Michael Hurst

Mysterious Ways

Choosing between the love of a good man and the love of God is a tough call especially for vicar Peter Simmons. His tranquil life is rudely interrupted when he rashly proposes marriage to Jason his Samoan boyfriend, in church. As the news breaks globally of their forbidden sexual relationship, Peter’s place in the church is threatened and his belief in God is challenged to breaking point. The only thing that can save Peter is a miracle.

Princess of Chaos

Days after Auckland's mayor wins re-election, a blogger reveals an affair between Len Brown and Bevan Chuang. When everyone expects the 'Other Woman' to stay silent, Bevan tells the media her story.

Northspur

In a violent, post-pandemic world, a peace-loving man is forced on a desperate journey to find life-saving drugs for his wife - but to get them he must first help an ornery old man defend his cabin against all-comers.

Dead

Dane ‘Marbles’ Marbeck can see ghosts, thanks to a homemade drug: his late father’s neurological medication mixed with marijuana. Officer Jayson Tagg, a wannabe super-cop on the trail of a serial killer, ends up murdered. So when Marbles’ mum plans to sell the family farm, and the only way of buying the house off her is taking the money offered by Tagg in exchange for his help, Marbles accepts. The unlikely duo of stoner medium and ghost cop struggle to reconcile their differences while they navigate their way through ghouls, perverts, a mysterious hooded figure, and an unexpected shot at love. It becomes clear the only way Marbles and Tagg will solve the case with their souls intact is to confront their deepest regrets and overcome their prejudices.

View from Olympus

Documentary from Geoffrey Cawthorn

Art That Moves: The Work of Len Lye

Len Lye (1901-1980) was a pioneer of experimental animation, and also of kinetic sculpture. This short film dramatically presents 18 minutes inside the head of the artist as a teenager. The opening scenes are set in New Zealand in the year 1917, on the day when Lye (setting out on his bicycle to deliver newspapers) makes his excited discovery that motion can be the basis for a radically new approach to art.

Bitch Slap

Three bad girls - a down-and-out stripper, a drug-running killer, and a corporate powerbroker - arrive at a remote desert hideaway to extort and steal $200 million in diamonds from a ruthless underworld kingpin.

The Map Reader

Small-town New Zealand comedy-drama about Michael (Jordan Selwyn) - a 16-year-old whose passion for maps helps him escape his ordinary life and enjoy a state of isolation from those around him. But there are three women he can’t shut out – his single mother Amelia, a blind 20-year-old called Mary and Alison , a friend whose ‘grace betrays darker secrets’ apparently.

The Tattooist

American tattoo artist Jake Sawyer wanders the world, exploring and exploiting ethnic themes in his tattoo designs. At a tattoo expo in Singapore, he gets his first glimpse at the exotic world of traditional Samoan tattoo (tatau), and, in a thoughtless act, unwittingly unleashes a powerful angry spirit. In his devastating journey into Pacific mysticism, Jake must find a way to save his new love, Sina and recover his own soul.

We're Here to Help

A Kafkaesque docudrama of an actual case involving a Christchurch small businessman and the New Zealand Inland Revenue Department. Most people can relate to running up against a bureaucrat (especially the tax man), who knows he can cause you trouble if you say something he doesn't like and then proceeds to use his power to hurt you. In this case, the businessman, Dave Henderson refuses to give in and, for the most part, kept his sense of humour.

The Last Magic Show

An emotionally traumatized stage magician has "escaped" into a fantasy world where he has real magical powers, but his career has taken him to performing at childrens' birthday parties. However, if he can find another stage assistant, his sleezy manager will give him another stage opportunity. Mostly he needs to find his way out of his mental state and that path is guided by some unexpected people he meets.

Treasure Island Kids: The Monster of Treasure Island

Part two of the Treasure Island Kids Series follows Charlie, a rebellious teenager sent to summer camp by his parents. This is not any old summer camp, this is the real Island.

Fracture

A young solo mother loves her son and his needs are formost, but she still has room in her heart for her very broken brother, even as her fundamentalist mother rejects her. But when the brother is responsible for a woman's broken neck, during his burglary of her house, families are changed as crisis amplifies and at times the young mother seems to be the only adult.

Love Mussel

In this mockumentary, Kevin Smith plays himself covering the story of a New Zealand town after the discovery that a local shellfish, the geoduck (pronounced "gooey duck") has the properties of Viagra.

I'll Make You Happy

Siggy (Jennifer Ward-Lealand) is a teenage "bad girl" who lives and works in a red-light district of Auckland, New Zealand. Just like her fellow streetwalkers, Siggy constantly dreams of leaving "the life" behind. When she learns one day that her pimp is planning a big drug score, Siggy decides to seize the day -- and her future -- by grabbing the loot.

Young Hercules

At an academy for mythological warriors, 17-year-old Hercules meets Jason, the next in line to rule Corinth. When Jason discovers that his father is ill, Hercules decides to seek out the Golden Fleece that could cure him. But limitations to his powers, as well as his half-brother Ares, stand in his way.

Hercules and Xena - The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus

Mighty Zeus brings Hercules' mother, Alcmene, to Mount Olympus, and Hercules, believing she has been kidnapped, leads a rescue mission to save her. Zeus' jealous wife, Hera, decides that it should now be her time to rule the universe. Hera steals the Chronos Stone, source of the God's power, and unleashes the four Titans from their eons of imprisonment. With these angry behemoths on the loose, only the combined forces of Hercules and Xena, together with their trusty sidekicks Iolaus and Gabrielle, can save Mount Olympus.

Highwater

A big-city director working in advertising discovers a better life in small-town New Zealand.

A Moment Passing

A fisherman is swept into the sea by a freak wave. He desperately fights for his life only to find his apparent survival is not what it seems.

Hercules & Xena: Wizards of the Screen

Members of the audience fight against stage performers set to a specially created Xena/Hercules movie.

Project: Assassin

Big brother is watching you out of the dark. He might be in your room, he might be in your head, he might be your friend - but do never expect him to be friendly.

Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur

Hercules has settled down with his wife and children, but misses the good old days traveling around having exciting adventures. Then one day he is persuaded out of his farming "retirement" to help a distant village which is being attacked by an unseen monster. "Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur" is the fifth out of five made for TV movies that spawned the series "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys".

Hercules in the Underworld

When villagers begin disappearing it is discovered that they had fallen through a crack in the earth which goes straight to Hades. Hercules once again comes to the rescue and faces one of his most difficult challenges, and must prove himself as a man as well as a god. "Hercules in the Underworld" is the fourth made for TV movie in the series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

Hercules and the Amazon Women

Hercules and Iolaus take time out from Iolaus' wedding preparations, to help a distant village under attack from "monsters". When they reach their destination, they find the monsters are in fact Amazonian women who are controlled by Hera. "Hercules and the Amazon Women" is the first movie-length pilot episode of the television series "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys".

Desperate Remedies

In a town called Hope on the edge of Britain's empire, desperations clash: the beautiful Dorothea Brook is desperate to free her pregnant sister Rose from the clutches of Fraser, a fortune hunter. A local politician, William Poyner, is desperate for cash and thinks marriage to Dorothea will save him. Dorothea hires Lawrence Hayes, a rough but handsome Argonaut, to bribe Fraser with jewels and to marry Rose; Hayes desperately loves Dorothea and may marry Rose to stay close to her. But Dorothea has a lover, the ravishing Anne Cooper, who encourages the match with Poyser to give the lovers cover. Are these remedies, each desperate in its turn, going to make anyone happy?

Typhon's People

A scientist in New Zealand has a secret lab where experiments are performed on humans. When he is assassinated, opposing forces rush to his hideaway to suppress or expose his secrets.

Dangerous Orphans

Three orphaned boys - O'Malley, Rossi and Moir - become blood brothers. When they grow up, they plot revenge on the crooks who got away with shooting O'Malley's father. The crooks are doing very nicely importing heroin and laundering money. The boys begin by killing one of the crooks, stealing his indentification and cleaning out the guy's Swiss bank account. But their revenge does not stop here... And the American end of the operation is getting very curious.

Death Warmed Up

A 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.

The Bar

In The Bar, a who's who of the 1990s Kiwi acting community play punters at an Auckland bar. Director Dorthe Scheffmann (Vermilion) made the short film at infamous Ponsonby pub SPQR, which she co-owned. A handheld camera weaves in and around the space, as a drug dealer and his friend (Peter Tait and Bruce Hopkins) talk business; yuppies hold forth on political issues (Peter Elliott, Harry Sinclair and Simon Prast); and a couple (Jennifer Ward-Lealand and Michael Hurst) try to hold their relationship together.

The Footstep Man

Sam is a sound technician, who must literally walk in the footsteps of the characters on the screen. A "film within a film" that connects the world of modern film-making to the Paris of painter Toulouse-Lautrec and his model/lover Mireille.