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“A classic New Zealand story, perfectly told.” - New Zealand Herald
On his way home from rugby practice, Ed Preston joined the New Zealand army. He promised his pregnant wife Tui he'd be home by Christmas - but four years would pass before his return, after escaping a prison camp in Italy.
A film memoir based on filmmaker Gaylene Preston's interviews with her father about his World War II experiences, Home by Christmas weaves imagined drama with archival footage to tell a New Zealand wartime story from both her parents' points of view.
“I grew up after the war and when I was a little girl it felt like there were always three times: there was ‘before the War' and ‘after the War' and there was another time that was almost like a secret place called ‘during the War'.” - filmmaker Gaylene Preston
---D/P/S Gaylene Preston WS NZ Film Commission TD 35mm/2010
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D/P/S Gaylene Preston WS NZ Film Commission TD 35mm/2010