Rails in the Wilderness

Spontaneous Combustion embraces the holistic vision of one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most provocative artists and thinkers: the unity of the natural environment and the human imagination, the energy, rhythm and textures of the physical world expressed in clay, words, and music. The film celebrates the legacy of Barry Brickell (1935-2016) and the realisation of his extraordinary dream, Driving Creek Railway: a productive pottery with numerous kilns, a bush railway, a native bird and bush sanctuary and a lively creative hub drawing artists from around the globe.

A documentary short on logging during winter season.

The life and times of sailor and adventurer Sir Peter Blake, one of New Zealand's favourite sons.

On December 9, 2019, New Zealand's most active volcano erupted, engulfing 47 day trippers in a toxic ash cloud. 21 lost their lives that day and in the following weeks. Whakaari: A Heroes' Story paints a picture of the chaos and the bravery, and the complex rescue mission to save those stranded on the island.

An East Coast community in Ruatōria, New Zealand attempts to live in autarchy according to the tenets of their movement. Bob Marley, a prophet of our electronic age, is the soundtrack to the everyday lives of these Māori who feel closer to their own roots by observing a blend of Afro-Carribean Rastafarianism and the Ringatū faith. Merata Mita's camera respectfully portrays this singular cultural dialogue. The outsider cultures of Jamaicans, Ethiopians and Māori have come together, vibrating to a common cosmic chord. They find an underground brotherhood, across continents and seas.

Dealing heavily with perceptions of time, Aeon documents the urban cityscape as Wellington transforms through a zen-influenced eternal cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth within a 24-hour period.

Mixing animation with a wealth of archival footage, Chris Auchter’s film explores the 1985 dispute over clearcut logging on Haida Gwaii. On one side are Western Forest Products and Frank Belsen Logging, who plan to engage in clearcut logging on Tllga Kun Gwaayaay (Lyell Island) and are supported by the BC government. On the other side is the Haida Nation, which wishes to protect its lands against further destruction. The confrontation involves court proceedings and a blockade, and Auchter takes us from canny retrospective commentary to the thick of the action.

This Traveltalk series short visit to New Zealand starts in Auckland, a bustling, modern city. Next is Christchurch, home of Canterbury University, where rowing teams participate in a regatta. Nearby is Lake Wakatipu, which inspires artists to put their impressions on canvas. We then visit Rotorua, a city famous for its geysers, hot springs, bubbling mud pools, and other geothermal activity. At Ferry Springs there is lots of trout for fishing. Later, a group of natives performs a canoe dance.

This 1981 NFU film is a tour of the contemporary world of Aotearoa’s tangata whenua. It won headlines over claims that its portrayal of Māori had been sanitised for overseas viewers. Debate and a recut ensued. Writer Witi Ihimaera felt that mentions of contentious issues (Bastion Point, the land march) in his original script were ignored or elided in the final film, and withdrew from the project. He later told journalists that the controversy showed that educated members of minority groups were no longer prepared to let the majority interpret the minority view.

The larger-than-life story of Kim Dotcom, the 'most wanted man online', is extraordinary enough, but the battle between Dotcom and the US Government and entertainment industry—being fought in New Zealand—is one that goes to the heart of ownership, privacy and piracy in the digital age.

Documents the conflicts and tensions that arise between highland migrants and Mosetenes, members of an indigenous community in the Bolivian Amazon. It focuses particularly on a system of debt peonage known locally as ‘habilito’. This system is used throughout the Bolivian lowlands, and much of the rest of the Amazon basin, to secure labor in remote areas.

In the years since New Zealand politicians began to grapple with climate change our greenhouse gas emissions have burgeoned. Alister Barry’s doco draws on TV archives and interviews with key participants to find out why.

Quest for the Ring

Someone Else’s Country looks critically at the radical economic changes implemented by the 1984 Labour Government - where privatisation of state assets was part of a wider agenda that sought to remake New Zealand as a model free market state. The trickle-down ‘Rogernomics’ rhetoric warned of no gain without pain, and here the theory is counterpointed by the social effects (redundant workers, Post Office closures). Made by Alister Barry in 1996 when the effects were raw, the film draws extensively on archive footage and interviews with key “witnesses to history”.

The story of unemployment in New Zealand and In A Land of Plenty is an exploration of just that; it takes as its starting point the consensus from The Depression onwards that Godzone economic policy should focus on achieving full employment, and explores how this was radically shifted by the 1984 Labour government. Director Alister Barry's perspective is clear, as he trains a humanist lens on ‘Rogernomics' to argue for the policy's negative effects on society, as a new poverty-stricken underclass developed.

A contemplation of art and adventure in the southern wilds of New Zealand by both a landscape photographer and an adventure filmmaker. This film is the unexpected result of their two unique perspectives.

A third generation NZ born Niuean Female surfer, visits her Island of heritage for the first time only to discover there is no surf on Niue. But Mella's visit opens her eyes to the island's other beautiful qualities, the magical water, warm people, and clean unpolluted land. However she also discovers the low population has left the countries future hanging by a thread. This documentary is a record of Mella's journey to regaining her identity and first steps at becoming part of the solution in Niue's restoration of itself.

This video programme contains segments of New Zealand's best selling travel programmes. 120 minutes in length New Zealand, a south pacific paradise is a comprehensive guide to this country's best attractions, tour trails, natural sights, Maori culture and adventure.

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.

In 1973 Alister Barry joined the crew of a protest boat (The Fri) to Mururoa Atoll, where the French Government were testing nuclear weapons. Barry records the assembly of the crew, the long journey from Northland, and their reception in the test zone; when The Fri was boarded and impounded by French military he had to hide his camera in a barrel of oranges.