KEY POINTS:
FILM
What: Edith Collier: A Light Among Shadows
Where and when: Academy Theatre, Sat July 28, 1pm; Sun July 29, 11am.
Women artists didn't have the easiest life in New Zealand in the early 20th century. Look no further than the sad fate of Wanganui artist Edith Collier (1885-1964), who escaped the town's stifling Victorian mores to study in England, where her talent blossomed. Frances Hodgkins was a great admirer.
But Edith's father - who was paying the bills - put paid to that and summoned her back home, where he burned her nudes and crushed her spirit. Edith Collier eventually gave up painting. To many, her gift remains unknown.
Now a film, A Light Among Shadows, written and directed by Michael Heath, with producer Bhim Singh Chouhan and cinematographer Stephen Latty, pays tribute to the woman recognised today as one of our greatest early modern painters.
"It is a film about our past - a story about provincial New Zealand almost 100 years ago," says Heath. "It's a powerful metaphor for the young artist dealing with cultural identity and rejection.
"Above all it is about a courageous woman determined to survive at all costs. In the end it is her shining work that is triumphant and inspirational, revealed on film for the first time."
