vincent Ward had a retrospective of all his films along with the most recent Rain of the Children, which recieved the Festivals Audience Award. Rain of the Children is currently screening in cinemas around New Zealand.
These reviews discovered on the net for Transfigured Nights and Angel Mine are worth a look.
Here is an excerpt:
"Transfigured Nights is transgressive New Zealand filmmaker David Blyth’s latest anthropological documentary exploring the outer extremes of human sexuality.
"In previous works such as Angel Mine, Blyth used a non-linear, surrealist approach to narrative to explore the Freudian implications of the anarchic social potential of the fusion of Eros and Thanatos. After several cult excursions into the horror genre where he vented a Freudian intent towards genre deconstruction – including Death Warmed Up – Blyth by the beginning of the 21st century turned his attention to documentary with Bound for Pleasure, often in his explicit recording and rendering of sexually explicit human behaviour accused of exploiting the documentary format for mere titillation. Nothing could be further from the truth and Transfigured Nights is again proof that Blyth is one of the most insightful chroniclers of transgressive humanity operating – as all transgressive filmmakers are forced to do – within the underground fringes of world cinema.
To the end of the world with 17th Filmfest Hamburg
David Blyth's Angelmine selected
The 17th Filmfest Hamburg - 24th September to 3rd October 2009 - New Zealand is selected in this year’s film country in the Deluxe section. Festival Director Albert Wiederspiel is very pleased at “the committed and fruitful cooperation with the Auckland City Council and New Zealand Embassy, enabling Filmfest Hamburg to show six modern cinema classics dating from 1964 to 1987.”
Program Director Kathrin Kohlstedde explains: “We intensely explored the treasures of the New Zealand Film Archive before making our choice. We were looking to assemble a series of films that goes beyond such internationally famous works as those of Jane Campion (“The Piano”) and Peter Jackson (“The Lord of the Rings 1-3”). Films, that were never released in Germany and that will take our audience on an exploratory voyage of New Zealand.”
Julie Hill, Goethe-Institut stipendiary and New Zealand journalist and filmmaker, will act as a guide to the cinematic terra incognita at Filmfest Hamburg, which includes such filmic gems as “Runaway” by John O’Shea (1964), “Off The Edge” by Michael Firth (1977), “Angel Mine” by David Blyth (1978), “Carry Me Back” by John Reid (1982), “Patu!” by Merata Mita (1983) and “Ngati” by Barry Barclay (1987).
David Blyth has been awarded a grant to make "French Connection", a documentary about David's grandfather Colonel Blyth's relationship with the French town of Le Quesnoy, which recently celebrated the 90th Anniversary of the Liberation of the town by New Zealand soldiers during the last days of WW1.
David Blyth's first feature film AngelMine is released on DVD and is now available. Enquire here now!
AngelMine is celebrating its 30 year Annivesary. This was the first film funded by the New Zealand Interim Film Commission.
"No locally made film has caused more hullabaloo since the advent of the State-sponsored NZ Film Commission than David Blyth’s AngelMine..." - The Film Archive
Now you can finally get to see one of NZ's most provocative and ahead-of-its-time films on DVD, the film was first released in 1978 to shocked audienced, and was re-released on Friday, 13th February 2009.
NZS$27 (Plus P + P).
US$14.99 (Plus P + P).
EUROPE €11 (Plus P + P).
AngelMine On Set
David Blyth directs Jennifer Redford in AngelMine (1978).
Bound for Pleasure DVD now available
"...master's degrees in advanced bottom paddling; ...like Monty Python biddies gone bad. - New York Times
Bound for Pleasure now released on DVD (R18, Adults only, Sexual content may offend) after completing a festival run in New York. The DVD contains the full 73 minute cinematic release. On the edge mondo underground / ordinary lives in the guise of "television" documentary remains pure sexually deviant art. David Blyth's exploration of the weird is a remarkly human treatment of the discipline profession he found in the suburbs of Auckland. The festival film is now available on DVD Bound for PleasureFirst Edition - SOLD OUT - more available shortly.... Warning: It may shock some viewers with its honesty.
EMail DVD enquiries here.
Discover a journey into the unknown. Order your DVD here - produced by davidblyth.com - an ILA Films release - exclusively available here - order today special price US$24 includes postage.
Warning: R18, Sexual content may offend.
"Intimate...revealing...extraordinar(ily) candid" -- SBS
"Realer than any reality show" -- Queen Divinia
Cover date: June 27-July 3 2009 Vol 219 No 3607
"Thirty years ago, they were asking questions in Parliament about Angel Mine, now it's part of a series of New Zealand cinema classics.
"In 1978, David Blyth’s first feature film, Angel Mine, took to local cinemas with the subtlety of a youthful, wildly aimed kick to the New Zealand psyche. This full-frontal assault on suburban neurosis, materialism and taboos about nudity still places highly on lists of the worst New Zealand film ever made."
David Blyth has been invited to attend the
5th Fantaspoa International Fantastic Film Festival
of Porto Alegre, Brazil.
David Blyth is attending the Festival - from July 3rd to July 19, 2009.
The Festival has selected the following titles:
Richard Lymposs (Whole of the Moon) / David Blyth (Death Warmed Up) / David Parry (Bonjour Tomothy).
Auckland ANZAC Weekend 2009
at Lausanne
Warhol Superstars
DAVID: While at the Lausanne Underground Film Festival I had the good
fortune to see some of the early 60's Andy Warhol films, including Vinyl
and a two projector screening of Chelsea Girls. The festival invited
three of the original "Warhol Superstars" , Mary Woronov, Holly Woodlawn
and Bibbe Hansen who before the screenings revealed how things really
were with Warhol in the Factory days, fascinating stuff.
photo 1: Holly Woodlawn - the inspiration for Lou Reed's iconic song "Walk on the Wild Side"
photo 2: Bibbe Hansen Mary Woronov ( back ) Holly Woodlawn
Image credits: Photographer: David Blyth.
NZ Listener
New Zealand's respected arts and entertainment magazine carried a major feature in a recent issue about David Blyth and his New York Times reviewed film Bound for Pleasure.
"Blyth has reinvented himself as a maker of low-budget documentaries that TV eats up." - Philip Mathews in
NZ Listener
Angelmine is David Blyth's second film release and a social commentary that renewed calls for more censorship when it was released in 1978 in New Zealand
On Wednesday nights October 2006 The Film Archive presented Content May Offend - a series of New Zealand Features notorious for the censorship controversies they caused.
In an early edition of Art New Zealand you can find a very interesting feature on Angel Mine.
In the article there is a quote by David Blyth: 'I am very interested in the viewer-media transaction. All that enables us to survive in the cities are our fantasies, our dreams, our daydreams. What's worrying me though, is that these escape-routes have been closed off through the media, particularly television.'
Prophetic enough. But what of 'Angel Mine' - there appears to be a resurgence of interest in this truly "cult movie".
It is certainly interesting considering the inversion of roles that internet DIY entertainment and Handycam filmmakers who don't even leave the bedroom to start up their new venture in the garage. It's a whole new age of narcissism and there is no escaping it as we are hedged in to our narrow worlds and seek self definition in plasma TVs and mobile convergence of technology possibly limits expression rather than extends it. This phenomena is explored in David Blyth's new film Transfigured Nights
On Wednesday nights October 2006 The Film Archive presented Content May Offend - a series of New Zealand Features notorious for the censorship controversies they caused.
TelstraClear introduces Ziln
New Zealand’s first Internet TV network
TelstraClear and content providers e-cast and Netside TV have combined to introduce New Zealand’s first free Internet TV network.
Ziln will feature New Zealand channels playing scheduled and video on demand programming and 14 International news and business channels streaming live.
It will formally launch on September 1st and during the following weeks will feature New Zealand’s first online film festival featuring Kiwi classics such as Goodbye Pork Pie, Utu, Desperate Remedies and Rain.
The “New Ziln Film Festival”
Angel Mine (Director David Blyth, Editor Phillip Howe) - 1978 Rating R18 - Friday, 4 September
Constance (Director Bruce Morrison, Editor Phillip Howe) - 1984 Rating PG - Saturday, 5 September
Utu (Director Geoff Murphy, Editor David Coulson) - 1983 Rating PG - Sunday, 6 September
Death Warmed Up (Director David Blyth, Editor David Huggett) - 1984 Rating R16 - Friday, 11 September
Goodbye Pork Pie (Director Geoff Murphy, Editor Michael Horton) - 1981 Rating - PG - Saturday, 12 September
Mr Wrong (Director Gaylene Preston Editor Simon Reece) - 1985 Rating M – Sunday, 13 September
Silvia (Director Michael Firth, Editor Michael Horton) - 1985 Rating PG - Friday, 18 September
Ngati (Director Barry Barclay, Editor Dell King) - 1987 Rating PG - Saturday, 19 September
Desperate Remedies (Directors Peter Wells & Stewart Main, Editor David Coulson) - 1993 Rating M - Sunday, 20 September
Rain (Director Christine Jeffs, Editor Paul Maxwell) - 2001 Rating M - Friday, 25 September
1 Nite (Director Amarbir Singh, – 2004 Rating M - Saturday, 26 September
When Night Falls (Director Alex Galvin, Editor Patrick Canam) - 2007 Rating M - Sunday, 27 September
Ziln is available free of charge on www.ziln.co.nz and through TelstraClear’s consumer portal www.clearnet.co.nz
EXPERIMENTS IN CELLULOID
was held on THURSDAY 6 AUGUST
at ARTSPACE
A group of film afficionados got together in early August to see some rare and groundbreaking films by Auckland filmmakers.
Phil Dadson
David Blyth
Gregor Nicholas
Alex Monteith
Curated by Derek Gehring and Nova Paul
Phil Dadson Earthworks. Temporary Instant in the Continuum of Universal Ebb and Flow, 1971 - A group of people stand in the middle of a field in the early morning with radio equipment. They are picking up weather forecasts, tide & lunar reports from all over the world.
David Blyth Circadian Rhythms, 1976 - "The initial conceptualisation of Circadian Rhythms was in many ways a kind of homage to certain silent films which had an important effect visually such as Un Chien Andalou, The Passion of Joan of Arc and a number of German expressionist films. These films made me aware of the power of images in terms of their pure internal form" - David Blyth, Alternative Cinema, June 1977.
Gregor Nicholas Mouth music, 1981 - "A film that thwarts our supposedly innate desire for conventional narrative. It explores the domain of human (non-) communication mainly via a repertoire of gestures on the part of three protagonists. An esoteric drama unfolds within an artificial environment where the colours are often dazzling, lights filtered through red or green." Roger Blackley, NZ Listener, Jan 9 1982.
Alex Monteith Pause the rising tide, 2001- "Aims to subvert the traditional orders in cinematic moments referencing popular history. Fragments (Bubonic Plague, The Iron Curtain)
are veiled in surrealist minimalism. Edited in lateral image shifts between geometry, colour and form; underscored with imitation
Russian inter-titles." Alex Monteith, NZIFF catalogue 2001.
Presented by Floating Cinemas, The Film Archive and Artspace
SFSW.NET builds and runs a number of websites. The sfsw.net website includes a technical newsletter with the latest security information on viruses on the lose, tech tips on how to expand you website easily.
Centre for New Zealand Studies Birkbeck, University of London
David went on to make Hollywood productions including Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and continued to make great New Zealand film, including Kahu and Maia - starring the Maori actor 
David Blyth's first feature film AngelMine is released on DVD and is now available.
"...master's degrees in advanced bottom paddling; ...like Monty Python biddies gone bad. - New York Times
Bound for Pleasure now released on DVD (R18, Adults only, Sexual content may offend) after completing a festival run in New York. The DVD contains the full 73 minute cinematic release. On the edge mondo underground / ordinary lives in the guise of "television" documentary remains pure sexually deviant art. David Blyth's exploration of the weird is a remarkly human treatment of the discipline profession he found in the suburbs of Auckland. The festival film is now available on DVD Bound for Pleasure 
David Blyth has been invited to attend the
5th Fantaspoa International Fantastic Film Festival
of Porto Alegre, Brazil.
David Blyth is attending the Festival - from July 3rd to July 19, 2009.
The Festival has selected the following titles:
