Toehold on a Harbour

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.

A trio of accidental outlaws travel the length of New Zealand, protesting conformity and chasing lost love, with a posse of cops and a media frenzy in pursuit.

Munkie follows a vengeful daughter whose violent plan of revenge against her domineering "tiger parents" spins out of control.

In a sweeping tale that spans 1000 years and multiple generations – from the distant past to the 19th century, the present day and a strange, dystopian future – this landmark collection traces the collective histories of Indigenous peoples across Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. Diverse in perspective, content and form, traversing the terrain of grief, love and dispossession, they each bear witness to these cultures’ ongoing struggles against patriarchy, colonialism and racism.

The courageous story of a tenacious New Zealand woman who would stop at nothing in seeking justice for her brother's murder.

Ram Raid Mums follows three desperate mothers, at their breaking point. With nowhere to turn, they discover Mana Inc, a lifeline that sparks hope.

A school teacher is forced to confront a brutal act from his past when a pair of ruthless drifters takes him and his family on a nightmare road-trip.

On the 7th of May 2009, Senior Constables Len Snee, Grant Diver and Bruce Miller arrived at 41 Chaucer Rd in Napier to serve a search warrant on Jan Molenaar for the growing of cannabis. This was just a routine warrant, something they had done countless times. What was meant to be an ordinary procedure turned into three of New Zealand’s darkest days and ended with one police officer dead, two officers critically injured and a member of the public fighting for his life. In some fifty hours Jan Molenaar made a permanent and devastating imprint upon the national psyche of New Zealand as he changed the lives of individuals, families, a police community, and a city. The siege was one of the worst and unexpected cases of violence both Napier and New Zealand had witnessed and it was all the more shocking because of its ordinary suburban backdrop.

In Dark Places is the gripping story of an innocent man, imprisoned for two decades for a crime he did not commit, and an ex-cop's heroic battle to win him his freedom.

In 1993 David Dougherty was found guilty and imprisoned for the abduction and rape of his 11 year old neighbor. It took two trials, two high court appeals, a petition to the Governor General and 3 years, 6 months and 1 week in prison before David finally won his freedom and was found not guilty of the crime he didn't commit. But it wouldn't have happened without the unrelenting efforts of three individuals - a journalist, a lawyer and a scientist - who put their own personal and professional lives on the line in order to prove that David Dougherty was innocent.

In 1999, South African emigrant psychiatrist Colin Bouwer murdered his wife in what he thought was an undetectable manner. He was not counting on the skills and tenacity of New Zealand police and his colleagues in the medical profession.

A man's son becomes involved in drug use and criminal activity in rural New Zealand. The man embarks on a journey to seek assistance from others in an effort to get his son back before it's too late.

Two best friends must navigate the tough streets of South Auckland to buy a bottle of milk.

David Bain is accused of killing his family in Dunedin, New Zealand.

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.

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.

This Traveltalk series short highlights rural areas of England. We stop at the village of Bradford-on-Avon, with its thatched roofs, also Stoke Poges, the burial place of British poet Thomas Gray.

This Traveltalk series short visit to the province of Ontario begins in Ottawa, Canada's capital, then proceeds to Algonquin Park, Toronto, and Niagara Falls.

When a young fakaleiti falls in love at St Valentine’s Highschool, she must navigate her way through a world of intolerance and bigotry to find happiness - in an unexpected place.

Anna Osborn and Sonia Rockhouse were forever changed when the Pike River Mine Disaster stole their loved ones, but instead of sitting down, they stood up! But They Did tells Anna and Sonia's story, following them through the period of time before and during the re-entry of the mine.