Barefoot Cinema

The New Zealand Film Archive records 106 entries under the name Alun Bollinger. He is a veritable icon, with credits in features spanning 29 years – from Sleeping Dogs ( Grip, 1978) to River Queen ( Director of Photography 2005). He is a recipient of the New Zealand Laureate Award - the highest achievement in New Zealand Art Awards.

At the age of 60, he and wife Helen have 10 grandchildren and one great grandchild. Home is Blackspoint a remote and tiny settlement on the outskirts of Reefton on South Island’s West Coast. It’s a family compound with 3 houses dotted in a park-like setting. “Whenever I go away I miss the place and work has been a balance of the two.” Bollinger is something of a renaissance man. He draws his identity from a world wider than the film industry. He is a family man, house designer, builder, bee keeper. His mode of transport is a retired ambulance.

AlBol is also active in the politics of the industry, as president of the New Zealand Film and Video Technicians Guild.

He has pioneered and today leads those who give New Zealand film crews an international reputation as skilled and innovative craftsmen.

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