NZIFF: Grace: A Prayer for Peace

A portrait of one of Aotearoa’s greatest living artists by one of our greatest documentary filmmakers. You should expect something special, and that’s what you get.

Dame Robin White may well be one of New Zealand’s most significant living artists, but Dame Gaylene Preston resists that kind of overbearing narrative in her new film. The nearest she comes might be a scene when the seventy-something artist considers one of her iconic 1970s paintings, the kind that sell well as framed prints in public gallery gift shops. “This is me as a young painter trying to figure out how to paint,” she muses.

Surrounding that moment are scenes shot in recent years in Aotearoa, Japan and Kiribati, where White lived for much of the 1990s. We see her as she is now, working at the height of her artistic powers, still energetically moving her practice forward, often with artistic collaborators from other cultures and artistic traditions. We gain an insight into her Baha’i faith-driven belief in peace and shared humanity. This is a masterclass in less-is-more story telling. Chris Brown

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