From the icons (Sky Tower, Otara Market, Rangitoto, The Bridge), celebs, clans and stereotypes (Jafas), to the streets (Queen St, K Road), and Super City suburbs (Ferndale, Mt Raskill, Morningside), this collection celebrates Auckland onscreen. Reel through the moods and the multicultural, metro, muggy charms of New Zealand’s largest city. In this backgrounder, No. 2 director Toa Fraser writes about Auckland as a place of myth, diversity and broken jaws.

Beatlemania hit New Zealand in June 1964, as this footage makes clear. Welcoming 'the Fab Four' to Auckland after they arrive from Wellington, Mayor Sir Dove-Myer Robinson repeatedly asks the noisily enthusiastic crowd to "hold it please". He shakes John Lennon's finger, and the Beatles lark around with poi and attempt to hongi members of a Māori culture group. George Harrison also features in a short opening interview. Lennon threatened not to perform unless police protection was upgraded, after the Beatles encountered large crowds while arriving at their hotel.

By the mid 1980s Auckland had shifted from city of sails, to city of cranes. In the lead-up to the 1987 sharemarket crash, it was in the grip of "an unprecedented building boom". This 1986 Kaleidoscope report looks at the demolition and development from an architectural angle, as malls and mirror glass transform the city. Interviewees include developer Seph Glew of the (ill-fated) Chase Corporation, and his architects. Architecture critic Mark Wigley rates the BNZ Tower an "insult", but says Auckland's "crude" new buildings have at least provoked debate about what the city needs. 

Presenter Keith Bracey picks out the highlights from 1966 for the northern edition of magazine show Town and Around. 'Kiwi gent' Barry Crump, sharp-shooting country singer Tex Morton, singer Lee Grant and axeman Sonny Bolstad feature, alongside visitors including US comedian Shelley Berman, actor Chips Rafferty and English TV presenter (Pavlova Paradise author) Austin Mitchell, who criticises the state of local media. Keith's picks gravitate to the light-hearted, with probing coverage of gardening with gnomes and a man who uses a carrot as a musical instrument.

In this 1986 Kaleidoscope piece, presenter Mark Wigley offers his take on grand designs in Auckland housing. Fresh from completing a doctorate at Auckland University in architectural theory, Wigley argues that New Zealand has "had a building tradition rather than an architectural tradition". He finds that contemporary houses (from a David Mitchell-designed house in Parnell, to a Paritai Drive mansion) are starting to explore potential beyond simple boxes, toward being works of art. Wigley went on to become Dean of Architecture at Columbia University in the United States.

It’s possible that Auckland’s early 60s urban growth has never seemed bigger, brighter or bolder than it does in this breathless NFU newsreel. As the city encroaches ever further into the countryside, suburbs blossom and improved roads, motorways and the new harbour bridge keep the citizenry moving. In the CBD, construction is booming with a 23 storey civic centre on the way up and an obsession with bigger and better parking buildings. Improved infrastructure is also demanded — with upgrades to ports, railways, telephone exchanges and sewage facilities.

This 1982 Lookout documentary charts Samoan novelist and poet Albert Wendt’s personal view of Samoans in Auckland. Set mainly in what was then predominantly Samoan Grey Lynn, Wendt looks at how New Zealand-born Samoans maintain the traditions of their homeland. He also examines the close ties between those in New Zealand and the wider ainga, or extended family, back home. The church’s role in the community is highlighted, along with sports. Wendt also addresses what he sees as the double edged sword of remittance: sending money back to islands.

In May 1871 Auckland became a city. One hundred years later reporter Hamish Keith looks back to see how Auckland developed and ahead to where it is going. In 1971 600,000 people lived in the greater Auckland area and it was rapidly expanding. Keith notes volcanoes, tribal war, pioneers, "booze and butter" booms, problematic bridges, PI influence, cars and suburbia; and muses on Auckland’s “marching to its own drum” spirit. Anticipating Super City angst, then-Auckland mayor Sir Dove-Myer Robinson frets that sprawling unruly Auckland is a city in search of a soul.

This episode of the Sticky Pictures’ arts show covers a 13 July 2008 concert that combined the musical talents of the Little Bushman with composer John Psathas and the Auckland Philharmonia. Trinity Roots alumnus Warren Maxwell is the frontman for Little Bushman and is a behind-the-scenes guide as they prepare their trademark psychedelic blues for Psathas (Olympics 2004 opening ceremony score composer) to wrangle for orchestral collaboration. Philharmonia met harmonica in one-off gig at Auckland Town Hall. The doco was directed by Mark Albiston.

This National Film Unit travelogue, produced for the NZ Government Department of Tourist and Health Resorts, finds post-war Auckland basking in sunshine. Flowers bloom in parks and gardens, city streets bustle and public swimming pools are packed. Trams and flying boats are a reminder of a by-gone era in the city's transportation while a rug factory is a colourful if unexpected inclusion. Last stop is a visit to Kawau Island — home of Governor Grey's Mansion House — where the sun also shines and aquaplaning, sports and bush walks are the order of the day.