Subgenre Sampler
New Zealand > Drama: 211 Films to Buy & Rent
Perfect Strangers (2003)
- Dir. Gaylene Preston
Feat. Sam Neill, Rachael Blake, Joel Tobeck
- Thriller of possessive love, set effectively on the rugged coastline of New Zealand’s West Coast, that changes tack mid–way into blackly…
Sylvia (2003)
- Dir. Christine Jeffs
Feat. Gwyneth Paltrow, Daniel Craig, Blythe Danner…
- A simply formed, yet resonant portrait of the brilliant, doomed poet Sylvia Plath (Paltrow), recounting her years of marriage to (also poet) Ted…
Whale Rider (2003)
- Dir. Niki Caro
Feat. Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky Haughton…
- A stirring, widely–acclaimed adaptation of Witi Ihimaera’s novel about a young girl’s struggle to win the approval of her patriarchal…
Woodenhead (2003)
- Dir. Florian Habicht
- A remarkable and surrealistic melding of New Zealand setting and Germanic sensibility, in which a sad fairytale narrative is enacted, sung and…
Mataku (TV Series) (2002-2005)
- Dir. Michael Bennett, Peter Berger
Feat. Temuera Morrison
- A well–mounted anthology of contemporary one–off dramas, adapted from the unique and mystical world of Maori supernatural legends. The…
Off (.OFF.) (2002)
- Dir. Colin Hodson
Feat. Colin Hodson, Gregory King, George Rose…
- Locally produced DV–feature which observes the activities of several drug associates, with a style both languid and, at times,…
Being Eve (TV Series) (2001)
- Feat. Fleur Saville
- Spunky, good–natured Kiwi comedy essays the angsty teenage years of girl philosopher Eve Baxter, whose unconventional outlook on life is…
Crooked Earth (2001)
- Dir. Sam Pillsbury
Feat. Temuera Morrison, Lawrence Makoare, Nancy Brunning
- Vivid action–melodrama uses the dispossession of East Coast Maori to prime its tale of tribal succession, with SAS soldier Temuera Morrison…
Her Majesty (2001)
- Dir. Mark J. Gordon
Feat. Vicky Haughton, Sally Andrews, Anna Sheridan…
- A little–known, but sincerely crafted tale is set in 1950s New Zealand around a young girl's (Andrews) infatuation with Queen Elizabeth II,…
Rain (2001)
- Dir. Christine Jeffs
Feat. Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki, Sarah Peirse, Marton Csokas…
- Adapted from the acclaimed novel by Kirsty Gunn, this visually crafted evocation of a seaside holiday in the 1970s – bach, suntan lotion, whiskey…