Fiona Clark: Unafraid (2021)
Directed by Lula Cucchiara
With : Fiona Clark, Tertius, Tina Del Malmanche
Producers : Siobhan Price, Matt Noonan, Lula Cucchiara
Country : Aotearoa
Running Time : 82 Minutes
Rating : Exempt

In The Shade Film Festival
Screenings:
Saturday 22 January at Hollywood Avondale, 6:15pm Including 30 minute Q&A.
Friday 28 January at Academy Cinema, 6:30pm

Auckland Pride 2022: (Note, the Pride Festival has been cancelled but as far as we can tell this screening is going ahead)

Screening: Sunday 20 February, 2pm at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
(includes Q&A with curator Ron Brownson and artist Fiona Clark)

Free, booking essential. Book tickets here

Fiona Clark: Unafraid Reviewed by Kiran Dass for The Guardian

Fiona Clark is one of Aotearoa’s most notable photographers but, thanks to the repressive environment of 1970s’ New Zealand, her career was almost stubbed out before it began. 

The artist’s early images captured the heady local excitement of gay liberation that mainstream society was not ready to accept; her negatives were censored; images were pulled from an exhibition; and art dealers refused to work with her. Four decades later, Fiona Clark: Unafraid recounts how the photographer overcame censorship, homophobia, sexism and debilitating physical injuries to become one of our most respected social documentarians. 

The film invites audiences inside the decommissioned Taranaki dairy factory that Fiona calls her home and office, with its abandoned ex-freezing chamber converted into a darkroom and powered by its own natural-gas well and repaired by the photographer herself. Through a series of candid interviews, the documentary paints a picture of the artist as an eclectic, staunchly independent force of nature.

Although Fiona is best known for documenting Auckland’s nascent queer scene (of which she was an active participant), the film also affords a rich reflection on her diverse portfolio, including collaborating with tangata whenua to fight environmental degradation and documenting a burgeoning Kiwi bodybuilding community. 

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