Event 84

Fiona Kidman: The Writer Within

I’m excited to be chairing an Auckland Writers Festival session between Dame Fiona Kidman and filmmaker Joshua Prendeville, at the Herald Theatre, 4pm, Saturday 17th May 2025.  [SOLD OUT]

The House Within – Joshua Prendeville’s documentary of one of our literary treasures, Fiona Kidman – sold out of all its screenings when it premiered.

Described by The Spinoff as “a treatment we’ve long needed for one of our great writers and waymakers”, it holds a delicate lens to Kidman’s illustrious life and work, a career which spans more than 30 books and a raft of the highest accolades here and abroad.

But how do you go about translating the very interior life of a writer to film? And how did an eminent writer in her ninth decade bond with a 20-something filmmaker and entrust him to tell her life story in all its highs and lows? In this special session, Kidman and Prendeville sit down with Caroline Barron (Te Uri o Hau, Pākeha) to reflect on their creative relationship.

The House Within will screen at Academy Cinemas on Tuesday 13 May, 6.30pm. Bookings via academycinemas.co.nz.

Supported by Platinum Patrons Betsy and Michael Benjamin.