Three New Zealanders: Sylvia Ashton-Warner

Visionary educationalist and novelist Sylvia Ashton-Warner is interviewed by leading educationalist of the day, Jack Shallcrass, in this documentary about her life and work. From her home in Tauranga the film explores her educational philosophies (“organic teaching” and her “drive to diffuse the impulse to kill”) and her “divided life” between woman and artist, as she plays piano and interacts with children. It is the only interview she ever made for television, and was the first of the Three New Zealanders documentaries made to mark International Women's Year.

I don't write 'deliberately'. Do we breathe 'deliberately'?

– Sylvia Ashton-Warner

Key Cast & Crew

Bruce Clark

Director

John Barnett

Producer

Jack Shallcrass

Interviewer

Keith Hawke

Camera