Travelling down the highways that carve through the unpeopled wilderness of New Zealand's South Island, we see a dark road in an animated movie which has been made by painting directly onto film.
Artist

Lissa Mitchell

All my films were made in Wellington during the 1990s when I lived purely for 16mm film and noise music—day and night. For a film, if I had a good idea I just got on and made it—it was the best feeling—work for hours on it and then run it through a projector (hoping it wouldn't "chew it up") and see what it looked like. If it was good I'd keep going. I was in a band, Fever Hospital, we recorded a tingly soundtrack for my film, Bowl Me Over.  Recently I have been working as a photography curator, researching the contribution of women to photography, published as Through Shaded Glass: women and photography in Aotearoa New Zealand 1860 to 1960 (Te Papa Press, 2023). Other writing includes chapters in the books An Alternative History of Photography (Prestel, 2022), Brian Brake: Lens on the World (Te Papa Press, 2010), and The Aotearoa Digital Arts Reader (Clouds Publishing, 2008) and essays in journals.

—Artist statement

    CIRCUIT is the
    leading voice
    for artist moving image
    practice
    in Aotearoa New Zealand,
    distributing works,
    critical review and
    dialogues
    which reflect our unique, contemporary
    South Pacific context.