Catherine Madigan

The Drum

With the resurgence of taonga pūoro, one musical instrument remains conspicuously absent from Māori music —pahū (drum). In this documentary Te Pahū, composer Hirini Melbourne (ONZM) and ethnologist Te Warena Taua trace the history of pahū, from musical accompaniment to being the manawa (heart) of communication and communities. Musicians and carvers bring to life the lost beat of pahū by creating a version using modern techniques. Pioneering Māori filmmaker Merata Mita (Patu!) directed Te Pahū, while Rawiri Paratene (Whale Rider) co-wrote and produced it.

Capital in the Twenty-First Century

Film adaptation of French economist Thomas Piketty's ground-breaking global bestseller of the same name: an eye-opening journey through wealth and power.

6 Days

London, England, April 1980. Six terrorists assault the Embassy of Iran and take hostages. For six days, tense negotiations are held while the authorities decide whether a military squad should intervene.

White Lies

A medicine woman - a giver of life - is asked to hide a secret which may protect one life but which will destroy another.

Giselle

GISELLE is acclaimed director Toa Fraser's inter­pretation of the Royal New Zealand Ballet's production of Giselle. The classic story of love, erotism and death has been reinterpreted by Fraser to include both the on stage performance of the ballet, and an off-stage romance – interwoven with the ballet – that tells of two itinerant dancers, separated by time, distance and their abiding love for each other.

Working Day

A giant working man doing the natural wonders of New Zealand is doing his final day at work, but the Maori tribe are not impressed after finding him filling up the water in a lake.

Blank Spaces

A young hiker, in New Zealand, tries to claim the last blank space on the map for his own.

Something Special

A young war veteran explores the magnificent wilds of New Zealand to fulfill the last wish of a close friend who died in combat. This is a powerful film about friendship, loss, and healing.

Frosty Man and the BMX Kid

In this short James Rolleston (Boy) stars as a Kiwi lad who banters with an elderly bearded fulla (Bruce Allpress) who claims to be God; the 'BMX Kid' challenges him to a Lake Wakatipu bomb competition to prove it. Kiwi stuntman/director Tim McLachlan's film was a finalist in Your Big Break, a filmmaking contest run by Tourism New Zealand which attracted over 1000 scripts from around the globe. Five finalists were given the chance to turn their scripts into a short film. The brief was to "capture the spirit of 100% Pure New Zealand — the youngest country on earth".

Beyond Borders

Sarah Jordan, an American living in London in 1984, is married to the son of a wealthy British industrialist. She encounters Nick Callahan, a renegade doctor, whose impassioned plea for help to support his relief efforts in war-torn Africa moves her deeply. As a result, Sarah embarks upon a journey of discovery that leads to danger, heartbreak and romance in the far corners of the world.

Georgie Girl

In 1999, the largely conservative Wairarapa district in New Zealand elected a former cabaret performer/actress named Georgina Beyer to the country's House of Parliament -- a seemingly unremarkable event in that country's history except for the fact that Beyer is a transsexual and may very well be the first transsexual in the world to be elected to a national office. In their 2002 biographical documentary Georgie Girl, co-directors Peter Wells and Annie Goldson highlight the popular Member of Parliament's rapid rise through local government to prominence in the New Zealand national government.

Punitive Damage

The story of New Zealander Helen Todd's law suit against an Indonesian general that she pursued after her son, Kamal, was shot dead in the Dili massacre in East Timor.

Never Say Die

Investigative journalist Alf Winters (Morrison), meets his American girlfriend, Melissa Jones (Eilbacher), at Auckland airport. As they park outside Alf's house, it explodes. It is soon apparent that persons unknown want them dead, but the police are either skeptical or in the pay of those responsible. They play hide and seek around New Zealand with the stalkers, all the while coping with car chases, plane crashes, bullets and explosions.

Willow

The evil Queen Bavmorda hunts the newborn princess Elora Danan, a child prophesied to bring about her downfall. When the royal infant is found by Willow, a timid farmer and aspiring sorcerer, he's entrusted with delivering her from evil.