BRIDGET SUTHERLAND
FILM SCREENINGS

Synopsis 

'Far Off Town - Dunedin to Nashville' is a documentary about New Zealand underground rock legend David Kilgour and his journey from the small NZ town of Dunedin to Nashville to record with his friends in the alternative country band 'Lambchop'. 

Alongside the story of Kilgour recording his album with Lambchop the documentary captures a slice of Nashville during the time he spent there with particular emphasis on the independent music scene and cultural mood of the city. The film offers a window onto Kilgour's creative process and unique footage of Lambchop's world as David journey's from Kurt Wagner's basement, to the recording studio of maverick producer Mark Nevers, to the underworld haunts of the Nashville music scene. 

'Far Off Town' provides a glimpse into the world of independent record making in Nashville while focusing on the creative process of song writing and recording, exploring the mood of the music through evocative and poetic imagery. The story culminates with a journey through the blue ridge mountains to the home of Kilgour's indie label - Merge Records in Chapel Hill.

Synopsis 

‘Night Piece’ is a documentary on the late New Zealand performance and kinetic artist Peter Roche. Central to the film is his work with artist Linda Buis and the series of cutting edge performances they did together dating from 1979. Controversial at the time for pushing physical and psychological boundaries, the artist couple explored the depths of their relationship and shifted the contexts for contemporary art by often working at night in dangerous and desolate places. 

Utilising Roche’s extensive photographic archive together with old reels of super 8 film and archaic video formats found in his studio after his death, the film pieces together imagery from his earliest solo works including stitching sheep kidneys onto his body to the evocative documentation of collaborative performances such as ‘Night Piece’ where Buis crawled along a 60 ft high wall in the dark. 

Providing a window onto this seminal moment of post-object art through the late 70’s and early 80’s in New Zealand, the film also explores Roche’s later kinetic and light sculptures. Working in a converted movie theatre, Roche worked largely in isolation creating confronting sculptures addressing military technology, the human machine interface and, in his final large installation, the nuclear uncanny.