Highlights from recent World Rowing Championships and the Beijing Olympics are included in an absorbing documentary by Melbourne Film-Maker Michael Nicholson, about how the Rowing Eight works, entitled "8+", to be shown at the Victoria Cinema in Hamilton [see the Cinema website: www.victoriacinema.co.nz/ ].

This feature length documentary was filmed over four years and includes many interviews including Sir Steve Redgrave of England who has won five consecutive Olympic gold medals. It is a fast moving, breezy, and at times humorous look at the machinations of the Rowing Eight, which is the premiere event for the World Rowing Championships. The documentary also explores smaller boats and sculls and explains everything anyone would need to know about the sport of rowing, but at the same time is made to interest the most ardent rowing enthusiast.

Michael Nicholson is a film-maker of over thirty years experience. He has had many of his films shown on Australian television and has had a remarkable twelve films included in the prestigious Melbourne International Film Festival over the years. So why did he make this documentary, only completed last year?

"Well I've been involved in rowing since I was ten years old when I began steering crews for the Melbourne University Boat Club. And I've been involved with rowing ever since; either steering eights and fours, doing a lot of sculling myself, or coaching MUBC Eights and school rowing. So I combined my two passions of film-making and rowing." Gary Potts, the Manager of the Arthouse, 'Victoria Cinema', in Hamilton [690 Victoria Street. Phone: 07 838 3036] readily agreed to screen this documentary on most afternoons around 3 pm in the lead up and during the World Rowing Championships. It's the best way to view this fascinating and informative film on a large screen with quality sound and music.

In many ways this documentary is also a travelogue", Michael explains. "I wanted to show the locations where these big events are held. So we see picture postcard scenes of Eton [the location for the 2012 Olympic regatta], Munich and Beijing, along with various Australian locations. With High Definition video equipment these days you can shoot a huge amount of footage for little cost and choose the most artistic and compelling shots. In my early days of film-making the actual film stock and processing was so expensive, so it's much better to have hours and hours of footage to choose from and makes for a better film, although editing can take longer, but thats part of the enjoyment of film-making. 'Rowing Australia' and the elite Australian rowers were very helpful with this project and encouraged me a lot."

So much so that Michael is well into a new documentary, this time on 'Sculling'. And he will be attending the rowing at Lake Karapiro to film the racing, atmosphere, and local environs as part of this new project.

For more details please contact Michael;  email nicho99@bigpond.net.au  or visit his website: www.mikenicholson.com