Seeing Red | NZ Political Documentary

Cecil Holmes was a young talented New Zealander, born in Palmerston North who became caught up in our country’s own “red scare”. Having seen service - he had had a “good war” - Holmes returned to Wellington, his eyes opened about the world. A film enthusiast, he worked at the newly formed National Film Unit, established to provide news on the war efforts, abroad and at home, and to document the post-war recovery. But Holmes, a man of the Left, baulked at the tight controls exercised by the Labour Government and made works with a strong editorial flavour.
A union member who belonged to the Communist Party, Holmes was targeted in an anti-Communist sweep which attempted to blame extremists for widespread industrial unrest. Using reenactments, interview and archive, Seeing Red depicts New Zealand’s own mid-century anti-Communist witch-hunt carried out as our national film industry began to emerge.
Seeing Red was awarded the New Zealand Documentary Fellowship, and screened at the Sydney International Film Festival, the SPADA Conference and the Commonwealth & the Cold War Conference 1995.

[@amandaholmestzafrir]

a wonderful film about my dear courageous father. Thank you.