New Zealand Film 1912 - 1996
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- DirectorGaston MélièsAs she sits and plays with "poi" balls, Wena, daughter of Chief Te Rangi-Ka-Haruru of the Nagatairua tribe of Maoris, is approached by a sorceress who predicts that she, Wena, will marry a white man, tall and handsome, with eyes blue as the sky and a fair beard. A little way distant her father is receiving the young chief Te Heuheu of the Kahungunoa, who has come to win her for his wife. The two chiefs greet each other with the "Te Hongi," the rubbing of noses, equivalent to our handshake. Chadwick, an English trapper, tramping the woods in search of game, is chanced upon and taken prisoner by several of the Nagatairuas and brought before their chief, who orders that he be burned at the stake. Great rejoicing takes place in the preparation, for "white man meat" is in sight. But Wena recognizes in Chadwick the man of the sorceress' prediction, and uses her vast influence to save his life. She induces her father to permit him to escape; helps him carry it out, and returns to prevent his being pursued, but not without having sworn eternal love for him and promising to meet him later and elope. That evening, when all her kinsmen sleep, she steals from the village and meets her lover at the appointed trysting place. Chadwick folds Wena to his breast, but to remain so near her village is to invite capture. So, folding his coat over her, he guides the way through the treacherous geyser lands and then takes a boat to his hut up the lake. Once inside his door, Wena is his wife. This is the Maori custom. Chief Te Rangi-Ka-Haruru, learning of Wena's absence, dispatches the young chief Te Heuheu to trace her, and when the latter brings back word that she is with Chadwick, the old chief orders her brought back even though the white man should be killed in the task. When bodily harm is threatened Chadwick, a few days later, she consents to return, provisionally. Facing the old chief, her father, she demands her husband, but he tells her of her disgrace to the tribe and orders her to be housed and guarded. Five days later the chief finds her in a pitiful condition, overcome by the long separation from her husband. He relents and sends for Chadwick. The Englishman is received into the tribe as a chief and great rejoicing takes place in honor of the event. And Wena once more is made happy and well.
- DirectorGaston MélièsStarsMaata HoromonaMiro OmahauTamai OmahauHinemoa was a Maori maiden of high rank and rare beauty, the daughter of a chief. She dwelt on the borders of Lake Rotorua in all the splendor of her father's camp. On the island of Mokoia, in the center of the lake, dwelt chief Whakaue. his three sons, and Tutanekai, son of the chief's wife by another father. Thus Tutanekai, bearing the ban of illegitimacy, was scorned by his stepbrothers, but treated as a son by the noble old chief. The three brothers sought the hand of Hinemoa in marriage, but she bestowed her love on Tutanekai, much to the brothers' dismay and to that of Hinemoa's parents, who forbade her to marry Tutanekai because of the blight in his birth. She refused to choose another, so a great running match was decided upon to determine who should win her. Tutanekai was the victor. In spite of which, Hinemoa's people still refused to permit them to marry. And to prevent any possibility of the lovers joining, Tutanekai was sent back to the island of Mokoia and all boats were removed from the lake. Every evening at dusk, Tutanekai, from his island three miles distant serenaded Hinemoa with his flute, and she, in her camp, was thrilled and encouraged by his notes of love, until at length she could bear the separation no longer. Shrouded by the night, she plunged into the frigid waters of the lake, and, guided by his flute, swam three miles to the island of Mokoia. Exhausted, she rested and hid in a natural warm bath and resorted to strategy to bring forth her lover, for to be found by any other man and taken into his sleeping hut, would have meant to become his wife, according to Maori law and custom. By a clever scheme she attracts Tutanekai to the bath and together they secretly entered Tutanekai's hut. The three step-brothers were enraged, but the old chief protected and honored Tutanekai.
- DirectorGaston MélièsThe Maori tribes of Awhitu and Wailkatu are at war. Te Ponga, young chief of the Awhitus hears of the great beauty of Puhuhu, daughter of the old chief of the Waikatus, and in order to see her, flies the white flag of truce and pretends to make overtures for peace. The old chief, anxious for peace, receives Te Ponga with great pomp and ceremony and holds a great celebration in his honor at which Puhuhu dances. Te Ponga falls instantly in love with her, and she with him. That night, through the stratagem of one of Te Ponga's warriors, the young lovers meet clandestinely, and plan to elope on the morrow. Puhuhu returns to her sleeping hut for the night, but Te Ponga and his braves steal to the water's edge, strip all the Waikatu canoes of their paddles and place them in their own. Next morning Te Ponga takes ceremonious leave of his host, and is honored with the company of all the Waikatu maidens for a short ways from the village. The Waikatu men watch the procession from afar, and are aghast when they discover that Puhuhu, instead of returning with her companions, flees with Te Ponga. The old chief's camp is instantly up in arms at the outrage and pursue the fleeing lovers, only to be baffled by Te Ponga's cunning in removing the paddles. The young chief and his bride make a safe get-away in their swift canoe while the furious Waikatus spend their wrath in unavailing imprecations on the shore.
- DirectorRaymond LongfordStarsGeorge CrossJohn StormD.L. DalzielA disgruntled crew mutinies against their captain.
- DirectorWilliam Desmond TaylorStarsEthel ClaytonCharles MeredithEarl SchenckAvis Langley's dying mother begs her to look after Avis's errant brother and continues after death to reappear in spirit form to remind Avis of her promise. Avis follows her brother to New Zealand in hopes of protecting him from his own ways, but on the trip tragedy apparently strikes.
- DirectorRudall HaywardStarsBob RamseyHazel WestMy Lady of the Cave is the first feature film by pioneer filmmaker Rudall Hayward.
- DirectorJames R. SullivanStarsAnnette KellermanRoland PurdieRobert RamseyThe daughter of man who owns a South Seas pearl business falls in love with a wealthy traveler. Her father dies, leaving her the business. A greedy ship captain schemes to take the business from her.
- DirectorRudall HaywardStarsCharles AlexisNola CasselliRewi ManiapotoThe winter of 1863 finds the settlement of Auckland living in fear of Maori Rebels. Sir George Grey Englands pro-consul has been sent out to handle these difficulties. Dr Wake an Auckland Surgeon and his daughter Cecily meet a young Englishman named Kenneth Gordon and the two young people become friends. When the Waikato war gets worse Gordon joints Von Tempsky's Corps of Forest Rangers.
- DirectorGustav Pauli
- DirectorRudall HaywardStarsTina HuntMary KingiTom McDermott
- DirectorRudall HaywardStarsDale AustenMae BainAllan Cornish
- DirectorLewis D. CollinsStarsPatiti WarbrickWitarina MitchellOhana KeehaA look at the lives of some inhabitants of some of the more primitive regions of the world.
- DirectorAlexander Markey
- DirectorRudall HaywardStarsBernard BritainPhoebe ClarkeA.J.C. FisherThe wars against the Maori people of New Zealand.
- DirectorRoger MiramsJohn O'SheaStarsKay NgarimuTerence BaylerMyra HapiTom, a journalist from the city, meets Rawi while writing a piece rural life. However, she is Maori and her family disapproves of the relationship.
- DirectorKen AnnakinStarsJack HawkinsGlynis JohnsNoel PurcellIn 1821,among the first British sailors to set foot on New Zealand, Phillip Wayne befriends a Maori tribe's chief, marries in England and returns to New Zealand with a small group of followers to settle.
- DirectorJohn O'SheaStarsColin BroadleyNadja ReginDeidre McCarron
- DirectorJohn O'SheaStarsHoward MorrisonGary WallaceCarmen Duncan
- DirectorMichael ForlongStarsAndrew KerrTemuera MorrisonKate ForlongFour children living on a sheep station help to catch escaped convicts.
- DirectorMurray ReeceStarsJamie HigginsMaria CraigGraeme Tetley
- DirectorGeoff MurphyStarsBruno LawrenceIan WatkinTony BarryThe story of two itinerant con men, the Wild Man and the Colonel, who operate on the West Coast gold mining towns of the New Zealand South Island during the latter part of the last century.
- DirectorPaul MaunderStarsDenise MaunderJohn AndersonSam NeillThe story of the disintegration of a back-to-the-earth rural commune. Discovered to be using illegal drugs by a local policeman, the members of the commune kill him and bury him in their garden. After this pivotal event, distinctions between reality and fantasy become increasingly blurred.
- DirectorMichael FirthStarsJeff CampbellBlair TrenholmeRon HajakTwo guys on adventure in New Zealand.
- DirectorRoger DonaldsonStarsSam NeillNevan RoweIan MuneA New Zealand man recently estranged from his family gets unwittingly caught up in a revolution.
- DirectorTony WilliamsStarsVincent GilLisa PeersMartyn SandersonA young hitchhiker meets a fire-spotter and is invited to stay with he and his teen son. A sightseeing flight in a Tiger Moth bi-plane adds to the story.
- DirectorDavid BlythStarsDerek WardJennifer RedfordMyra De GrootA young and affluent couple become fatally entangled in their own wish-fulfillment world. The topic of the movie itself is interesting. It is set in an Auckland, New Zealand suburb, namely Pakuranga, in your average Lockwood home. In fact it depicts suburbia, and marriage as a lot of people see it, but fail to acknowledge that this is how it really is.
- DirectorGeoff StevenStarsKen BlackburnDeryn CooperAlan Jervis WilksIn small-town New Zealand, the gung-ho town council decides that what the town needs to put it on the map is a massage parlour. To this end they bring masseuse, Sandra to town. Her presence in such a conservative village stirs up emotions not normally expressed in rural New Zealand.
- DirectorJohn ReidStarsGrant TillyDorothy McKeggPeter SumnerA deputy principal of a high school, who has taken up jogging, to combat a spreading waistline, gradually enters into an affair with a co-worker's wife, as his wife is losing interest in him.
- DirectorPaul MaunderStarsUelese PetaiaFiona LindsayMoira WalkerA relationship develops between a Samoan and a New Zealander, but each finds the other's culture a hard adjustment. Friends and family are not supportive, particularly when she becomes pregnant, although he proposes marriage.
- DirectorRichard TurnerStarsRobert ShannonPaul EadyDonna AkerstenThe relationship between a young man, Paul, and a confident executive, Grant, about which his soon-to-be-wife Joy knows nothing, in Auckland's gay scene in 1980, when homosexuality was illegal.
- DirectorRoger DonaldsonStarsMelissa DonaldsonPeter ShandAaron DonaldsonThe City of Auckland is hold ransom for 5 million dollars by Evil Eva and her Cronies. Threatening to drop a nuclear device into the crater of the volcano Rangitoto, thus activating it. Chief Inspector Cobblestone is on the case, and so is his son who has just finished building his anti-gravity machine.
- DirectorPhilip HoweStarsChapman and WhiteCockroachDragon Dance
- DirectorJohn LaingStarsDavid HemmingsJohn HargreavesTony BarryA docu-drama covering one of the most famous murder cases in New Zealand history. Did Arthur Thomas kill Jeannette and Harvey Crewe at their Pukekawa farm house? Arthur was sure that trusting the police and co-operating fully would prove his innocence. The police held a very different view of this simple farmer.
- DirectorGeoff MurphyStarsTony BarryKelly JohnsonClaire ObermanDumped by his girlfriend, a man joins a reckless youth in a stolen yellow mini and they drive the length of New Zealand, attracting cops and media attention, determined to get to Invercargill.
- DirectorRoger DonaldsonStarsBruno LawrenceAnna Maria MonticelliGreer Robson-KirkAfter the break-up of his marriage, a racing driver sets out to get back his daughter - at any cost.
- DirectorMichael BlackStarsKevin J. WilsonPeter Vere-JonesHelen MoulderThe story of the brothers Alfred and Walter Burton, who founded an influential photography studio in late 19th-century New Zealand and captured an important period in the country's history.
- DirectorDavid HemmingsStarsKen WahlLesley Ann WarrenDonald PleasenceA drunken deer hunter, his pilot colleague and his daughter compete with a treasure hunter to reach a lake in New Zealand and uncover a WWII-era plane wreck carrying a fortune in gold.
- DirectorSam PillsburyStarsJohn CarradineTracy MannJono SmithThe same night as a girl is slain in the woods, the teenagers Sam and Les are robbed of all of their hard earned hens. In the quest for their hens they cross the murderer's path.
- DirectorHarley CokelissStarsMichael BeckAnnie McEnroeJames WainwrightPost World War III futuristic tale of collapsed governments & bankrupt countries heralding a new lawless age.
- DirectorJohn ReidStarsGrant TillyKelly JohnsonDorothy McKeggTwo brothers take their father into the city for the weekend for a rugby game and a night on the town. However, the old man dies in their hotel and the boys need to smuggle his body back to their farm and make it appear that he died there to satisfy a clause in his will or else they won't inherit the property.
- DirectorMike NewellStarsJack ThompsonCarol BurnsDenis LillDuring World War 2, a farmer in New Zealand murders seven people, and the police, along with local Maori trackers, hunt him in the bush country.
- DirectorPeter WernerStarsTatum O'NealColin FrielsShirley KnightA man resettles his American family to New Zealand where he gets a new job at a prison in the city Wellington. His daughter has an affair with one of his prisoners he is to look out for.
- DirectorGeoff MurphyStarsAnzac WallaceBruno LawrenceTim ElliottIn 1870, a Maori warrior working with the British finds his village massacred, and vows revenge.
- DirectorMichael LaughlinStarsMichael MurphyLouise FletcherDan ShorA scientist is experimenting with teenagers and turning them into murderers.
- DirectorMerata MitaA documentary about demonstrations against apartheid when South Africa's rugby team tours New Zealand.
- DirectorGeoff StevenStarsNigel DavenportJohn BanasJudy Morris
- DirectorDavid BlythStarsSarah PeirseJeremy StephensDerek Hardwick
- DirectorFerdinand FairfaxStarsTommy Lee JonesMichael O'KeefeMax PhippsA swashbuckling adventure which takes place in the mid-1800's on the South Pacific islands where bloody raids and battles were once the rule of the day.
- DirectorPeter SharpStarsEmma PiperAndy AndersonPatrick McGoohanA puritanical widower is outraged when his daughter runs away to join a free-loving commune.
- DirectorBruce MorrisonStarsDonogh ReesMartin VaughanJudie DouglassConstance is a bored, movie-loving schoolteacher in post-WW2 New Zealand who begins to fantasise that she's a Hollywood star - with tragic consequences.
- DirectorYvonne MackayStarsGeorge HenarePat EvisonTeraki TokorangiA mythological children's tale about the friendship between a deaf mute boy, Jonasi, and a rare white turtle.
- DirectorDerek MortonStarsKeith AberdeinJohn BachKevin J. WilsonMitch has an ambition of catching and selling wild horses. Unfortunately, some other men get jobs hunting deer in the same area. Because Mitch and his horses are frightening off the deer, the hunters begin to ruthlessly wipe out the horses.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsDavid BowieTom ContiRyuichi SakamotoDuring WWII, a British colonel tries to bridge the cultural divides between a British POW and the Japanese camp commander in order to avoid bloodshed.
- DirectorDavid BlythStarsMichael HurstMargaret UmbersNorelle ScottA kid is hypnotized by a scientist to kill his parents and ends in a mental institution. As a grown up he returns to seek revenge over the scientist.
- DirectorMichael AndersonStarsDiane FranklinRoger WilsonJon GadsbyThere's a new wager between Heaven and Hell. Devil bets God that if God were to pick two young people to be the new Adam and Eve, they'd sin again. God accepts and sends a college couple to various eras, starting with the Garden of Eden.
- DirectorIan MuneStarsPeter BlandPhillip GordonMichael LawrenceThis eccentric rural New Zealand tale follows two con men as they attempt to trick a small town into their illegal gambling scheme.
- DirectorMelanie ReadStarsAnnie WhittleJudith GibsonChris BrounRosemary is a photographer, mother, and cross-country runner who temporarily leaves her family and moves into an isolated beach-house to work on a photographic assignment. Strange occurrences lead her to believe that she is being stalked by an unknown adversary.
- DirectorJohn LaingStarsLisa HarrowMark PilisiFraser Stephen-SmithA middle-class woman and Maori boy who lives on the streets meet in drug rehab and kindle a friendship.
- DirectorVincent WardStarsPenelope StewartFrank WhittenBill KerrA lonely girl living on an isolated, mist-cloaked farm is confronted with the changes wrought by a stranger that arrives.
- DirectorMichael FirthStarsBruno LawrenceTerence CooperMary ReganChilling story of a farmhand who realizes his popular boss has been committing incest with his daughter for years.
- DirectorTony IssacStarsHelen MorsePhilip HolderJohn BachThe story of poet, novelist, journalist and biographer Iris Wilkinson's (pen name - Robin Hyde) early longing to escape the narrow confines of her upbringing and her exultation in unconventionality and sexual freedom as a young woman.
- DirectorMichael LaughlinStarsJodie FosterJohn LithgowMichael MurphyAn orphaned New Zealand girl married to an older, wealthy businessman learns to deal with his strange sexual desires.
- DirectorGraham McLeanStarsHarry LyonJoanne MildenhallHammond GambleBased on actual events surrounding a New Zealand drug scandal that involved the murder of Martin Johnstone of the UK, in the early 1070's. Johnstone had been dubbed "Mr Asia" by international police who were about to arrest him. Then when police were about to arrest his killer, that person was killed while in Police custody. Some feel the real "Mr Asia" is alive today. The film tries to tell about private efforts to try and reach the real killer and villain.
- DirectorJohn LaingStarsJohn BachDarien TakleDon SelwynAn anthropologist disappears in New Zealand while looking for a lost tribe, so his wife and little daughter as well as his shady twin brother who's in love with his sister-in-law go to look for him. Also seeking him are the police, who suspect that one of the twins is responsible for a hooker's murder. Jealousy, paranoia and possibly the occult add to the story's ominous atmosphere.
- DirectorGeoff MurphyStarsBruno LawrenceAlison RoutledgePete SmithA scientist awakens to find himself alone in the world. In a desperate attempt to search for others, he finds only two who have their own agenda.
- DirectorMike WalkerStarsFaifua AmigaMitchell ManuelNicholas RogersFilmed at and inspired by the residents of Kohitere Boys Training Centre in Levin, New Zealand, this tale follows a group of teens who are wards of the state. It was directed by Mike Walker, who co-wrote the script with Mitchell Manuel (who also played the part of Rikihana Nathan).
- DirectorMichael FirthStarsEleanor DavidNigel TerryTom WilkinsonReal-life story of Sylvia Ashton Warner's pioneering work teaching Maori children to read in the 1940's.
- DirectorJohn ReidStarsJohn GielgudJane BirkinFéodor AtkineIt was only after her death that the work of New Zealand writer, Katherine Mansfield, became well known, thanks to her editor and husband, John Middleton-Murry. She had left New Zealand to travel around France, and she died there from tuberculosis. Thirty three years later, Middleton-Murry is invited to France to approve a new edition of her collected letters and journals, and there he meets a young woman, Marie Taylor (also from NZ) who reminds him strongly of his dead wife. As the two become friends, Marie starts reading old correspondence between Mansfield and her husband, and discovers the true nature of their relationship and that Mansfield's dying wishes regarding her writings have been ignored by the manipulative, and less-than-honest, Middleton-Murry.
- DirectorBruce MorrisonStarsCliff RobertsonLeif GarrettLisa HarrowWith 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 promise to get her out of the country, she recruits daredevil driver Judd Pierson and his partner Casey Lee, who are down on their luck and take the job without knowing what they're getting into.
- DirectorGaylene PrestonStarsHeather BoltonDavid LetchPerry PiercyA small-town woman, fresh to the city, buys a second-hand Jaguar haunted by the ghost of a murdered woman and her killer.
- DirectorBarry BarclayStarsKeri KaaIndigenous farmers in Peru, Nicaragua, Italy, France, Australia and New Zealand share their intimacy with the land and the seeds they have nurtured for generations; global corporations attempt to 'own' the intellectual property of seeds.
- DirectorDennis C. LewistonStarsSimone GriffethBryan MarshallSteve MarachukWife of successful NZ businessman is seduced by fellow American after "chance" meeting in park. However, Greg has more than love-making with the beautiful Christine in mind.
- DirectorLynton ButlerStarsBruce SpencePeter McCauleyJillian O'BrienRape, murder and blackmail result when the town's most beautiful woman gets married.
- DirectorIan MuneStarsMatthew HunterMargaret UmbersShelly LuxfordKids on an outing in the forest come up against a mysterious hermit who lives on the other side of a bridge, and he is definitely not happy to see them.
- DirectorJohn LaingStarsPeter StevensJennifer Ward-LealandMichael HurstHarry, Moir and Rossi were like the three musketeers when at the orphanage; now adults, their partnership continues as they pull off the occasional heist together.
- DirectorBruce MorrisonStarsMatthew HunterMark PilisiKim WilloughbyA streetwise 19 year old, decides to "rescue" his sister from a massage parlor, but is thrown out. The massage parlor boss is a crooked concert promoter, so he and his gang, "hijack" a concert which incites the audience to riot.
- DirectorMurray BallStarsJohn ClarkePeter RowleyRawiri ParateneFeaturing the characters from Murray Ball's "Footrot Flats". Questions will be answered as the small town of Raupo comes to life on the big screen.
- DirectorJohn AndersonStarsNicholas RogersMitchell ManuelFaifua Amiga3 friend's Eddie, Kingi and Matthew get together in Auckland New Zealand and decide to take a trip down the line to Wellington in an old Mark ll. Unbeknown to his mates Kingi is really running away from some drug debts, and the heavy's wanting their money follow them. A movie mainly for Kiwi's in the Once Were Warriors type mold of seeing a little bit of our own experiences and lifestyle. Sprinkled with humour, low level violence and some harsh realities of life, this movie is one for the whole family. I must of watched it at least 20 times or more before I reached the age of 12 lol.
- DirectorBarry BarclayStarsTuta Ngarimu TamatiIranui HaigTawai MoanaAn Australian doctor comes to a small Maori village where a child is suffering from Leukemia, as he discovers the truth about his heritage the town rallies together to keep the freezing works open.
- DirectorGraham McLeanStarsRoberta WallachMarshall NapierTerence CooperA soldier returns home after the war and discovers that a Maori curse hangs over his home.
- DirectorSam PillsburyStarsGreer Robson-KirkPeter PhelpsBruce PhillipsIt is Depression era New Zealand and school-kid Kate is missing her father badly. The temptation to seek him out leads her into diverse and intense encounters with fate.
- DirectorMichael FirthStarsMathurin MolgatBruce GrantEvan BloomfieldA patrol skier from Colorado travels to New Zealand to experience more than just skiing. Includes Bill T. James as Aviator.
- DirectorRolf HädrichStarsPaul O'SheaDerek HardwickYvonne LawleyTeen Nick is estranged from his family, and blaming himself for his Maori mate's climbing death. He runs away to his straight talking grandfather - who takes him bush - and loses his virginity to Sally.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsTerry PotterPete O'HerneCraig SmithThe population of a small town disappears and is replaced by aliens that chase human flesh for their intergalactic fast-food chain.
- DirectorLeon NarbeyStarsShaun BaoWilliam WongHa-Lei YipAfter 12 years, Chinese gold miners in 1895 New Zealand find They have enough gold to pay their debts and return home, but things do not go as smoothly as they had hoped.
- DirectorVincent WardStarsBruce LyonsChris HaywoodHamish GoughMen seeking relief from the Black Death, guided by a boy's vision, dig a tunnel from 14th century England to 20th century New Zealand.
- DirectorMerata MitaStarsAnzac WallaceEva RickardJames HeywardNear the remote East Cape the matriarch lives in her very basic dwelling with real fire in the hearth, where she cooks. We get an insight in the whanau in this saga, where troubles are met with kindmess, except by the pakeha or those that have gone across to their side. The first movie directed by a Maori woman with so much warmth and authenticity. Wait for the sweeping finale!
- DirectorGeoff MurphyStarsTemuera MorrisonLisa EilbacherGeorge WendtA young couple are mysteriously pursued by people with increasingly elaborate attempts to kill them; they narrowly escape death repeatedly via a series of car chases and shoot-outs.