CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · Arts & Letters

Mister Organ

2022 documentary film by David Farrier

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionFeb 21, 2026
Entity authorityQ115163597
Source-derived summary

Mister Organ is a 2022 New Zealand documentary film by David Farrier, focusing on the life of Mister Organ, an enigmatic figure associated with an antiques store and car clamping business in Ponsonby, Auckland, and Farrier's attempts to learn more about his life.

Premise

The documentary investigates Mister Organ, beginning with an investigation into Bashford Antiques, an antique store in Ponsonby, Auckland which was known for its over-enthusiastic car clamping policy.

Production

The film is a result of a three-year investigation. Farrier first reported on the story of Bashford Antiques in September 2016, in an article for The Spinoff. As a result of Farrier's original story, the New Zealand Government introduced legislation outlawing excessive clamping fees.

The film was announced by Farrier in his blog in June 2020, originally with the title Clamped. Farrier described the documentary's production as an ordeal, stating that, "It sucked … It fucked me. If I had my time again with this, I guarantee you I would not do it."

Release

The film debuted on 12 October 2022 at Fantastic Fest, an annual film festival held in Austin, Texas. It was released to New Zealand cinemas on 10 November.

Reception

The film holds a 95% score with an average rating of 7.6/10 on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 43 critic reviews.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Mister Organ” as 2022 documentary film by David Farrier. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Mister, Organ and documentary.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2022, 2016, 2020—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2022. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Mister, Organ and documentary providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Mister Organ”, the useful work is to connect “2022 documentary film by David Farrier” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q115163597. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2022, 2016 and 2020.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Mister Organ”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Mister Organ primary sources, Mister Organ archive and Mister research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Mister Organ”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Mister Organ” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.