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New Zealand Collection

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New Zealand

The New Zealand Collection came to the Archive in four batches, from September 2010 through November 2011, and consists of approximately 75 cans of film from the New Zealand Film Archive. The films – originally sent to New Zealand in the 1910s and ’20s by American distributors – were repatriated to the five major American silent film archives through the cooperation of the National Film Preservation Foundation, on the condition that they would be preserved. The collection contains features, shorts, and trailers, and includes Westerns, comedies, serials, cartoons, and dramas. All of the elements in the collection are silent, with most being tinted and toned; 60% of them are the only known surviving element. Preservation of the collection is ongoing. Titles include “The Venom of the Poppy” (1911), “A Troublesome Wink” (1914), “Movie Struck” (1916), John Ford’s “Upstream” (1927), and “Hold ’Em Yale” (1928).