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	...	Himself - Film Maker
Marguerite Hurst	...	Herself
Peter Jackson	...	Himself
Leonard Maltin	...	Himself - Film Historian
Johnny Morris	...	Himself - Film Archivist (as Jonathon Morris)
Sam Neill	...	Himself - Actor & Director
John O'Shea	...	Himself
Lindsay Shelton	...	Himself
Harvey Weinstein	...	Himself - 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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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, 3 October 1997

Gross USA:

$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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film notes that Colin and Brooke McKenzie invent color film around 1910. In September, 2012, the National Media Museum in Bradford, England, announced that they had identified the earliest known piece of color film, which was dated to 1902 and created by Edward Raymond Turner. Prior to that, the earliest-known experiments in color film had been the Kinemacolor Two-Color Additive Process, also a British invention.

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Goofs

The film implies that Colin invented the close-up around 1912, but the earliest close-ups date from around 1903, nine years earlier.

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Crazy Credits

Special Thanks to Hannah McKenzie

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Connections

Features The Suburbanite (1904)

User Reviews

Finally.

Colin Mckenzie was a brilliant New Zealand filmmaker who FINALLY got his due from Peter Jackson's brilliant documentary, "Forgotten Silver". Mckenzie seems to have inspired Jackson quite amusingly, because you can totally see some of the elements used from his 'Salome', (Which I attended the world premiere of it's restoration) in his Lord Of The Rings Trilogy. In Forgotten Silver, Jackson intertwines footage from Griffiths' early movies and his masterpiece Salome, with interviews and a fascinating trek into New Zealand wilderness to try to find the sets used in 'Salome'. It's all quite interesting and absorbing. I admire Jackson for unearthing this silent movie master (which actually I knew about before this movie came out), and await when Salome comes out on DVD!

ps Yes, I did get the joke ;)