was awarded the Lia Award at the Stranger with my Face film festival in Tasmania in 2017. The award recognises an influential and innovative figure in the field of genre storytelling. At the festival they screened Gaylene's film Mr Wrong and Perfect Strangers, which were reviewed in depth by Lauren Carroll Harris for Real Time. She wrote, directed and produced Hope and Wire (2014) a drama mini series about the aftermath of the 2010/2011 Christchurch earthquakes. Preston's most recent documentary feature film My Year with Helen (2017) premiered at the Athena Film Festival in February 2018. In the 2019 New Year Honours, Preston was appointed a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to film. References External links http://www.perfectstrangersthemovie.com biography on NZ On Screen screenography on NZ On Screen Gaylene Preston Archive & Reference Project, Women's Gallery Inc., 2012 The Dame Gaylene Preston Legacy Collection Finding Aid v1.1 1947 births People from Greymouth Living people New Zealand film directors New Zealand film producers Dames Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit People associated with the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa New Zealand Women of Influence Award recipients Ilam School of Fine Arts alumni Alumni of the University of Hertfordshire People educated at William Colenso College New Zealand women film producers