Jan and Luit Bieringa collection

Theo Schoon, always a controversial figure, is the subject of Luit and Jan Bieringa's revealing 2021 documentary examining Schoon's involvement in New Zealand art in the context of this country's important cultural history.

'The HeART of the Matter' (2016), directed by Luit Bieringa, explores the transformational shift to a bicultural and arts-centred education system in New Zealand after the Second World War.

Jan Bieringa’s film, 'Te Hono ki Aotearoa' (2012), follows the journey of a waka taua (ceremonial canoe) hewn from a 600-year-old kauri. The waka taua was ceremonially gifted, on permanent loan, to the Museum Volkenkunde in Leiden, the Netherlands. It is the first and only case in which another culture is entrusted with the custody of a waka.

The man in the hat is Wellington art dealer Peter McLeavey, who ran his influential gallery in Cuba Street for over forty years. In this lyrical documentary, Luit Bieringa tells the story of McLeavey through interviews and readings of his correspondence.

Luit Bieringa's documentary brings photographer Ans Westra into focus as she contemplates her career, supported by a cast of friends, family, admirers and, of course, the photographs themselves.