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The River Wanganui
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Wikipedia article
'The River Wanganui' is a 1913 documentary shot in New Zealand in 1912 on the 191213 South Pacific film-making voyage of French director Gaston Mlis. Like many of his films shot on that trip, it is now lost.
The film was released in the US in 1913, and was described then as a "trip up New Zealands most picturesque river known as the Rhine of that country." The river is now called the Whanganui River.
In September 1912 press reports said that:'The Press', 21 September 1912 p10'Poverty Bay Herald' 23 September 1912 p4
:There will be a big Maori gathering shortly at Paranui, a place some 15 miles above Pipiriki, on the Wanganui River, to open a new native meeting-house. Several hundreds of Maoris from all parts of the district are expected to attend. Among the visitors will be the Melies Picture Company, who anticipate finding excellent materials for the kinematograph in the typical Maori scenes.
A later press report in October 1912 said that:'Grey River Argus', 21 October 1912 p5
:Mr Edmund Mitchell, a well-known novelist and journalist arrived at Wellington from San Francisco by the Aorangi last week with Mr Gaston Melies a moving-picture manufacturer with a full dramatic company on a tour of the Pacific for film-making purposes .... (the Aorangi arrived on 12 September via Rarotonga and Papeete)'Evening Post', 12 September 1912 p8
The Mlis Company party of 14 (excluding Edmund Mitchell the novelist, who was to write screenplays) left San Francisco on 24 June 1912,'Poverty Bay Herald', 28 August 1912 p8
and by 4 November 1912 had left New Zealand for Australia. They were in Wellington for a week, and during two weeks in Rotorua they "took many pictures of Maori life, and had several of the most picturesque legends acted before the camera."'The Dominion', 4 November 1912 p4
Mlis made three feature films in New Zealand during his stay.
'Gaston Mlis' by Virginia Callanan in 'New Zealand Film: An Illustrated History' ed. Diana Pivac p45 (2011, Te Papa Press, Wellington)
They are Hinemoa, How Chief Te Ponga Won His Bride and Loved by a Maori Chieftess. Mlis sent his film to the United States for post-production treatment, so it is doubtful if any were shown in New Zealand.
According to Sam Edwards, Mlis made five scenic films and three feature films or dramas in New Zealand.'New Zealand Film 1912-1996' by Helen Martin & Sam Edwards p9 (1997, Oxford University Press, Auckland)
Other 1913 Mlis films about New Zealand from the Internet Movie Database (links below) are:
*'A Trip to the Waitomo Caves of New Zealand' (documentary)
*'A Trip through the North Island of New Zealand, from Auckland to Wellington' (documentary)
*'In the Land of Fire' (drama according to IMDb)
*'The Maoris of New Zealand' (documentary)
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