Watermark
Damon Fepulea'i's directing debut follows Megan (Olivia Tennet from Maddigan's Quest), a young girl who finds herself out of her depth amongst the mangroves. While out exploring, she meets two siblings and wants to make friends, but one of them is hostile and argues over who owns a bamboo stake. Megan runs off to play alone and while trying to catch a fish using the stake as a spear, has an accident. She's full of stubborn pride as the tide rises dangerously around her. Watermark debuted at the 2002 Rotterdam Film Festival, and features classic Kiwi song ‘Blue Smoke’.
Showcase - 1996 Grand Final
The Grand Final of this 1996 musical talent quest series Showcase was hosted by Ian Fraser. The nine finalists perform songs from Mozart on guitar, to 'Everything’s Gonna Be Alright'. The opening act is Akustik Fungi: Jason Kerrison, one half of the duo, would later find fame as singer for chart-topping band Opshop, and return the favour as a judge on New Zealand’s Got Talent. The Showcase judges are Sir Howard Morrison, actor Rima Te Wiata, Dame Malvina Major (who performs) and Eddie Rayner (who got his break on TV talent show New Faces, while part of Split Enz).
Derek Fox
Helen Clark once described Derek Fox as the pre-eminent Māori broadcaster of his generation. He is a journalist and publisher whose work in Māori media spans print, radio and television. Fox's name is synonymous with TVNZ's daily Māori news programme Te Karere; Marae, which he fronted for many years; and Māori Television, which he was instrumental in setting up.
Britten - Backyard Visionary
In the late 1980s, Kiwi John Britten developed and built a revolutionary racing motorcycle. He pursued his dream all the way to Daytona International Speedway in Florida. In 1991 the underdog inventor came second against the biggest and richest manufacturers in the world. Britten: Backyard Visionary documents the maverick motorcycle designer as he and his crew rush to create an even better bike for the next Daytona. After arriving in Florida, another all-nighter is required to fix an untested vehicle with many major innovations. Costa Botes writes about the documentary here.
Peter Tait
The versatile Peter Tait has shown an extremely keen eye over which short films to act in. His CV includes memorable roles in a run of offbeat classics: from legendary horror short Kitchen Sink (playing a very strange discovery) to The Singing Trophy (as an obsessed hunter), to Alison Maclean drama Talkback (an aggressive talkback caller) and satire Mon Desir (a boring husband). Tait has also created a number of his own projects — comical cricket short Bradman, postman tale Postscript, and two low-budget features: Back River Road, which was nominated for an NZ Film Award, and ensemble movie Not Set in Stone.
Alan Erson
Alan Erson captured the everyday lives of New Zealanders in 1990s documentary series First Hand. His directing credits also include Heartland and Nuclear Reaction. Since 2004 Erson has built a successful career in Australia as Head of Documentary and Factual Programmes for the ABC, and General Manager at Essential Media and Entertainment. In 2016 he became Managing Director at WildBear Entertainment.
Costa Botes
Costa Botes has had a long independent career as a director of drama (Stalin’s Sickle, Saving Grace ), a run of feature-length documentaries (Angie, Candyman, The Last Dogs of Winter) and at least one film that is very difficult to classify (Forgotten Silver). Botes also spent many years as a film critic, with a reputation for an acerbic wit.
Florian Habicht
Though most of his films have been documentaries, Florian Habicht's work has often blurred the boundaries between truth and fiction. His CV includes offbeat fairytale Woodenhead, two love letters to New Zealand's far north (Kaikohe Demolition, Land of the Long White Cloud), portraits of Kiwi theatre legend Warwick Broadhead and British band Pulp, and his award-winning, genre-stretching Love Story.