I was recently directed (no pun intended) to a video called "Forgotten Silver", by Kiwis Peter Jackson (of LOTR fame) and Costa Botes. This is a mockumentary that rivals This Is Spinal Tap in its brilliance - unless you watch closely, you may believe it to be true. It tells the story of lost NZ filmmaker Colin McKenzie, whose work was discovered in the 90s, after being lost for over 60 years. Turns out he invented the movie camera, movies with sound, the closeup, and experimented with colour as well. One piece of McKenzie's lost footage proves that another New Zealand inventor made the first heavier-than-air, machine powered flight in the spring of 1903, nine months before the Wright Brothers.
If you haven't seen this gem, made for NZ television (it's only 67 minutes long), rent it and enjoy yourself. The film is so realistic that the day after the film aired on NZ television, Jackson and Botes had to go on national television and explain that the story wasn't real.
visits since 07/15/02
