A baby is washed up on a Pacific Island and is adopted by a childless woman. The tribal priest takes an instant dislike to the child, proclaiming him a demon. The child is deaf and mute and therefore excluded from hunting with the other young men. Out of loneliness, he befriends a white turtle. When a drought befalls the island, the priest blames the silent one. When the chief protects the boy, the priest plots the chiefs' downfall.
Aftershock (2008)
Aftershock follows four groups of people in the minutes, hours and days after Wellington is struck by a magnitude 8.2 earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Buried office workers must pull together. Strangers, caught by the tsunami on a ruined motorway, put themselves in danger to save others. A mother must reunite her family. And, at the centre of the rescue operation, a controller is bunkered down at Wellington’s Emergency Management Office.
Rage (2011)
1981 - The Springbok tour divides NZ. Off the pitch, star-crossed lovers meet and hearts break in a thrilling drama.
Out of the Blue (2006)
Ordinary people find extraordinary courage in the face of madness. On 13–14 November 1990 that madness came to Aramoana, a small New Zealand seaside town, in the form of a lone gunman with a high-powered semi-automatic rifle. As he stalked his victims the terrified and confused residents were trapped for 24 hours while a handful of under-resourced and under-armed local policemen risked their lives trying to find him and save the survivors. Based on true events.
The World's Fastest Indian (2005)
The life story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who spent years building a 1920 Indian motorcycle—a bike which helped him set the land-speed world record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967.
Two Loves (1961)
American-born Anna Vorontosov teaches school in a remote, primitive section of northern New Zealand. Her experimental teaching methods have won her the love and affection of her pupils and their parents and the admiration of the unhappily married school inspector, Abercrombie. Her personal life, however, is less secure; frightened of love and sexually inhibited, she has always been aloof with men. Eager to break down this barrier is Englishman Paul Lathrope, a somewhat irrational and immature fellow teacher who aspires to be a singer. Though Anna is attracted to him, she refuses to submit to his advances.
The Convert (2024)
Munro, a soldier turned lay preacher, comes to New Zealand to minister to the first British colonists, but he is converted by the powerful chief Maianui to serve a different purpose.
What Really Happened: Votes for Women (2012)
It's 1892 and Kate Sheppard tells the story of the suffrage campaign - a pursuit that will continue until September 1893.
The Z-Nail Gang (2014)
When a corporate mining giant moves into a small coastal town looking for gold and talking about trickle down wealth - some folk just aren't convinced.
Alex (1993)
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.
Angel Mine (1978)
A young and affluent couple become fatally entangled in their own wish-fulfillment world.
Birthday (2022)
Celebrating a birthday, a young boy and his exhausted babysitter wait for his unusually late parents.
Whale Rider (2003)
On the east coast of New Zealand, the Whangara people believe their presence there dates back a thousand years or more to a single ancestor, Paikea, who escaped death when his canoe capsized by riding to shore on the back of a whale. From then on, Whangara chiefs, always the first-born, always male, have been considered Paikea's direct descendants. Pai, an 11-year-old girl in a patriarchal New Zealand tribe, believes she is destined to be the new chief. But her grandfather Koro is bound by tradition to pick a male leader. Pai loves Koro more than anyone in the world, but she must fight him and a thousand years of tradition to fulfill her destiny.
In My Father's Den (2004)
Paul (Macfadyen), a prize-winning war journalist, returns to his remote New Zealand hometown due to the death of his father, battle-scarred and world-weary. For the discontented sixteen-year-old Celia (Barclay) he opens up a world she has only dreamed of. She actively pursues a friendship with him, fascinated by his cynicism and experience of the world beyond her small-town existence. But many, including the members of both their families (Otto, Moy), frown upon the friendship and when Celia goes missing, Paul becomes the increasingly loathed and persecuted prime suspect in her disappearance. As the violent and urgent truth gradually emerges, Paul is forced to confront the family tragedy and betrayal that he ran from as a youth, and to face the grievous consequences of silence and secrecy that has surrounded his entire adult life.
New Zealand - Home of Middle Earth - Part 1 (2013)
Discover the stunning locations of New Zealand with the cast and crew of The Hobbit Trilogy.
Once Were Warriors (1994)
A drama about a Maori family living in Auckland, New Zealand. Lee Tamahori tells the story of Beth Heke’s strong will to keep her family together during times of unemployment and abuse from her violent and alcoholic husband.
The Piano (1993)
A mute Scottish woman arrives in colonial New Zealand for an arranged marriage. Her husband refuses to move her beloved piano, giving it to neighbor George Baines, who agrees to return the piano in exchange for lessons. As desire swirls around the duo, the wilderness consumes the European enclave.
Apple Pie (2016)
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.
Forbidden Island (1959)
Tropical island underwater scuba diving swimming murder thriller, in which divers and thieves search for a sunken treasure.
Jean (2016)
The true story of Jean Batten is of a daughter determined to live up to a powerful mother, desperate to leave a mark on the world – and prepared to go to the ends of the earth to do so. This is the story of JEAN.
An Angel at My Table (1990)
Based on the autobiographical work of New Zealand writer Janet Frame, this production depicts the author at various stage of her life. Afflicted with mental and emotional issues, Frame grows up in an impoverished family and experiences numerous tragedies while still in her youth, including the deaths of two of her siblings. Portrayed as an adult by Kerry Fox, Frame finds acclaim for her writing while still in a mental institution, and her success helps her move on with her life.