Island of Java, 1942, during World War II. British Major Jack Celliers arrives at a Japanese prison camp, run by the strict Captain Yonoi. Colonel John Lawrence, who has a profound knowledge of Japanese culture, and Sergeant Hara, brutal and simpleton, will witness the struggle of wills between two...
Recluse Smith is drawn into a revolutionary struggle between guerrillas and right-wingers in New Zealand. Implicated in a murder and framed as a revolutionary conspirator, Smith tries to maintain an attitude of non-violence while caught between warring factions.
With the accidental discovery of a lethal bio-agent at her research facility, Dr. Christine Ruben decides to double cross her own government by stealing the deadly formula to keep it out of the clutches of the military, whom she doesn't trust. To make her rendezvous with some confederates who...
Al Shaw's life revolves around motor racing and his back country junkyard, the "Smash Palace". His French wife, Jacqui, doesn't appreciate the lack of attention due to Al's obsession with cars. When Al finds her in the arms of another man, he takes his daughter, Georgie and heads for the bush,...
In the days following the D-Day invasion in Normandy, France, a British platoon leader named Saul (Gabriel Byrne) and his corporal (Paul Wyett) reach an isolated farmhouse and encounter a beautiful French girl named Belle (Marianne Basler). Love blooms between Saul and Belle, but the grim realities...
A young solo mother loves her son and his needs are formost, but she still has room in her heart for her very broken brother, even as her fundamentalist mother rejects her. But when the brother is responsible for a woman's broken neck, during his burglary of her house, families are changed as...
Set in post-war (1949) rural New Zealand, this film traces the efforts of two con men to run a betting scam in a small town (Tainuea) already rife with illegal gambling corruption, and eccentricity.
A murderous black comedy set in the 1960s. Sam (McCauley) and his small band of hard-drinking and eccentric friends are having a night of it when a drunk truck driver, Jack (Bach), attacks Sam's Maori wife Sue (O'Brien). In the struggle, Sam and friends end up killing Jack. None of them regrets...
The year is 2060, and Dorothy Gale and her mutant dog Talk - Talk have just been swept away from their home planet of New Kansas to a strange galaxy: Oz! and make friends with an unlikely band of heroes. Together, they are recruited to obtain three magic crystals to help the good Dr. Oz prevent the...
The Monchhichis are monkey-like creatures living in the forest land of Monchia. The tribe leader is a magical wizard called Wizzar, who can make up spells and potions to defeat their enemy, Horrg, and the evil Grumplins of Grumplor.
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...
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.
This Kaleidoscope documentary timed in with the release of Nicholas Reid’s book A Decade of New Zealand Cinema. The book cherrypicked Reid's favourites from the renaissance in local movies that began with Sleeping Dogs in 1977. Reid and a who’s who of local filmmakers discuss many of the 50+...
Constance is a bored, movie-loving schoolteacher in post-WW2 New Zealand who begins to fantasize that she's a Hollywood star - with tragic consequences.
Tawhai Bennett, a young Maori boy, goes to work for Mrs Jones, a Pakeha; woman, helping her deliver groceries and mail. However, things take an unexpected turn when he fears that a local Maori elder has placed a curse (makutu) on her.
Actor Rawiri Paratene was 16 years old when he joined Māori activist group Ngā Tamatoa (Young Warriors) in the early 1970s. "Those years helped shape the rest of my life," says Paratene in this 2012 Māori TV documentary, directed by Kim Webby. The programme is richly woven with news archive from...
As everyone in town gears up for the annual Hokitka Wild Foods Festival, Magik and Rose are locked in a poignant and funny off-beat tale of friendship and fertility. The result could end a good marriage, redefine the "perfect man", as well as discover what it means to be mother and daughter.
For the last two years, Ben has watched his best friend Phil have a sickeningly fantastic relationship with Maryann, the woman Phil snatched from under his nose. When Phil says he’s moving to Australia, this ‘perfect’ relationship starts to fall apart. Maryann asks Ben to fix things up....
Roimata, a young Maori woman from the East Coast, travels to the city to meet her half-sister Girlie. Introduced to gang members, the scene is set for a major confrontation when Kevin, a young Salvation Army Officer, arrives. Part of the E Tipu Te Rea series.
