In May 1995, 22-year old David Bain was convicted of murdering five members of his family with a rifle in their Dunedin home. Bain would spend over a decade in prison before being acquitted on all charges. National debate around the 1995 verdict was galvanised by the release of two conflicting books on the case — Joe Karam’s David and Goliath and James McNeish’s The Mask of Sanity. The former All Black and the writer go head-to-head in this often testy Holmes debate from 1997. Ten years later, the Privy Council quashed Bain’s 1995 conviction; he was acquitted in a 2009 retrial.   

Christchurch property developer Dave Henderson experienced bankruptcy, accusations of fraud, and 25 plus tax audits. This Kafkaesque comedy is based on his best-selling book about a five-year battle with the tax department, over a $924,000 bill. Kiwi/Scot actor Erik Thomson returned from Australia to play Henderson, while a near-unrecognisable Michael Hurst cameos as MP Rodney Hide. Lumiere reviewer Simon Sweetman praised the “superb” casting, and Thomson’s playful performance. The film is adapted and directed by screen vet Jonothan Cullinane.

This online mockumentary series sees Sid (played by Byron Coll of “Nonu, Nonu, Nonu. Boom!” Mastercard ad fame) receive Woodville Arts Council funding to document a landmark David vs Goliath legal battle won by the town against BPC, a Belgian petrochemical giant. This pilot episode sees Sid meet the locals and introduce the story of how they beat “the muscles from Brussels”. Clayweaver Productions received funding from NZ On Air’s digital media fund Ignite to produce the six short ‘webisodes’; Woodville was selected for indie film festival Raindance in 2013.