New nitrate film vault to house NZ films
Some of New Zealand’s oldest films have been installed in a snug new Titahi Bay home.
The country’s first specialised nitrate film vault, which will be shared by the New Zealand Film Archive and Archives New Zealand, will provide 100 square metres of temperature-controlled space for the footage.
Nitrocellulose film, or nitrate film, was the most commonly used film stock in New Zealand from the beginning of film until the end of the 1940s, but it is prone to deterioration.
The new vault has been designed to prolong the life of nitrate film, with a standard temperature of 15 degrees Celsius and 40 per cent humidity.
Included in the footage to be preserved is the earliest surviving New Zealand film, The Departure of the Second Contingent for the Boer War, from 1900.
Other material includes government publicity films from the 1910s and feature films such as Rudall Hayward’s My Lady of the Cave and Rewi’s Last Stand.
Film Archive chief executive Frank Stark said the $400,000 vault was necessary for not only the protection of the nitrate film but for safety reasons.
Nitrate was highly flammable and the new vault, built in a secluded spot in Transmitter St, reduced the fire risk to surrounding property, he said.
Previously the collection was housed in a bunker on a live army range, which was far from ideal.
Plans to digitise the collection were under way and, with the films having been cleaned and put in new cans, the nitrate film should last for at least another 20 years.
‘‘It’s a very difficult thing to predict. We’ve got films in the vault that have lasted for 80 years or more while not being stored in optimal conditions.’’
In 2011, a larger $850,000 vault was opened in Plimmerton, housing 18,000 reels of film and 40,000 videotapes on 4km of shelving.
Both vaults are part of the five-year
New Zealand Film Archive Chief Executive Frank Stark at the new film vault built to house their nitrate film. Photo: Cameron Burnell/Fairfax NZ Single shot: A still from The Departure of the Second Contingent for the Boer War (1900) is one of the films stored in the new vault. It is the the earliest surviving New Zealand film and is part of the New Zealand Film Archive collection. Saving Frames project, sparked by the risk of a natural disaster wiping out New Zealand’s cinematic history at two Wellington sites.