Paper Boat - Moments in the Life of a Book

Half-hour documentary Paper Boat uses off-screen interviews to follow the process of creating a book, from idea to book store. The chapters are built on interviews with an author; editor; designer; a printer and a binder; and finally a bookseller and a librarian — the latter talks about libraries as places of welcome and acceptance. The film's title was inspired by Gregory Kan's poetry collection This Paper Boat.  Writer and ex librarian Alex Mitcalfe Wilson's debut film was one of three "advocating for art on the margins", which debuted on website The Lumière Reader.

I try and think about it like I'm representing three people — you have to work for the reader ... and the author and the publisher. And in the end you hope that by working on behalf of all those interests you make the best possible product.

– Auckland University Press editor Anna Hodge

Key Cast & Crew

Alex Mitcalfe Wilson

Director

Melinda Jackson

Producer

Sean Wallace

Cinematographer

Selina Ershadi

Art Director

Luke Benge

Composer

Francesca Mountford

Composer