A Time to Remember DVD - NZ Cinema Newsreels 1930-75 (DVD26) -

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A Time to Remember
3 DVD Set
A nostalgic record of New Zealand's history from the 1930s to 1975
New Zealand Cinesound Movietone Newsreels
(as played before the movies in New Zealand cinemas)

A Time to Remember is a set of 3 DVDs, representing a selection of the newsreels played in New Zealand cinemas over five decades.

From 1929 The Fox Movietone and Cinesound newsreels played in cinemas across New Zealand.  Remember watching the newsreels, and standing whilst "God Save the Queen" was played?  And getting icecreams at intermission from the boy bringing them around the cinema, whilst the reels were changed?  Those were the days!  But I digress...

The Fox Movietone and Cinesound newsreels immortalised the famous and the infamous, the eccentric and the battlers.  The images evoke the fads and fashions of each decade, and are homage to the memory of those individuals who shaped twentieth century New Zealand.

The commentaries on A Time to Remember encapsulate humour, sadness and empathy, as well as prejudice, bitterness and ridicule.

The Time to Remember collection holds up a mirror to triumph and tragedy, to the glorious and banal, and demonstrates how ordinary New Zealanders, as well as its heroes, moulded New Zealand as a nation.

In 2003 UNESCO placed the Cinesound Movietone Archive, alongside the Endeavour journal of Captain Cook, on its "Memory of the World" register.

On Disc One, watch the 1930s history of New Zealand.  It's a lot of fun watching kids in billy cart races ( wouldn't be allowed today...too dangerous), "scientists" adding some ingredients to make a geyser play ( the Department of Conservation wouldn't let you do this either), the death of Maori King Rata Mahuta, the first Maori representative rugby team, Maori women making piupiu, bushmen scaling enormous Kauri trees, koura ( freshwater crayfish) catching, the floods at Wairoa, the 1931 Napier earthquake, and much more.

On Disc Two, the 1940s to 1950s, the emphasis is on war and the effects  of World War II on the people of New Zealand.

On Disc Three, the 1960s to 1970s, there's quite a mixture: Jackie Stewart and Donald Brabham winning the NZ Grand Prix, Inia Te Wiata carving the totara pole for Government House in London, All Blacks rugby, Selwyn Toogood riding an elephant, ferrocement yachts, the Mt Eden Prison riots, LB Johnson visits New Zealand, skiing in New Zealand, the first jetplane to land in New Zealand, pictures of Russell in the Bay of Islands, and Anzac memories.  And lots more.

This A Time to Remember series is great for people of all ages to watch.  Marvel in how much we have changed - sometimes for the best, sometimes arguably for the worst.  Reminisce, laugh, cry.  And be filled with gratitude that these newsreels were preserved.  They are a great snapshot of New Zealand.  And maybe you'll even recognise some of the people filmed!