“Gaylene’s Take – Her Life in New Zealand Film” by Gaylene Preston

I found this memoir by a feminist filmmaker absolutely riveting. Gaylene is just nineteen months older than me, and I could relate to so much of her childhood and teenage years. We listened to the same radios programmes and both had Yul Brynner as a favourite film star. She describes Christchurch in the 1960s as being a city of bicycles that all had bells. The bicycles are still here, but sadly not all now have bells, and those that do sometimes fail to use them.

Gaylene’s description of having an abortion in Sydney is starkly poignant, yet it was a privileged option in the late 1960s. The story of the graduate dining room at Gonville and Gaius (pronounced Keys) college in Cambridge held special interest for me because I’ve visited that college where a relative did his PhD. I loved the fact that Gaylene called her first husband her first husband right from the beginning, thinking it would keep him on his toes (but it didn’t). I’m tempted to start calling Stephen my first husband but it seems a bit pointless after more than 50 years.

In 1971 Gaylene joined a Consciousness Raising circle in Cambridge which developed into a feminist activist group. My Auckland introduction to C.R. was later, but also important to my self-development. Of course I loved her mention that rhyming couplets can be superlative and wished I could locate Eric’s doggerel The Pensioner’s Cat which Gaylene captured on video. She also talks about Wellington Trades Council’s women’s choir which became Choir Choir Pants on Fire. I have their c.d. with wonderful socialist songs, including Bread and Roses.

One section tells about the making of Hope and Wire, the series based on the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquakes, which I have never watched. It’s a creative drama, an amalgamation of stories, but to me it could never be as real as Gerard Smyth’s When a City Falls. There are details of all Gaylene’s productions, many of which I’ve seen and enjoyed. I particularly remember taking my mother to see War Stories Our Mothers Never Told Us. I’m ashamed to say I’ve not yet seen My Life With Helen, which tells of Helen Clark’s unsuccessful bid to become Secretary-General of the United Nations. It’s now definitely on my must-see list.

The whole book clearly explains Gaylene’s development as a filmmaker and her reasons for making films, and does this in an entertaining way. We are extremely lucky to have her telling our stories in Aotearoa.

This is a book not to be missed
you need to read it, I insist