
The spirit of a person killed in a motorway accident runs through forest and beaches on its journey to Te Rerenga Wairua (Cape Rēinga). En route it meets tourist buses and other spirits, before reaching the gnarly pohutukawa and making the leap towards Hawaiki-Nui.
1984-01-01
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4.3In 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.
6.1Munro, 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.
6.1Hongi, a Maori chieftain’s teenage son, must avenge his father’s murder in order to bring peace and honour to the souls of his loved ones after his tribe is slaughtered through an act of treachery. Vastly outnumbered by a band of villains led by Wirepa, Hongi’s only hope is to pass through the feared and forbidden “Dead Lands” and forge an uneasy alliance with a mysterious warrior, a ruthless fighter who has ruled the area for years.
6.2Will Bastion returns home from the army after an absence of 20 years to bury his father, the former chief of thee Maori tribe, Ngati Kaipuku. The eldest son, he is reluctant to inherit his fathers role, so it is taken more willingly by his younger brother, Kahu. Kahu is the leader of a band of drug dealers and trouble-makers who ride horses through the middle of town, wrecking peoples gardens. Under the guise of refusal of a land settlement, Kahu makes a large marijuana deal with some murdering city folk. Will must choose between loyalty for his brother and his father, Maori tradition, and contemporary financial issues.
6.6Five years have passed and Jake has turned his back on his family. He's still up to his usual tricks in McClutchy's Bar, unaware, as he downs his latest opponent, that his eldest son, Nig, has died in a gang fight. The uncomfortable family reunion at Nig's funeral sparks a confrontation with second son, Sonny, and sets Jake and Sonny on a downward spiral.
0.0TAKE (te reo Maori: issue, promise, challenge) weaves mana wahine (female knowledge), dance and archival materials to retell the story of the removal of the ancestral Maori meetinghouse, Hinemihi o te Ao Tawhito, from Aotearoa, New Zealand to England in 1892. It is a call to return Hinemihi, embodied by Australian born Maori dancer and performance artist, Victoria Hunt. Set in the liminal spaces between history and emotion TAKE unfolds a story of origins, of traumatic events and colonial violence.
6.5Lucy Lawless stars in this short which predated her rise to fame as Xena Princess Warrior. Sal is in a relationship going nowhere with Mog, a layabout who shows her no respect. A chance encounter with an easy-going female truck driver (Lawless) encourages Sal to take more chances in her life, symbolized by the purchase of a tasty but out-of-season peach.
5.6An intimate story set during the 1860s in which a young Irish woman Sarah and her family find themselves on both sides of the turbulent wars between British and Maori during the British colonization of New Zealand.
6.8‘The Legend of Baron To’a’ tells the story of Fritz, a Tongan entrepreneur who returns to his old neighbourhood and inadvertently causes the theft of his late father’s valued pro wrestling title belt by some ruthless gangsters led by ‘man-mountain’ Tahu. When negotiation and diplomacy fail to get it back, he is forced to embrace his father’s legacy to reclaim the title.
4.0Star-crossed lovers, Robert and Ariana, are caught up in the New Zealand wars of the 1860s. Ariana is claimed by the Maniapoto people as one of their own and, despite Robert's chivalrous defence, is taken by them and must help them prepare for war. Robert likewise must do his patriotic duty and enlists to fight on the other side. He volunteers to ride despatch, thinking it may give him an opportunity to see Ariana again, which it does, but their joy is short-lived; Maniapoto women fight beside their men, and furthermore she is a Rangitira (noble) and will not let her people down. The climax is the siege of Oraku Pa where 300 Maori hold off 2000 troops for three days. The Maniapoto are defeated, but Ariana, although wounded, survives to be reunited with Robert.
7.4When an arranged marriage brings Ada and her spirited daughter to the wilderness of nineteenth-century New Zealand, she finds herself locked in a battle of wills with both her controlling husband and a rugged frontiersman to whom she develops a forbidden attraction.
5.3Sam, a fearless young girl raised outside of her Māori culture, is determined to fulfill her mission of connecting with her mountain. She hopes it can heal her from the cancer she is battling. Along the way, she meets some misfits and new kids in town, and together they journey through a difficult route, discovering the true spirit of adventure and the magic of friendship.
7.4A 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.
6.2Logan, an ex-gang leader, has left the gang life to raise his daughter Tori. But when Tori is murdered by an opposing gang in town, Logan must choose forgiveness or revenge.
9.5After skipping town a decade ago, transgender activist Caz Davis returns to the remote, politically divided dairy community of Rurangi, hoping to reconnect with his estranged father, who hasn't heard from him since before Caz transitioned.
6.5A guerilla fighter from the South African Boer war called Arjan (Winstone) takes on a manhunt in New Zealand for Maori seaman Kereama (Morrison), who is accused of murdering a British soldier. What follows is a cat and mouse pursuit through the varied landscape of New Zealand with both hunter and huntee testing their bushcraft and wits against that of the other. Gradually they grow to know and respect one another but a posse, led by the British Commanding officer is close behind and his sole intention is to see the Maori hang.
6.7This film is an intimate portrayal of pioneering filmmaker Merata Mita told through the eyes of her children. Using hours of archive footage, some never before seen, her youngest child and director Hepi Mita discovers the filmmaker he never knew and shares the mother he lost, with the world.
5.4A Maori warrior comes upon the aftermath of a battle to find that the only survivor is a wounded enemy soldier. His wishes to avenge his fallen countrymen by finishing off this helpless enemy but the gods won't allow it (as conveyed to him through a spirit bird). Anguished that he must instead treat the soldier's wounds, he's further repelled by the soldier's incessant homosexual advances. Slowly and surprisingly, a change comes over the warrior to accept the soldier's advances, but the war all too soon intrudes upon them.
Bodies line the streets, zombies roam hunting for brains or flesh, the "Zombie Apocalypse is now"... At least that is what Brian thinks. Brian drags Wess from his bed, and out through the night barricading themselves inside the safest place to be when zombies attack... A bar... Wess doubting the accuracy of Brian's recollection tries to convince him he could be wrong. Together the two friends wait out what could be the zombie apocalypse arguing as their imaginations run wild.
A hitman is tasked to take out ex-mobsters when he suddenly hears a voice that questions his morality.
7.3An animated road-movie set across the vast and barren landscape of Australia's Nullarbor Plain.
7.4Valdis Nulle is a young and ambitious captain of fishing ship 'Dzintars'. He has his views on fishing methods but the sea makes its own rules. Kolkhoz authorities are forced to include dubious characters in his crew, for example, former captain Bauze and silent alcoholic Juhans. The young captain lacks experience in working with so many fishermen on board. Unexpectedly, pretty engineer Sabīne is ordered to test a new construction fishing net on Nulle's ship and 'production conflict' between her and the captain arises...
9.2The mysterious man in black returns, and this time Ghost Rider is going Back to Basics with some of the most extreme high-speed action ever seen. The latest installment of the adrenaline-packed Ghost Rider series features incredible on-board footage from the highways of Sweden and busy streets of Stockholm. Join Ghost Rider as he weaves through traffic, rides the Nurburgring, "off-roads" in a city center, goes sledging without snow and comes within seconds of disaster during unexpected encounters with a police van and a huge lorry! Ghost Rider swaps two wheels for four as he burns rubber in a high performance Subaru, showing he has skill and style whatever the machine. All the way the Swedish police are on his tail, the pursuits captured from incredible on-board camera angles and shown in split screen - so you can see what's ahead as you leave the pursuers behind. Plus, Ghost Rider finally agrees to take on a street race, with his bike at stake as well as his pride.
6.0Orenda means an invisible force, a life spirit that inhabits everything living and lifeless: people, wind, birds, rabbits, stone. The one who serves Orenda and sings to it may receive its power. Exploring the themes of guilt and grace, the destinies of two women intertwine into a tense emotional thriller set on a remote island.
5.7Divers go to work on a wrecked ship (the battleship Maine that was blown up in Havana harbour during the Spanish-American War), surrounded by curiously disproportionate fish.
2.5A heartbroken man kidnaps two strangers in hopes they will fall in love.
5.0Black Tape is searching for the first rapper who has ever rapped in German. A lot of German rapstars are joining this search.
6.0Two tales of migration. In the first, after a tailings dam disaster floods her hometown, rural worker Joana (55) moves to São Paulo to find her sister Tania, who lives with her grandson Jaime. Joana enters the universe of insecurity, replying to an application for house cleaning. She bonds with her colleagues, and their struggle for better conditions gives Joana’s life a new meaning. Her relationship with young Jaime brings back old memories. In the second part, after the death of her estranged father, Flavia (32) moves to her farm with her wife Mara. The couple suffer a shock of reality when facing the harshness of rural life. The contact with the abandoned house reveals to Flavia unknown aspects of her father. She begins to suspect that there is something supernatural in the woods.
7.7This captivating documentary on J. Robert Oppenheimer, the architect of the atomic bomb, explores his journey before the historic test and reveals the burden he carried after. De-classified documents, rare film footage and exclusive interviews, including Oppenheimer's grandson, show an intimate exploration of the burden Oppenheimer carried and the profound global impact still being debated today.
5.0Melodrama involving an extramarital affair set in the world of cabaret.
5.2Jean-Pierre Melville's "The Red Circle" is summarised in a one-minute animation.
4.9A former FBI agent must stop a crazy man from blowing up bombs.
Life as a pilot was never easy, filled with long hours and the weight of responsibility. One day, after an exhausting shift, a pilot fell into a deep sleep. In his dream, he was soaring high above the clouds, expertly navigating a sleek jet plane. The sky was endless, painted in hues of orange and blue, as he prepared to land at a bustling airport. The landing was flawless, and as he stepped off the plane, a beautiful girl approached, asking for a photo. They smiled as the camera clicked, capturing a moment of pride and joy. As he began his journey home in the dream, a sudden sound interrupted him-a doorbell. He blinked awake to find his sister at the door, smiling and saying, "Dinner's ready!" The pilot chuckled, realizing it had all been a dream. But in that brief escape, he had experienced the thrill of his job and a reminder of the simple joys of life. This film captures the dual reality of a pilot's life-hard work and fleeting dreams.
5.0Cowboy Jack Horton searches for the killer of his father and brother, both of whom were found with an ace of clubs pinned to their bodies.
6.1After the death of their abusive father, two estranged twin brothers must reunite and sell off his property.
4.0Researchers reveal the presence of a supreme interdimensional intelligence that has been manipulating mankind for centuries. Interviews with experiencers and alien abductees expose a sinister agenda behind the alien presence on Earth.