Gaylene's Take: Gaylene Preston

Gaylene Preston is one of Aotearoa's most iconic filmmakers. In her extraordinary memoir, Gaylene's Take: Her Life in New Zealand Film, she takes us on a journey from a childhood in Greymouth of the 1950s, to working in a psychiatric facility in England in the 70s, to becoming a ground-breaking maker of New Zealand’s most classic films. In this special hour, Gaylene Preston will speak, with friend and collaborator Nic Marshall, about the challenges and triumphs of her exceptional career and what it was like to turn the lens on her own stories this time, and for the page rather than the screen.

'I had no idea Gaylene was so hilarious. I adored this brilliant memoir: part liar, part cowgirl, mouthy and determined Gaylene grows up in Greymouth and migrates into the wild 70s, ending up in the tough-as-gumboots world of New Zealand film. Her book is irresistible.' — Jane Campion