Weekend Rewind – Happy New Year (Again!)

Photo / NZ On Screen.

As Chinese New Year begins, NZ On Screen's Zara Potts looks at some of the screen history that celebrates Chinese culture in Aotearoa.

According to Chinese mythology, the pig was the last animal to arrive when the Jade Emperor was determining what animals would be in the zodiac. Legend has it that during the race of the animals to join the zodiac cycle, the pig got hungry and stopped for a feast – thereby inadvertently coining the phrase 'lazy pig'.

Regardless of this, the pig did manage to finish the race and thereby became the 12th and last animal of the zodiac cycle.

In honour of the Lunar New Year, we here at NZ On Screen have found some screen gems that celebrate our longstanding ties with the Chinese community here in Aotearoa.

Expat Kiwi Rewi Alley became one of the best-known foreigners in 20th Century China and a staunch advocate for the Communist Revolution. When China was under siege from Japan in the late 1930s, Alley instigated an industrial co-op movement he termed 'gung ho' and the success of this led to the phrase entering the global idiom. This documentary, filmed in 1979, tells Alley's engrossing and complex life story.

Watch Gung Ho – Rewi Alley of China here:

The ubiquitous blue and white 'willow pattern' comes in for a South Pacific reimagining in Veialu Aila-Unsworth's short film. In exquisite detail, the animation uses the design as a tableau for a tragic tale of lovers fleeing an angry father. The doomed pair are ultimately transformed into birds by the gods, finally escaping from oppression only to run into trouble of a different kind, in the form of bangers and mash.

Watch Blue Willow here:

One of the most popular titles on our site is this three-minute documentary which profiles two pioneering kumara growers and Kiwi characters: Fay and Joe Gock. The Gocks were refugees from the Japanese invasion of China, who met in 1953. It was then illegal for Chinese to own land, but they went on to become the largest market gardeners in Mangere. Told as a poem, and narrated by Ian Mune, the film is a tribute to both love and gardening. Sadly, Fay Gock passed away last December at the age of 85.

Watch How Mr and Mrs Gock Saved the Kumara here:

But it's not all love and happiness for many Chinese who emigrate to New Zealand. In this documentary, prejudices against Asians in New Zealand are examined, from early settlers who came in the goldrush, to the poll tax inflicted only on Chinese migrants, right through to the present day where 21st century migrants face struggles with discrimination, language barriers and integrating in their new home.

Watch New Faces Old Fears here:

Kiwi director Roseanne Liang has been tipped by the Hollywood Reporter as one of the top 50 female filmmakers to watch, and it's not hard to see why when you take a look at her work. This documentary tells the story of her romance with Stephen Harris. After falling in love at university, everything seemed perfect for the pair. Enter Liang's traditional Chinese parents, and suddenly the prospect of her marriage to a Pākehā got a lot more complicated.

Watch an excerpt from Banana in a Nutshell here:

According to Chinese astrology the Year of the Pig can be a bit of a rollercoaster ride, and speaking of rides, there's no better illustration of this than this Great Barrier Island local who's got riding a pig down to a fine art… Let's hope the year is slightly less bumpy than this!

Watch Weekend – Great Barrier Island here: