Director: Luit Bieringa
Director of Photography: Leon Narbey
Editor: Lala Rolls
Producer: Jan Bieringa
Letters read by Sam Neill
Music: Plan9
“A warm, affectionate and revealing portrait of a man and a city” –Wellington Scoop
Art dealer Peter McLeavy had spent some 40 years running his gallery in the centre of Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city. His personal story (filmed by award-winning cinematographer Leon Narby) is also the story of that part of the city where he lives and works. It is a film about a human being putting a stake in the ground rather than a documentary about New Zealand art. McLeavy talks about his life, including his peripatetic childhood around the North Island as the son if an Irish Catholic railway worker, his ealy love of art, his determinatiion from age 12 to visit Europe, discovering his New Zealand identity whilst living in London and returning home to contribute to the country’s culture as one of its outstanding art dealers.
“There’s an airy feeling of existential inquiry floating through Luit Bieringa’s lovely portrait …the lyrical picture of McLeavey’s Wellington is interspersed with readings (by Sam Neill) from his correspondence with artists, and frank converstaions with the man himself.” –Bill Gosden, Director, New Zealand International Film Festival.
