Autumn Fires

Actor Martyn Sanderson returns at 39 to the Hokianga of his youth and visits his elderly and romantic aunt, Olive Bracey. Their reminiscences mesh with nostalgic songs - "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life!" - and readings from Bracey's unpublished fiction. Rory O'Shea's lyrical cinematography lends its own poetry. This beautiful, layered film is all that came of a series to be called In Search of Pākehātanga proposed by Pacific Films after the success of Tangata Whenua. "It was metaphor created at a time when it was still possible to make metaphors in documentary in this country", Barclay recalled. But an era of more aggressive television was close at hand and he left the country soon after for nearly five years.

Bill Gosden, New Zealand International Film Festival (reprinted with permission)