NOW SHOWING
Frances Hodgkins, Anything but a Still Life
Playing as part of Open Studios Waiheke. This vivid documentary traces the life and art of trailblazing New Zealand modernist Frances Hodgkins, following her journeys across Europe and home, and exploring how her restless vision, bold colour and uncompromising independence continue to inspire contemporary artists and designers in Aotearoa today.
Director
Blandine Massiet du Biest
CAST
Mary Kisler • Linda Tyler • Joanne Drayton • Kate Sylvester • Star Gossage
RATING
VA
RUNTIME
1h 30m
COUNTRY
Aotearoa/NZ
GENRE
Documentary, Biography, Art
LANGUAGE
English
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BOOK SEATS FOR
Frances Hodgkins, Anything but a Still Life
FRANCESH-0530-1700
Sat 30 May 5:00pm only
...
All tickets must be prepaid online or at the counter.
Sales are subject to our cancellation policy. No phone bookings
ncp - no complimentary passes
cap - captioned for hard of hearing
WATCH TRAILER
FILM NOTES
A graceful, art-filled journey with a pioneering painter who refused to sit still.
Frances Hodgkins, Anything but a Still Life is the debut feature from filmmaker Blandine Massiet du Biest, tracing the expatriate New Zealand artist from Aotearoa to Europe and back again through paintings, letters and archival images. The film walks in Hodgkins’ footsteps, visiting the coastal towns, studios and streets where she lived and worked, and situating her fiercely modern vision within the currents of twentieth‑century art history. Curators and historians help unpack the ambition and risk behind a woman leaving home to build a life in paint.
For audiences, this is an absorbing, visually rich experience that feels as much like time spent in a gallery as in a cinema. Warm, insightful commentary from voices such as Mary Kisler, Linda Tyler, Joanne Drayton, Kate Sylvester and Star Gossage brings Hodgkins’ influence into the present, showing how her adventurous spirit and refusal to conform continue to embolden New Zealand artists, designers and writers. It is an uplifting celebration of creativity, resilience and the freedom to reinvent oneself.