Dunedin Public Libraries News & Reviews Blog

More than a single structure, the Great Wall of China was pieced together over more than 1500 years.

The story of the wall is of politics and diplomacy; of great and brutal leaders; of invaders and protectors. But the Wall is also the story of the masses.

Each brick, each square of compacted earth, each fragment of dried mortar carries with it the life and death of the worker who place it there.

Man Made Marvels - Great Wall is a rich and compelling history of one of the humanity’s truly remarkable engineering achievements.

• Thursday 5 June 10.30am & 5.30pm
• First Floor
• Dunedin City Library

Bellowing alligators and howling lemurs may seem unlikely musicians, but they play important parts in a symphony that uses only animal calls. British composer Nick Glennie-Smith collects performances from a variety of fascinating instrumentalists and vocalists, including rattlesnakes, baby monkeys and even a fish that hums.

• Thursday 1 May 10.30am & 5.30pm
• First Floor
• Dunedin City Library
• FREE EVENT

Vampires are real. Filmmaker Mark Ferns travels the world in search of the most flesh-crawling blood feeders.

Making the ultimate sacrifice in the name of science and his film Mark submits to their wicked ways as some of the little suckers demonstrate their toothsome techniques on him.

At times gruesome, at times gory, Bloody Suckers is always enthralling.

• Thursday 3 April 10.30am & 5.30pm
• First Floor
• Dunedin City Library
• Free Event
  

Congo in the Bronx
A remarkable glimpse behind-the-scenes at the Bronx Zoo as staff count down to opening day at their newest exhibit, the Congo Gorilla Forest.

In an exclusive behind-the-scenes view, this film reveals the ingenious solutions to the challenges faced by the design team, as well as some of the secrets behind the exhibit’s success.

Thursday 9 August - 10.30am & 5.30pm
First Floor - City Library

Return of the Sea Lion
The recolonistation of the Otago Mainland by New Zealand Sea Lions.
By Kyle Beggs & Hannah Smith.

The New Zealand or Hooker’s sea lion, once common on both North and South Islands of New Zealand, was driven from mainland New Zealand beaches first by Maori and then by European sealers. Then in 1993 something wonderful happened. A lone female chose to return and give birth on an Otago beach. This 30-minute documentary outlines the story of the return of this native treasure to our shores.

Saturday 11 August - 2.00pm
4th Floor - City Library

Whetu Rere (The Sea Lion & The Comet)
A heartrending story about a young sea lion.
By Kat Baulu & Alastair Jamieson.

After an absence of nearly 200 years New Zealand (Hooker’s) sea lions have started to breed again on mainland South Island shores. The pioneer and matriarch of this new mainland breeding population is a 20-year-old female known to scientists and locals simply as ‘Mum’. This 30-minute film captures the dramatic story of Mum’s latest pup,and the challenges presented to scientists and conservationists.

Saturday 11 August - 2.30pm
4th Floor - City Library

Natural History New Zealand Free Film Screening: The Most Extreme: Oddities

If you sometimes feel a little strange, just relax because you’re completely normal compared to the weirdest things in the natural world. We’re counting down the top ten most extreme oddities of the animal kingdom, and comparing them to the unusual things that make some people stand out from the crowd.

From a wrinkled frog that does push ups to breathe better, to a pot bellied, pink-nosed monkey that has a huge appendage to attract the girls, this show hunts out the strangest looking creatures in the world.

But oddities are not confined to the natural world. There are people that compete to charm worms right out of the ground, to pull the most grotesque face on the planet and take part in the world’s biggest food fight. One man was born with 12 fingers, while another took 40 years to learn the fine art of emu whispering.

Discover that the truth can be stranger than fiction when oddities are taken to The Most … Extreme.

Thursday 12 July
10.30am & 5.30pm
4th Floor
City Library
Free

The cat is a contradiction. Curled up in a chair in front of the fire it’s like a cuddly toy, but in reality we’ve let a lion into our living room. While dogs will come when they’re called; cats take a message and get back to you. As soon as a cat leaves the house it shrugs off its cute and cuddly image and reverts to its wild instincts. The domestic cat is only tame when it wants to be. The rest of the time it’s a killer.
Today the cat has overtaken the dog as preferred animal to share our lives. But it’s still a killer at heart, and are once again getting in trouble in places like Australia. The cat may be our new best friend, but deep down can we ever truly tame the tiger? What does the future hold for the cat? Can we really expect to lock up an animal that has resisted our efforts to tame it for 6000 years?

Tropic Gothic is the story of a wet season, a house, and a gentle old woman. Together they weave a magical tale of nature’s endless cycle.

Tropic Gothic tells the evocative natural history of an old settler’s cottage in Far North Queensland - of how a tropical forest’s bizarre and beautiful tenants come to inhabit a human realm.The film is a layering of cycles of life and decay upon the rhythm of a wet season during the twilight years of a living house.This is what happens when nature ‘grasps’ back!

Thursday 24 May
10.30am & 5.30pm
First Floor, LearnIT Left
City Library FREE!