Christchurch building demolition documentary on the way

Christchurch demolition following the earthquake
Christchurch demolition following the earthquake

The demolition of central Christchurch will feature on the small screen next year after two local filmmakers secured documentary funding.

The feature will condense 100 hours of demolition vision that have been filmed over six years.

It's an image many New Zealanders have seen - the Christchurch Police Station crumbling under the might of 55kg of explosives. Going down with it were four cameras, all sacrificial lambs, hardwired into the building.

"The cables ran all the way down from the eighth floor, down the building, across the building, and into a recording device, and they would keep rolling until the cable was severed," says director Joe Morgan.

The demolition is one of many Mr Morgan and his team have documented since the September 2010 quake.

The feature documentary is set to be an hour long, funded by NZ on Air and produced by former TV3 journalist Jeff Hampton.

"It's a really important project for Christchurch because more than 600 buildings came down in the central city. People saw it happening, and some were quite important buildings," says Mr Hampton.

The feature will show the extent crews went to recycle and salvage materials and chronicle the day-to-day troubles of dangerous worksites.

"It's not so much doom and gloom with the earthquake stuff; it's more the personalities behind pulling these buildings down, and the fact they weren't just smashing them down," says Mr Morgan.

The sense of care behind the destruction was a way for the demo-workers to pay their last respects to the old Christchurch.

The documentary is due to screen next year, centring on four buildings, including the implosion of Radio Network House.

Newshub.