The far out meets the Far North in director Florian Habicht's tribute to a community of characters drawn together by a desire to demolition derby. Behind the bangs, prangs, and blow-ups, the heart and soul of a small town — Kaikohe — is laid bare. “Having work as generous and high-spirited as Kaikohe Demolition on the programme makes my job so easy it's embarrassing!”, Bill Gosden, Director of International NZ Film Festivals, 2004. Note: the second clip is a subtitled version of the mud-splattered motorhead-delighting film.

Billy T’s unique brand of humour is captured here at its affable, non-PC best in this compilation of skits from his popular 80s TV shows. There’s Te News (“... somebody pinched all the toilet seats out of the Kaikohe Police Station ... now the cops got nothing to go on!”) with Billy in iconic black singlet and yellow towel; a bro’s guide to home improvement; the first contact skits, and Turangi Vice. No target is sacred (God, The IRA, the talking Japanese sketch) and there are classic advertising spoofs for Pixie Caramel’s “last requests” and Lands For Bags’ “where’d you get your bag”.

Florian Habicht returns to Northland (home surf and turf and Kaikohe Demolition territory) to chronicle the annual Red Snapper Classic fishing competition. The first prize is $50,000 but the participants chase the joy of the cast as much as the purse. The solitary figures on the epic sweep of Ninety Mile Beach provide striking images, while Habicht teases out their innermost thoughts and some fine homespun philosophy. A 50s era soundtrack is an apt match while the closing underwater sequences are a stunning counterpoint to the anglers' endeavours. 

Poet Hone Tuwhare was born in the far north, near Kaikohe, but forced by poverty to leave as a child. "75 years after Hone Glenn Colquhoun (doctor, poet, Tuwhare fan) wrote a poem in the Listener inviting him back." Hone accepted the invitation and this documentary is a record of his March 2002 Hokianga homecoming, taking in song, readings and plenty of laughs and kai moana. Silver-haired Tuwhare is irresistible, crooning Sinatra, charming school children with bawdy jokes or channelling the fire of his most famous poem: "For this is no mere axe to blunt!"

Innocent Gert, who works in a rubbish dump, can't believe his luck when he's ordered by his imperious boss to take his beautiful mute daughter, Princess Plum, to meet her prospective husband. The two set off on a mythical quest through a fairytale Far North landscape. On the way they encounter freaks and monsters, and experience danger and romance. In an unusual reversal, the voices and music for Woodenhead were all recorded before filming. This surreal debut feature from Elam grad Florian Habicht took Aotearoa to the art house with unprecedented wit, weirdness and wonder.

“The big ALL FUN show for the whole family to enjoy!” was the tagline for this musical comedy classic. Sir Howard Morrison (as himself) and Rotorua are the stars in the tiki-flavoured tale. Moving from Sydney to a Rotorua music festival the plot centres on a romance between a young drummer (Gary Wallace) and his girl Judy (Carmen Duncan) and the hurdles they face to stay true. But this is only an excuse for a melange of madcap, pep-filled musical fun. Made by John O’Shea’s Pacific Films, it features Kiri Te Kanawa, Lew Pryme and Aussie star Norman Rowe.