Standing in the Sunshine - Freedom

Exploring women's history in Aotearoa, Standing in the Sunshine was produced to commemorate the centennial of all New Zealand women winning the right to vote in 1983. In this episode of the series, the "freedom" women have gained over the previous one hundred years is discussed — from the ability to play sport, to shunning the restrictive and painful corset. Other topics of discussion include the portrayal of women in the media, the free love movement and two world wars. The series often explores the differences in how issues affect Pākehā and Māori women, and the unique experiences of wahine Māori.  

Today for women in sport I think there is more of an effort being made to acknowledge women, and acknowledge women's performance. But one of the reasons for that of course is that if you look at New Zealand at the moment, most of our top sportspeople are women, so therefore it's really been forced upon everybody. What I feel though is that it shouldn't actually be an effort — it should be natural. And until it becomes natural I don't really think we're really there.

– Former New Zealand shotput champion Glenda Hughes, early in this documentary

Key Cast & Crew

Carol Archie

Narrator

Hineani Melbourne

Post-Production Director, Associate Producer

Liddy Holloway

Narration Script

Jan Preston

Composer

Malcolm Hall

Producer

Kim Newton

Director