The Jam Film Production crew films on the river. Photo / Supplied
The Jam Film Production crew films on the river. Photo / Supplied
There's something about an esteemed American writer coming to New Zealand to write about our estranged culture that got TV producer Jane Andrews thinking.
To the point she decided to retrace Mark Twain's 1895 tour of New Zealand in a six-part documentary.
And this week her crew from Jam Film Production have been shooting in Whanganui.
Ms Andrews said they were digging into what Mark Twain saw and what else was going on in Whanganui at that time.
"We have spent a couple of days up the river exploring the important role the Whanganui river had for transport in that time- it was the State Highway 1 then."
She described Whanganui as a "thriving metropolis" at that time.
"Looking at the photos you see the boats on the river are just jammed packed, I mean there's not even standing room. And the pubs are packed inside and out, Whanganui was massive."
But Ms Andrews said like a lot of places in New Zealand you walk down the streets now and that's all changed.
"It makes you wonder how we bring life back to these places where technology and industrialisation has passed by or helped people pass by ... what would bring people back?"
Ms Andrews said Twain spent a good chuck of time in Whanganui and was welcomed by Maori in the area.
"He was captivated by the Maori and taken up the river to visit the marae. For an elderly American man he was readily accepted."
Samuel L. Clements, better known as Mark Twain. Photo / Getty Images
Samuel L. Clemens, known more commonly by his pen name Mark Twain, wrote American classics
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
and
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
.
He was also a journalist, lecturer, entrepreneur, inventor and a riverboat pilot.
Ms Andrews said Twain fell broke so decided he would do a world tour to raise funds to pay back his creditors and spent 39 days travelling New Zealand.
She said she was standing in the Hard-to-Find book store one day talking philosophically to a chap about things in that time that had been forgotten and he told her about Mark Taiwan's book that featured New Zealand.
Producer Jane Andrews on the river. Photo / Supplied
"Twain's book got me thinking that sometimes it takes the acknowledgement of an outsider to make us see things a certain way.
"The fact the Mark Twain travelled all the way to New Zealand and was interested in us and spent time with our culture struck me as something New Zealanders would be interested in."
The six-part documentary is due to air on TV1 in April - so stay tuned Whanganui.
