Forgotten Silver (1995)

The film deals with the career of a supposedly forgotten pioneer of international cinema, Colin McKenzie, who was allegedly born in rural New Zealand in 1888.

Directors:

Costa Botes, Peter Jackson

Writers:

Peter Jackson, Costa Botes

Stars:

Peter Jackson, Jeffrey Thomas, Costa Botes

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
Jeffrey Thomas	...	Narrator (voice)
Costa Botes	...	Self - Film Maker
Marguerite Hurst	...	Self
Peter Jackson	...	Self
Leonard Maltin	...	Self - Film Historian
Johnny Morris	...	Self - Film Archivist (as Jonathon Morris)
Sam Neill	...	Self - Actor & Director
John O'Shea	...	Self
Lindsay Shelton	...	Self
Harvey Weinstein	...	Self - Miramax Films

Storyline

Forgotten Silver is a mockumentary which details the prodigious life of "lost" filmmaker Colin McKenzie and his incredible advances that were lost to history...until now. This supergenius filmmaker, posthumously inducted into the pantheon of cinema greats, made incredible advances in filmmaking technology, supposedly making a talkie in 1908 and using color film in 1911, but madness and poverty and the usual industry tolls drove him into obscurity.

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Plot Keywords:

new zealand | mockumentary | filmmaking | directed by several directors | two word title | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The interview with Sam Neill was taken during the filming of Century of Cinema: Cinema of Unease: A Personal Journey by Sam Neill (1995).

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Goofs

Colin's synchronized sound film is supposed to have been released in 1908. If we are to believe that it was the first film to feature synchronized sound, we would have to discard the lesser known, but still earlier work of Arthur Gilbert and John Morland, and others, who had all produced and exhibited sound films at earlier dates.

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Crazy Credits

The hoax of this film is carried on into the credits. Cast members Beatrice Ashton (Hannah McKenzie) and Sarah McLeod (Mae Belle) are credited as Research Assistants. Other bit players are credited as research assistants, production advisers, and are otherwise given phony credits.

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Connections

Features The Suburbanite (1904)

User Reviews

Best kept secret

I vividly remember the first time I watched this movie. The lead up to the finding of the old films was without any obvious clues, so it wasn't 'til the Richard Pearse footage that we became seriously suspicious. My husband is a forensic photographer so the digital imaging to get the date off the newspaper was a dead giveaway to us. The eleventy seven dozen eggs was another big pointer. From then on we treated the whole thing as a lark and just revelled in the imagination that is Peter Jackson's trade mark.

We were of course, greatly impressed with the enormity of the project and could only surmise that the actors in the "Salome" movie were also conned into thinking they were filming a real movie and didn't know the truth until the 'doco' came out. Either that or Peter Jackson has a loyal entourage that kept a secret which could never have survived in any Hollywood arena.

I look forward to even more of Peters work.....

Details

Country:

New Zealand

Language:

English Cantonese

Release Date:

3 October 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Colin McKenzie

Filming Locations:

New Zealand

Box Office

Budget:

$650,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,740, 5 October 1997

Gross USA:

$26,459

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$26,459

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Zealand Film Commission, New Zealand On Air, WingNut Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

53 min 70 min (DVD)

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1