Saving filmed history of South
THERE is no sign of completion for an Opoho man digitizing the history of the South in his basement, one film reel at a time.
And the only reward semiretired Maurice Hayward gets for his 20 hours of work a week is knowing important footage will live on for future generations.
Mr Hayward has been taking old reels and restoring them since 2002 as part of Dunedin’s Film Heritage Trust.
Since then he has blown the dust from almost 4000 films and converted six terabytes of footage.
Recently his work won him a Kiwibank Local Hero Award. He feels there is still a lot to do. ‘‘There are very few people around New Zealand doing it, so I feel it’s important to do. There’s a lot of history being destroyed and lost.’’
The cine films are usually found in dusty garages across Otago and Southland.
Some date back to the 1930s. The magic happens in his workshop with equipment he rigged himself.
‘‘Professional systems are very expensive and often you can’t change the speed on them, which is very important.’’
Mr Hayward built his expertise from years in various electrical and engineering roles.
He started that journey as an instrument technician for Burrows Adding Machines in 1949 straight out of school.
In recent years he has taken on the mammoth task of digitizing a collection of about 500 films for the Hocken Library.
Some of the more memorable footage includes nature shots from the royal albatross colony’s spiritual founder Lance Richdale.
‘‘They are very valuable films’’. Mr Hayward recently agreed to restore some of the library’s old tapes.
Films he receives can show anything from the building of the Roxburgh Dam, to the Balclutha Centennial Parade to home videos of children bathing.
He sends DVD copies of restored films to the people who supply them, but asks permission before holding on to the files.
Now he has another man helping him every Saturday and learning the ropes.
Eventually the plan is to give the footage to museums across the South, but cataloguing it is proving timeconsuming.
He remembers what may have sparked his love of restoring films, at the age of 7 or 8.
‘‘My father brought home a reel of cellophane. I had this amazing discovery that if you got an indelible pencil and dipped it in water, you could draw on it.
‘‘I rigged up some system shining a light through it on to the wall. So that’s where my interest started.’’