Our sympathy goes out to the family and friends
of Tony Hiles, who passed away on 6 February. Tony was the first
man to support WIFT by becoming a member back in the day.
"Tony was always supportive of other
filmmakers male and female, and he gave a first opportunity to many
young people wanting a career in the industry," remembers
Robin Laing.
Tony's filmmaking career began in the mid-1960s
when he documented US President Lyndon B Johnson's visit to New
Zealand on film. He followed this with work in commercials and on
television productions including Country Calendar
and Good Day.
He set up independent production company, City
Associates in the 1980s to focus on making social and arts
documentaries, something he spent much of the rest of his career
focusing on. In 1981 he shot a documentary about photographer Robin
Morrison, From the Road, using video cameras which
had not yet been tried in New Zealand.
He was named Best Director at the 1996 Film and
TV Awards for Jack Brown Genius.
His documentary about Wellington architect Bill
Toomath, Antonello and the Architect, screened at the
New Zealand International Film Festival as did the decade-long
series of films he made about artist Michael Smither. The last of
these, Michael Smither 10, screened at the 2019
NZIFF.
(info and image source: New Zealand Film
Commission)