Discoveries from New Zealand World Cinema

Expelled from school for repeating one of his father's very down-to-earth philosophies in an English lesson, Thunderbox Jnr finds himself in the workforce and getting into trouble with the law.

A gang member wakes up one morning and decides he needs a day off. Inspired by a newspaper advertisement he impulsively decides to take a short ferry trip between islands. With his tattooed face, black leather clothing, and prominent gang patch, the gangster is a fish out of water when he arrives in the idyllic small port town of Picton. The experience he has there will change his outlook on life forever.

When a recent widow moves to New Zealand from India, she's forced to confront her grief by completing an ordinary ritual in an extraordinary circumstance: quarantine.

Genuine New Zealand treasures Isey and James invite us into their lives in the week leading up to Isey's 100th birthday! A Northland celebration of life and aroha like no other!

On the premise that his albums will sell better if he is dead, an aging pop-singer fakes his own death. True enough, the money rolls in, but no one can get their hands on it because of the seven year waiting period before a missing person can be declared legally dead. However, a crazed animal rights terrorist, who knows he isn't dead, is trying to kill him, because of the singer's advertisements for fried chicken restaurants. Eventually, it turns out that the singer's manager is paying the terrorist to kill him.

A fisherman is swept into the sea by a freak wave. He desperately fights for his life only to find his apparent survival is not what it seems.

A portrait of a family, centred on 95-year old New Zealand actress, Dame Kate Harcourt and her life living with her daughter, acting coach Miranda Harcourt.

Wingsuit BASE jumping is often presented as a thrill seeking adrenaline rush. Spellbound takes us deeper into the more contemplative aspects of jumping, as David Walden and friends venture into the mountains around his home in New Zealand. Beautiful scenery and hypnotic cinematography eject us from our daily lives into a world of air, earth and flight.

Fed up with the materialism of Christmas, Santa runs away to New Zealand for a summer holiday. When two Kiwi kids figure out who he is, they have to find a way to get him back to the North Pole in time for Christmas.

Sayo and Keiji have eloped to New Zealand to marry, away from the interference of Keiji's disapproving mother in Japan. On their honeymoon, they have the freedom to express their love away from her repressive influence. However, on what should be the happiest of days, Keiji is drowned and Sayo must, by custom, return to live with her cruel and selfish mother-in-law.

A documentary following the attempt by three young people to be the first windsurfers to cross Cook Strait.

The best of plans can be thwarted and, when the pressure comes on, the cracks begin to show. As the incidents in their worlds play out, three families bound by love and broken by betrayal, find their lives unknowingly touch one another, and then a final single event brings them together. This is not a love story but a story about love; three loves, three lies and one more chance.

Dick Morrison joins Quitters, Inc. to quit smoking, but their methods are brutal.

In 1966 a group of determined young men defied the New Zealand government and launched a pirate radio station aboard a ship in the Hauraki Gulf.

Grace is a homeless teenager. She befriends an unemployed carpenter and he invites her to share his flat. She moves in and to her surprise a delicate relationship develops. He helps her repair her shattered self-esteem and she begins to feel loved and secure. But then she discovers his secret - he tells her he is Jesus Christ.

Love, loss, and black holes. Minimum Mass is the story of couple who experience a series of miscarriages and come to believe their children are being born in another dimension. Set in contemporary Rotorua, New Zealand and the speculative world of black holes, it is a 20 minute interactive narrative virtual reality. Minimum Mass takes place in a real-time, photorealistic computer generated story world and has been developed as an in-headset experience.

Three orphaned boys - O'Malley, Rossi and Moir - become blood brothers. When they grow up, they plot revenge on the crooks who got away with shooting O'Malley's father. The crooks are doing very nicely importing heroin and laundering money. The boys begin by killing one of the crooks, stealing his indentification and cleaning out the guy's Swiss bank account. But their revenge does not stop here... And the American end of the operation is getting very curious.

After her gender identity was denied in her homeland, Lee Li, a transgender asylum seeker, was forced to leave her country, family, and language to embark on a journey toward belonging, freedom, and self-empowerment.

Two cars, one day: directed by Taika Waititi, this extended public service announcement uses humour to address the dangers of motoring under the influence of marijuana. A trio of tamariki imitate their Dads’ stoned antics, driving home what’s at stake when getting behind the wheel while ‘blazed’.

Five years after being acquitted for the murder of his family, Sean (White) is finally ready to move on with life. But the bitter ex-cop (Malcolm) who led the investigation remains adamant that he's guilty - and will stop at nothing to bring him down.

Five teens get stuck in the basement in an attempt to see the Beatles in a local hotel.

Two brothers take their father into the city for the weekend for a rugby game and a night on the town. However, the old man dies in their hotel and the boys need to smuggle his body back to their farm and make it appear that he died there to satisfy a clause in his will or else they won't inherit the property.

Thick, deadly smog blankets the globe, reducing visibility to less than a few metres. In a secluded farmhouse, a woman and her overbearing husband attempt to find resources and survive using a series of walking trails crafted from ropes and stakes. One night, the woman is alerted to the presence of someone or something else deep in the smog. Desperate to escape the farmhouse, the woman attempts to meet the unknown and risk everything to leave her loveless and abusive relationship behind.

Two women visit a gym together where they meet a personal trainer who harasses them with a seemingly never-ending sales pitch.

It is New Zealand 1959. Teen swimmer Alex Archer has to battle set backs, intense rivalry and personal tragedy in her bid to win selection for the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.

Drama set in the sleepy town of Tokerangi, New Zealand in which three laid-back orchard workers accidentally grow a strong strain of marijuana.

Making of documentary on the set of New Zealand's first epic Utu (1983), working with little money and dealing respectfully with matters of cultural protocol. Merata Mita discusses complex issues of inter-cultural conflict.

Two players, one heinous crime to be revealed. Wellington Winner of 48 Hours Furious Filmmaking 2004.

Based on a true story, STOLEN is an emotional thriller about every parent's greatest fear. Kahu Durie - the adopted baby daughter of Maori High Court Judge, Justice Eddie Durie and prominent lawyer, Donna Hall - is snatched at gunpoint as Donna pushes the pram in the street. Nine tense days follow and the nation is gripped by brave television appeals for the baby's safe return. Following Donna Hall's emotional public plea, a letter arrives, demanding the highest ransom in New Zealand's history. The police work tirelessly and the net closes on a secluded house...Terence Traynor became intent on committing a perfect crime, motivated by greed and inspired by American TV.

A father blames the death of his wife on his newborn son by inducing the boy to believe he has a physical handicap.... crab hands.

An animated documentary that speaks to immigrants' personal experiences living in Aotearoa, exploring themes of racism, discrimination, loss, loneliness, and maintaining cultural ties while living in another country.

Peter Proctor is New Zealand's father of biodynamic agriculture. Peter has been gardening and making compost for over 65 years. "Biodymanics makes organics work." Compost is the fundamental element in all gardening & farming. This master class takes you through the biodynamic compost making process from gathering and assembling your materials to creating the perfect compost heap. Rudolf Steiner believed biodynamic compoast was the foundation of humanity and the vital link between the cosmos and the earth. In Perfect Compost, Peter Proctor walks you through every step to building perfect compost.

When a group of teenagers reunite to memorialise their friend’s passing, latecomer Jed is forced to confront his unresolved grief before his erratic behaviour ruptures the sacred evening and severs the remaining relationships he has left.

Alex is a failed filmmaker approaching thirty who has moved back in with his parents and re-adopted his teenage lifestyle. While attending a wedding, he reconnects with Jenny, an old high school friend who can both appreciate and relate to Alex’s reluctance to grow up. But Alex is also trying to court Stephanie, someone he has had on and off again dalliances with for over a decade.

The story of famous New Zealand cricketer, Bob Blair and his fiance Nerissa Love, whose young life was shattered by the 1953 Tangiwai Disaster.

A primer on proper phone manners produced for the New Zealand Post Office.

In a backwoods cabin, a boy called Little Man lives with his dad (a trapper), his older sister Missy, and his younger sister Kid, who is feral, spends most of her time under the table, and can imitate the sound of any animal. Their mother is dead. One day, while dad's in town selling skins, Missy teases Kid and gets bitten. There's Hell to pay when dad gets home, and Kid runs off into the night to spend it with her animal friends. Little Man, who narrates much of the story as well as his reflections in a whisper, must sort out loss and emptiness.

Shot on 16mm celluloid across parts of New Zealand and Samoa, interdisciplinary artist Sam Hamilton’s ten-part experimental magnum opus makes thought-provoking connections between life on Earth and the cosmos, and, ultimately, art and science. Structured around the ten most significant celestial bodies of the Milky Way, Apple Pie’s inquiry begins with the furthest point in our solar system, Pluto, as a lens back towards our home planet and the ‘mechanisms by which certain aspects of scientific knowledge are digested, appropriated and subsequently manifest within the general human complex’. Christopher Francis Schiel’s dry, functional narration brings a network of ideas about our existence into focus, while Hamilton’s visual tableaux, as an extension of his multifaceted practice, veer imaginatively between psychedelic imagery and performance art.

A giant working man doing the natural wonders of New Zealand is doing his final day at work, but the Maori tribe are not impressed after finding him filling up the water in a lake.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. A short film set in the prison world of the Matrix, our heroes Dante and Medusa undertake a mission called Run Program, using classic bait and switch tactics. Of course nothing ever goes right when an Agent gets involved...

"The Silent Alps" explores a forgotten massacre that is widely unknown in the modern era, the history of Kea culling in New Zealand

An elderly woman wilting away in a retirement home longs to commune with the vibrant natural world outside. This magical short offers a positive spin on our impending mortality.

In 1942 Wellington, Daisy Edwards, 16 and pregnant, relies totally on her just-wed husband, Ed, who is little older than she. Ed is suddenly drafted into the army and is to be sent overseas to battle while Daisy is sent to her father in Auckland. When Ed's leave is cancelled at the last minute he takes the dangerous decision to go absent without leave to be with Daisy on her journey home. As a deserter, Ed is hunted, captured and imprisoned. Life inside is bad enought without the worry of what is going on outside. The film is based upon a true story.

Through first-hand accounts and dramatic re-enactments, the survivors of historic systemic abuse at Auckland’s Dilworth School bravely tell their stories.

A young man returns home for the weekend to discover the difficulty of juggling friends, parents, magic mushrooms and several thousand chickens.

This often confronting documentary observes a Māori restorative justice model through the eyes of straight-talking Mike Hinton, manager of Restorative Justice at Manukau Urban Māori Authority. The bringing together of victims (including wider whānau) and offenders may offer an alternate way forward for "a criminal justice system failing too many and costing too much”. Restoring Hope kicked off Māori Television’s 2013 season of Sunday night documentaries. In a Herald On Sunday preview, Sarah Lang argued it was “enough to restore hope in local documentary-making.” I’m in an arena where people have high emotions, they get stressed and pressured. I’m reasonably confident that I can avoid situations where I’ll be unsafe. I don’t have any death wish — I’ve got a game of golf tomorrow. – Mike Hinton, on the dangers of the job

Peter Watkins' global look at the impact of military use of nuclear technology and people's perception of it, as well as a meditation on the inherent bias of the media, and documentaries themselves.

‘Blue Smoke’ follows a rest-home caretaker, Joe, who is mistaken by an elderly resident, Beryl, for her for her lounge-singing ex-husband. Joe plays his doppelgänger in the hopes of swindling her, until he realises she’s broke and dying. When she’s finally taken into palliative care, he finishes off the story of his doppelgänger’s departure to comfort Beryl, and sings her ‘their’ song: NZ classic, Blue Smoke.

Eight connecting moments of seemingly different lives thread together Vai’s journey of empowerment through culture over her lifetime. Beautifully shot over seven Pacific countries, and played by a different indigenous actress in each place, Vai links together a story of family, culture, and at times, isolation. A delicate exploration into the meaning of growth, adaptation, and most notably, a connection to water and home.

A jaded, young slacker remorselessly steps on a snail in the street. Unbeknownst to him, karma has a transformative punishment in store.

Set against New Zealand’s Golden Shears – the Olympics of competitive sheep shearing – Brian Castlehead, a washed-up hairstylist to the stars, enters the competition world determined to prove to his father that he’s a real man.

A gas station attendant trying to pay off his debt gets wrapped up in criminal activities.

In the dusty corner of the sprawling department store basement, where forgotten items languished in shadowy oblivion, she lay untouched, yearning for the warmth of daylight. Her once vibrant hues had faded to a sad imitation of their former glory, her fabric worn and weary from years of solitude. The world outside had changed, but she remained steadfast, a silent witness to the passage of time. Her name, if she ever had one, was lost to the cobwebs that had grown around her.

Solidarity follows pioneering New Zealand rappers Upper Hutt Posse after they're invited to the United States by the Nation of Islam. They perform signature song 'E Tū' — about Māori resistance against oppression — and take their message of justice to Detroit community station WDTR. In New York, UHP are interviewed by veteran DJ Imhotep Gary Bryd. Later they meet Abiodun Oyewole, from rap pioneers The Last Poets. This is a street level view of urban artists spreading a message of Indigenous and Black unity, and social justice. Solidarity was directed by Rongotai Lomas and UHP lead vocalist Dean Hapeta.

A disillusioned sheep dog triallist must come out of retirement and team up with his granddaughter to confront and defeat his nemesis - a mischievous sheep called Dolores - and overcome his neighbour, in order to save his family farm.

On 28 November 1979, an Air New Zealand jet with 257 passengers went missing during a sightseeing tour over Antarctica. Within hours 11 ordinary police officers were called to duty to face the formidable Mount Erebus. As the police recovered the victims, an investigation team tried to uncover the mystery of how a jet could fly into a mountain in broad daylight. Did the airline have a secret it wanted to bury? This film tells the story of four New Zealand police officers who went to Antarctica as part of the police operation to recover the victims of the crash. Set in the beautiful yet hostile environment of Antarctica, this is the emotional and compelling true story of an extraordinary police operation.

Every World Cup, Every winner.The next in the Super8 series, only bigger and better. Illusionary Lines has been with the World Cup circus for the entire journey capturing every winner of a World Cup ripping in an isolated and unique part of the globe. Travel to Africa, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Finland (Arctic circle), Germany, New Zealand, Scotland, Spain and Switzerland in a never ending journey to find the Illusionary Line.

Hyped-up on "Lift Plus" energy drinks, four mates race through Auckland City hoping to catch a glimpse of some local business babes during their lunch break.

BEYOND CONVERSION is a deep-dive into conversion therapy in Aotearoa through the eyes of Kiwi conversion therapy survivors.