Internet comedy sensations Jimi Jackson and Thomas Sainsbury have a close encounter with some aliens in this big screen sci-fi comedy. On learning that a UFO has crash-landed near his Waikato town, Riko (Jackson) ends up clashing with Peter the 'alientologist' (Sainsbury), whose thoughts on aliens are far from friendly. Alien Addiction is the first movie from director Shae Sterling, who has directed music videos for artists including Stan Walker, Scribe, Brooke Fraser and Maisey Rika.  

This Inside New Zealand doco takes a calm, no nonsense look at one man’s encounter with heroin addiction — a habit he estimates cost him a seven figure sum. Far from being the clichéd junkie loser, Tim was a husband, father and successful businessman who remarkably didn’t think twice about dabbling with a drug that had already taken the life of one of his sisters. Nine years after it led him to detox and rehab, Tim and his mother and sister talk about his addiction and its impact on their lives — without glamorising or demonising the drug or its users.

In 1989 dancer Douglas Wright returned home to choreograph and form his own company. This half-hour TV documentary, marking the launch of his work Gloria, looks back on a blossoming career that began at 21 — when he took up ballet to overcome a heroin addiction. After becoming a star with Limbs, Wright joined prestigious troupes in London and New York. Now, as opening night looms, he is acutely aware of the danger of pushing his dancers too hard as he fights to get the best out of them on an ambitious, demanding piece. Douglas passed away in November 2018.

In 2013 the Psychoactive Substances Act became law in Aotearoa, effectively outlawing synthetic cannabinoids. This Vice documentary looks at how they continue to affect West Auckland — where people are still addicted, but the drugs are now on the black market. Tammara shares her experiences of trying to get clean, and dealing with treatment services. Her father rues the impact of synthetics on her life, and emergency responders add their views. Meanwhile ex user Trey talks about those he’s lost. In 2017 deaths linked to synthetic drug use showed a major spike in New Zealand.

Māori Television’s award-winning news and current affairs show took its bold name from a colonial government department. This 2017 episode profiles four non-conformists: Mongrel Mob boss Rex Timu’s war on P; Raihania Tipoki's waka protest against East Coast oil surveying; Taranaki mother Tina Tupe's preparations for her own tangi; and globetrotting screenwriter David Seidler. Seidler makes an annual trip to a Tarawera cabin – he has a Kiwi son to a Māori woman – and talks about his Oscar-winning movie The King’s Speech, and his admiration for kapa haka.

Open Door is a community-based TV series that allows groups or individuals to apply to make a documentary about an issue that concerns them. This programme is about problem gambling. It features frank and revealing interviews with gamblers, as well as support information. The doco describes gambling as a “secret disease” that affects all types of people across all socio-economic groups. It explains that there are “action gamblers”, who are attracted to the risk and thrill, and “escape gamblers”, who gamble to escape some form of emotional pain.

This February 1994 interview sees Paul Holmes quiz legendary couple Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, ahead of their concert at the Auckland Town Hall. The duo talk prayer, drugs, scars (June memorably describes Johnny’s face), controversial US ice skater Tonya Harding, and shopping for antiques in New Zealand. The duo then perform their Grammy-winning 1967 version of 'Jackson'. The song was reprised by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, performing as Cash and Carter, in 2005 biopic Walk the Line: "We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout."

With her long flowing hair, Allison Durbin was NZ's late 60s Queen of Pop. A recording artist from the age of 14, she had her biggest hit with 'I Have Loved Me a Man' in 1968. It spent two weeks at the top of the local charts and was the year's Loxene Golden Disc winner. By 1969, Durbin was based permanently in Melbourne where she won Australia's best female artist award for three years running. As the 70s progressed, she moved into country and western but her singing career was derailed by drug addiction and a 12 month prison sentence in 2007.

Haunting Douglas is a documentary portrait of dancer and choreographer Douglas Wright. It weaves interviews with footage of past performances, and extracts from his autobiography; from drug addiction and illness, to determination and triumph on the New York stage with the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Award-winning director Leanne Pooley captures Wright's resilience: "I need to make things to feel that I can cope with whatever reality is. For me, dancing, performing for people, is the ultimate mystery and the ultimate joy." Wright passed away in November 2018.