Forgotten Silver

Directed by :
Costa Botes and Peter Jackson

The morning after its screening on NZ television, the whole country was abuzz with the incredible story of previously unheard of local filmmaking pioneer, Colin McKenzie. According to the documentary made by Peter Jackson and Costa Botes, McKenzie made his own film stock out of flax and egg whites, invented his own sound and colour processes and used both tracking shots and close-ups before anyone else. He later singlehandedly built a Biblical city for his epic adaptation of Salome which was funded by Soviet Russia and the Mafia.

It was just so far out there, it couldn’t possibly not be true.

The outrage and vitriol that followed when the filmmakers announced their documentary was in fact a mockumentary has yet to be seen again.

“A delightful spoof with great affection and mischievous glee” – The New York Times

Forgotten Silver screened at international film festivals such as Cannes and Venice, where it won a special critics’ prize in 1996.