Outrageous Wellington rockers Head Like a Hole (aka HLAH) formed in 1990, taking their name from a Nine Inch Nails song. Masters of excess, they quickly made a name for themselves via unhinged live performances (not to mention a casual attitude to clothes on stage).  Sharing management, a record label and one obscure recording with Shihad, HLAH split in 1998 after four albums, in a state of disarray. After reforming for the 2009 Homegrown festival, further releases followed. Swagger of Thieves, a documentary on the band, that was a decade in the making, premiered in July 2017.

The Beatles, Hendrix, The White Stripes, Cat Power, Aretha...popular music is strewn with acts for whom a cover song has proven no compromise to credibility. This collection proves that popular music in New Zealand is no different. Alongside chart toppers from The Holidaymakers, Tex Pistol and cover queens When the Cat's Away, Crummer does Clapton, Jon Steven goes slightly Jamaican, Head Like a Hole do Springsteen — and  'Nature' and 'Shoop Shoop' get soome added guitars.

Released on an EP ahead of their second album Flik Y’Self Off Y’Self, the promo for 'Faster Hooves' showed that while Head Like A Hole had distilled the industrial-thrash of their grimy origins into a hookier, more polished sound, the band had lost none of their piss-taking humour. With the rocky outcrops of Wellington's Island Bay filling in for the Wild West, singer Nigel 'Booga' Beazley teeters precariously on a helpless donkey, in pursuit of villainous drummer Mark 'Hidee Beast' Hamill. Meanwhile the rest of band hang on nooses next to a boiling campfire pot of Wattie's finest.

This ambitious video for Head Like a Hole's cowpunk Bruce Springsteen cover was shot by commercials company Flying Fish — at vastly more expense than the low budget recording which supplies the soundtrack. There's more than a cursory nod to U2's LA rooftop video for 'Where The Streets Have No Name' (including fake radio coverage from Channel Z). But HLAH get a higher building, and, unlike U2's guerrilla effort, the apparent blessing of the city fathers (with Mayor Mark Blumsky on site). The video marked one of the last appearances of drummer Mark 'Hidee Beast' Hamill.

Head Like A Hole (aka HLAH) were a clap of heavy metal thunder over the jangly chords of the early 90s New Zealand music scene. Known for unhinged, "apeshit" live shows and outrageous clothing-optional antics, their flame died out amidst drugs and acrimony before a 21st Century reformation. This all-access passion project from director Julian Boshier was a decade in the making, tagging along with Nigel 'Booga' Beazley (and partner Tamzin), Nigel Regan et al, as the still rocking members of this distinctive Kiwi rock’n’roll family enter middle age: spats, moshing n’all.

NZ On Screen's Chinese in New Zealand Collection contains many pearls — from a run of impressive documentaries, to comedies and dramas that skewer stereotypes and explore relationships across cultures. Identity, family, colliding values and 19th century goldminers all make regular appearances, but they're only part of a far bigger story. Plus check out this backgrounder by Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon. 

In the best traditions of the Beatles, U2 and Head Like a Hole, Die! Die! Die! takes to a rooftop in New York for this video made by London-based director and editor Rohan Thomas. They sing of an urban nightmare of burning roads and bridges, places to avoid and not being able to return home – but the song's title takes full responsibility. The clip was the result of a guerilla shoot with a generator in 2009 that had them moved on from a series of prospective locations until they happened on an unguarded rooftop – to the surprise of nearby office workers.

In March and April 2001 slippers met gumboots when The Royal New Zealand Ballet went on a five-week long heartland tour. The ballerinas performed in community theatres and halls in places like Twizel, Putaruru, Taihape, and Alexandra. This Gibson Group TV One documentary chronicles the challenges – injuries, fatigue, motel life, provincial performance diets (junk food, baking), dodgy stages and wiring, romance on the road – and receptive locals. The programme includes work from local choreographers to famous ballets, with music from classical to Head Like a Hole.

Flesh D-Vice emerged out of the early 80s Wellington punk/skinhead scene although vocalist Gerald Dwyer preferred to describe their sound as "hard edged rock'n'roll". They released three albums imbued with comic book horror imagery, and also left their mark in Dwyer's enthusiastic patronage of his city's music. He started a label, promoted gigs and, as Flesh D-Vice wound down in the early 90s, managed new local bands Shihad and Head Like a Hole. Dwyer died in 1996 and Shihad recorded a version of the Flesh D-Vice anthem 'Flaming Soul' in his honour.

Director Dave Gibson heads to Wellington's red light district on Vivian Street to interview strippers and prostitutes for this TV One documentary. Night workers ply their trade on the busy street, and inside late night venues like Tiffany's strip club. The nearby Evergreen cafe is also used as a drop-in centre by the city's gay community. Prostitute Kayla talks about AIDS reducing client numbers, while stripper Crystal Lee is nervous before her first dance. Police mention an improved relationship with prostitutes; Tiffany's owner Brian Le Gros claims men visit his club for fun not nudity.