Seeing Red

Seeing Red depicts New Zealand’s own mid-century anti-Communist witch-hunt carried out as the national film industry began to emerge.

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 favour. A union member that belonged to the Communist Party, Holmes was targeted in an anti-Communist sweep that attempted to blame extremists for widespread industrial unrest.