Draft 2 PhD Introduction - ResearchSpace@Auckland

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who perfectly complemented his skills and with whom he was able to form a successful
collaboration.
Again, the film history course taught in the Moving Image Department exposed Ward to
film “classics” he might otherwise not have seen. The impact of watching these films
was such that even after he left Ilam and became a professional filmmaker, Ward
continued the practice of educating himself by watching other “classic” films. His visit
to the Museum of Modern Art in 1980, for example, where he saw some of the silent
films in the 1920s, had an enormous impact on him. He believes that: “Some of the
greatest films were made in the 1920s. Often minimal means created great results: lack
of sound can create a film with a concentration and focus that is greater than any that
has all the luxuries of Dolby”. 323
It seems extraordinary that Ward was almost failed his final year undergraduate
examination on the basis that the version of the film he submitted, which later won
international awards, was not adequate. Fortunately, he does not seem to have been
adversely affected by such experiences. In contrast to the attitudes of his teachers, his
fellow-students were well aware of Ward’s dedication to his art. Some saw him as
being intense to the point of obsession, while others saw him as being the archetypal
romantic artist, but all of those interviewed respected the seriousness with which he
approached his work and his evident talent.
Ward was fortunate in having the opportunity as a student to work with competent
filmmakers such as Alun Bollinger and Leon Narbey, who were to join the ranks of
New Zealand’s most highly-regarded professionals in their field. It was also fortuitous
that he graduated just at a time when the film industry in New Zealand was beginning to
blossom, and public funding for film was increasing, albeit modestly. The following
three chapters will examine in more detail Ward’s films, A State of Siege, In Spring One
Plants Alone and Vigil, locating them in the broader context of the country’s new film
industry.
323 Dennis and Bieringa, eds., Film in Aotearoa New Zealand 90.