Building Bridges: Bill Youren's Vision of Peace (2022)
PRODUCED BY PORTER PICTURES
AS PRODUCER
Porter’s passion for analogue formats began at film school in the mid-1990s where 8 and 16mm film was the default. This trade mark enthusiasm, her established working relationship with Chrisstoffels, combined with over a decade in the archival sector made her a good fit as Director’s-Producer for this essayistic feature length documentary about the un-sung New Zealand hero, peace advocate and amateur filmmaker, Harold Wilfred 'Bill' Youren. This unique and compelling story of a man striving for world peace, unfolds through Youren’s extensive collection of 8mm films, 35mm slides, photographs, letters, newspaper articles and seminars from the 1950-70s.
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT John Chrisstoffels
Bill Youren was a gifted storyteller in his use of the written word, a skilled filmmaker, an innovative farmer, world traveler, and curator of Chinese art - put all these together and you have a rich kaleidoscope of imagery that tells us the uniquely New Zealand story, of personal protest set within the politics of the Cold War. I hope that Bill’s story is one that rings as true today as it was 70 years ago, where the individual has the potential to make a real difference no matter the enormity of the global challenges presented.
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVALS
Building Bridges: Bill Youren's Vision of Peace has successfully completed the global international film festival circuit 2022-2023 receiving "Official Selection" from the New Zealand International Film Festival 2023; Amsterdam Freedom International Film Festival 2023 The Netherlands; Spotlight on Academics 2023 Ontario, Canada; Beyond Border International Film Festival 2023 Kolkata, West Bengal; Depth of Field International Film Festival 2023 (Online) USA; The Hague Global Cinema Festival 2022 The Netherlands; Bridge of Peace 2022 (Online) USA/France; Docs Without Borders Film Festival 2022 Washington DC, USA and the 4th Annual Film For Peace Festival 2022 Ontario, Canada.
National release in Aotearoa New Zealand Sept 7th 2023.
Now available to view on AROVISION:
https://ondemand.arovideo.co.nz/film/building-bridges-bill-yourens-vision-of-peace/
[Below] Film grabs, credits, International Film Festival Awards and trailer.
Credits
Featuring:
DALE CURHAM, TOM BROOKING, RODNEY WEBB, DOROTHY LUCAS, MAX WILKINSON, CHRIS ELDER,
MAIRE LEADBEATER
JOE SUE, JAMES BEATTIE, RICHARD BULLEN &
PETER HUBSCHER
Voices:
GEOFF ROBINSON
KIM GARRETT, ROY MONTGOMERY & PAUL MILLAR
Director/DOP/Editor:
JOHN CHRISSTOFFELS
Research:
JAMES BEATTIE & RICHARD BULLEN
Sound Engineer:
CHRIS SINCLAIR
Picture Grade:
MIKE KELLAND
Original Music composed and produced by
ANITA CLARK/MOTTE
Producer:
ALEXANDRA PORTER
Executive Producer:
NADIA MAXWELL
Associate Producers:
JAMES BEATTIE, RICHARD BULLEN, PAUL MILLAR
DALE CURHAM & JOHN CHRISSTOFFELS
Made with financial assistance from
The Peace and Disarmament Education Trust
and the University of Canterbury.
LIMELIGHT DISTRIBUTION TRAILER
NZIFF 2023
Farmer, family man, and—unlikely leftist organiser. Bill Youren gave up a career as a lawyer to live a traditional farmer life in the back-blocks of the Hawke's Bay. He was also a zealous supporter of freedom of speech in a political environment, with the backdrop of the Cold War and the 1951 Waterfront Strike, where anyone labelled a Communist was seen as an existential threat.
Youren documented much of his work via his trusty 8mm camera, including his travels around the world and his DIY approach to farming. Youren was convinced that barriers between peoples and cultures could be removed by open dialogue and mutual respect, and he set about living his life in a way that made such dialogue possible. Youren became a champion for China in New Zealand, including exhibiting some of the cultural artefacts he obtained on his three trips to China (particularly notable in a period when people rarely travelled to China from New Zealand).
Building Bridges: Bill Youren's Vision of Peace is a fascinating account of a man who firmly supported many of the largest social movements in the twentieth century. The centrepiece of the documentary is Youren's footage from his trips to China in the 1950s. With each visit, he documents the subtle changes in how China transformed itself from the ruins of World War II and a brutal Civil War, into one of the dominant twentieth century superpowers. It also captured his growing disillusionment with the way leftist movements shifted over the course of the century. Director John Chrisstoffels has compiled a gentle portrait of an ordinary man capturing extraordinary things.
— Brannavan Gnanalingam
[Right] Original Building Bridges film poster by Christchurch based graphic artist, NICK WHITE
