From the autobiographies by Janet Frame, the evocative tale of one woman's childhood and growing up. Directed by Jane Campion.

This film documents the extraordinary life of Colin McKenzie, pioneer NZ filmmaker. It also follows the equally fascinating contemporary story of how the work of this forgotten genius was brought to light. Written and directed by Costa Botes and Peter Jackson.

In a remote seaside village, a stranger becomes involved in public and personal crises. Directed by Barry Barclay and produced by John O'Shea.

River Queen is from an original story by Vincent Ward who co-wrote the screenplay with Toa Fraser.  Directed by Vincent Ward and produced by Don Reynolds and Chris Auty with co-producers Tainui Stephens and Richard Fletcher.  
The film is an intimate story set in an epic context in which a young woman finds herself on both sides of the battle lines during the wars between British and Maori soldiers in 1860s New Zealand.

Stickmen, directed by Hamish Rothwell from Nick Ward's script centres around three "Stickmen", playing an on-going stake game of pub pool that sees them touring the dark underbelly of Wellingtons pub scene. The film was released in 2002.

Two young men set out on a thousand-mile escapade in a tiny, yellow, stolen car. Goodbye Pork Pie is the exciting story of two very different young men - and of their incredible (and often very funny) thousand mile journey in a very small, stolen, yellow car. Written and directed by Geoff Murphy.

Smith is a man on the run, running from a broken marriage. Accidentally caught between two powers - a repressive Government and a violent resistance movement - he becomes a man alone...hunted and hostile, driven by the will to survive. Produced and directed by Roger Donaldson.

The World's Fastest Indian was written and  directed by Roger Donaldson and produced by Gary Hannam and Roger Donaldson.
The film tells the story of Burt Munro, a man who never let go of his dream to ride his 1920s Indian motorbike at Speedweek on the salt flats in Utah, USA.

No. 2 was written and directed by Toa Fraser and produced by Tim White, Philippa Campbell and Lydia Livingstone.  Based on Toa's award-winning play of the same name.
The heard has gone out of the Nanna Maria's family.  No more passion.  No more parties.  They don't even bother to fight anymore.  And Nanna Maria has had enough.

Whale Rider was directed by Niki Caro and produced by Tim Sanders, John Barnett and Frank Hubner in 2002.

Out of the Blue was written by Graeme Tetley with Robert Sarkies, directed by Rob Sarkies and produced by Steven O'Meagher and Tim White.
On November 13th 1990, in the small NZ seaside town of Aramoana, local man David Gray took a high-powered automatic weapon and shot dead 13 people. It remains the worst mass murder in NZ's history.

Black Sheep was written and directed by Jonathan King, and produced by Philippa Campbell. 
There are 40 million sheep in New Zealand... and they're pissed off. 

This resource, focusing on the New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC), is designed to support teaching in Level 3 Media Studies related to the New Zealand film industry.

The NZFC is particularly suitable as an aspect of media in its own right, or as part of a wider study of the NZ film industry. Scholarship students may also find it relevant for discussions on the relationship between media and wider society, and developments in a medium.

Sione's Wedding was written by James Griffin and Oscar Kightley.  The film was directed by Chris Graham and producers are John Barnett and Chloe Smith.  Paul Davis is executive producer.

The film is a comedy about four best friends, Michael, Albert, Stanley and Sela:  the ladies' man, the good buy, the party guy and the weird one - the boys,  They're first generation Samoan New Zealanders living out their lives in the suburban sleep-outs, basketball courts, high rise office buildings and hip hop clubs of Auckland, the biggest Polynesian city in the world.

The Sione's Wedding film study guide contains activities based on the achievement objectives in the New Zealand English curriculum.  They may provide a starting point for teachers wishing to design a unit based on the film. 

Making a documentary is a more complex activity than many viewers realise. The Rain of the Children is a highly ambitious example because it is feature-length, it combines a big historical story with complex personal stories, it uses reconstruction (dramatised events), and it moves between a number of different time levels. Its director, Vincent Ward, is among New Zealand’s most important and original film makers. For all these reasons, it is a rich documentary to study.