The Piano
Ada (Holly Hunter) has been mute since she was six. She travels from Scotland with her daughter (Anna Paquin) and her grand piano to colonial New Zealand, for an arranged marriage. When her husband, a stoic settler (Sam Neill) sells the piano to Baines (Harvey Keitel), Ada and Baines come to a secret agreement. She can win her piano back key by key by playing for him, as he acts out his desire for her. An especially big hit in Europe, Jane Campion's Oscar-winning tale of sexual emancipation in the bush is the only NZ film to have won the top award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Encounter - I Think I Go to New Zealand
This edition of TV2’s Sunday documentary slot explores the life of “pioneer woman” Lukre Martinovich. Martinovich departed the Dalmatian coast for New Zealand in 1907, as a 21-year-old mail-order bride. She recounts experiences starting a family of 12, while scraping kauri gum in Northland’s ‘black swamp’. A visit to Otamatea Kauri Museum spurs memories, and some of her 160 descendants gather at Ruawai Bowling Club to celebrate her birthday. Dancing stops for Lukre (also known as Lucy) to follow a punt on the races on the radio, with the local priest on hand as support.
Zoe McIntosh
Zoe McIntosh first won attention for a documentary on mail order brides, made while she studying at Ilam Art School in Christchurch. In 2010 Lost in Wonderland, her documentary about idiosyncratic barrister Rob Moodie, won the Qantas award for Best Popular Documentary. Currently developing a feature and directing commercials, McIntosh has also helmed award-winning gangster-on-holiday short Day Trip and bogan buddy romp The Deadly Ponies Gang.
Jayashree Panjabi
Jayashree Panjabi began her television career in 1980 as a presenter on children's staple Play School, which she later returned to direct. During (and after) eight years with programme powerhouse NHNZ, Panjabi directed and produced documentaries around the world.
Ray Collins
Ray Collins was working in a camera-shop when a senior BCNZ cameraman offered him a job on the spot. Collins was shooting items for the main evening news his first morning on the job. Based in Dunedin for much of the 15 years he spent with the state broadcaster, Collins shot for Spot On, Fair Go and Wild Track. Collins left TVNZ in 1990, and now shoots and makes programmes from his Dunedin base.