Hunger for the Wild - Series One, Episode Three (Mokihinui River whitebait)
This award-winning lifestyle series took Wellington chefs Al Brown and Steve Logan out of their fine dining restaurant kitchen, and off on a mission to put the local in 'locally sourced' kai. In this episode it's wild food on a wild river — whitebaiting on the Mokihinui. Brownie gets a primo 'stand' and coaster advice; and Steve gets some Green Fern lager and meets a Department of Conservation ranger who tells the whitebait's perilous life story and nets a grown-up: a kokopu. Then it's riverside fritters with beurre blanc sauce and asparagus, washed down with a glass of pinot gris.
The Top End of New Zealand
This NFU tourism promo from 1986 showcases all that the north of the North Island has to offer. As holidaymakers Dave and Julia peruse the sights and sounds of Auckland, they provide a high speed guided tour of its nightlife and many attractions. After Julia exits unexpectedly for LA — possibly to moonlight on another tourist film — Dave is joined by Jacky. The two venture up to Ninety Mile Beach and, after exploring the native bush and enjoying a spot of fishing, end their stay with a bonfire by the sea, a stark contrast to the cosmopolitan delights of Auckland.
Looking at New Zealand - The Third Island
This 1968 Looking at New Zealand episode travels to NZ’s third-largest island: Stewart Island/Rakiura. The history of the people who've faced the “raging southerlies” ranges from Norwegian whalers to the 400-odd modern folk drawn there by a self-reliant way of life. Mod-cons (phone, TV) alleviate the isolation, and the post office, store, wharf and pub are hubs. The booming industry is crayfish and cod fishing (an old mariner wisely feeds an albatross); and the arrival of tourists to enjoy the native birds and wildness anticipates future prospects for the island.
Grant Morris
After cutting his teeth on South Pacific Television soap Radio Waves, Christchurch-born Grant Morris went on to write comedy (The Billy T James Show) and children’s classic Count Homogenized — plus help create drama series Heroes and Inside Straight. Morris has continued to write since relocating to the United States in 1985, and is now a DJ on radio station It's New Orleans.
Robert Steele
A pioneer of the commercial use of 16mm film in post-war New Zealand, Robert Steele is arguably a lost name in the local screen industry. A portrait photographer who was making amateur films in 1930, he spent several years in his native Australia before returning to NZ for good in 1937. Steele screened his films at workplaces and trade fairs, and was a major producer of commercials in the first decade of Kiwi television.
Sia Trokenheim
Though you'd never know it from her Kiwi accent, Sia Trokenheim began acting in her native Sweden while still a child. In 2001 she relocated to New Zealand. Four years later she got her Kiwi screen break, playing the title role in low-budget thriller Luella Miller. In 2014 she won a Moa award for fractured family drama Everything We Loved; she also began starring in the first of two seasons of Step Dave, as a 30-something mother who dates a 24-year-old barman, despite the disapproval of her daughters. She went on to co-star opposite Australian David Wenham in Indian-NZ missing person drama Beyond the Known World.
Temuera Morrison
Temuera Morrison was acting on screen at age 11. Two decades later he won Kiwi television immortality as Doctor Ropata in Shortland Street, then rave international reviews as abusive husband Jake Heke in Once Were Warriors. Since reprising his Warriors role in a well-regarded sequel, Morrison has starred in Crooked Earth, Tracker and Mahana, hosted his own talk show and played Jango Fett in two Star Wars prequels.