There is a Place

There is a Place is one of many Kiwi tourism films that Hugh Macdonald (This is New Zealand) made for the National Film Unit. After the Ministry of Foreign Affairs proved unhappy with the original version, the director was forced to remove “all parts of the film that offend the sensitivities of Foreign Affairs.” Macdonald ended up cutting it in half, removing "anything that reflects badly on the country". The end result is a quick stroll through New Zealand’s four main cities, and a brief look at everything the locals hold dear: rugby football, agriculture, public bars, and pottery.

I went through the film and wherever there was any objection I removed the whole sequence and it is now half its original length.

– Hugh Macdonald, on censoring the film for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in an August 1975 letter written to his parents

Key Cast & Crew

Hugh Macdonald

Director, Writer, Editor

David H Fowler

Producer

Tony Baker

Music Director

Dougal Stevenson

Narrator

Kit Rollings

Sound

Murray Creed

Camera