Ata Whenua- Shadowlands

Last updated by Darren on 03 July 2009

Ata Whenua- Shadowlands is a nonverbal film featuring the landscapes of New Zealand. Shot in the south west corner of New Zealand, known as Fiordland. Ata Whenua contains images of the landscapes and animals of the region, through a range of seasons and extremes. The images are beautiful, crystal clear, and set to an impressive soundtrack.

Ata Whenua was created to bring to viewers a rare glimpse of the wilderness of the Fiordland National Park. Few people get to see this beautiful but remote national park. The film takes you on a journey, showing you sights you would never normally see.

The images from Ata Whenua are stunning. The moody dawn shots of misty fiords, shot from a helicopter as it glides along show a region of the world few have seen or will visit. Many scenes are shot above the cloud base, giving a lovely effect that can be seen in other films on this website. The use of natural light in Ata Whenua is out standing. The glow of the dawn sun reflecting on the show covered mountains is just amazing.

There are several time-lapse scenes, with the clouds whisping over and around the mountainsides. The film has clearly taken time to shoot. As well as the snow covered landscapes, the sun glistens off the summer still lakes and rivers. At ground level, amongst the forests, we see a world of green vegetation, untouched my human hand. The animals of Fiordland are shown close-up and from a distance. We also see rock climbers tackling the sheer sides of the regions mountains.

The Name, Ata Whenua, is a Maori term, used to describe the tortuous terrain of the Fiordland region.

Fiordland National Park

Fiordland, the south west region of New Zealand, is 1.2 million hectares of virgin rainforest. 14 fiords carve their way into over 200 kilometres of coastline. Sheer granite mountains rise from the sea level to over 2700 metres. In 1986 the Fiordland National Park was awarded World Heritage Status.

Fiordland Cinema

Ata Whenua is shown daily in the Fiordland Cinema, in Te Anau, New Zealand. The cinema was especially constructed to show the film. The cinema has a large curved screen and Dolby surround sound. All films are projected in 35mm.

The People

Ata Whenua was directed by Dave Comer, who has lived in the region for more than two decades. Dave worked as a location scout on the Lord of The Rings movies. The film, and the cinema, were made possible by helicopter pilot Kim Hollows. With over 25 years of experience of flying in the region, it had long been his dream to bring the region to the big screen.