Raglan by the Sea
Gary McCormick heads west to Raglan, to ask "What goes on here? Why do people live here? What do they do?". To find out he goes surfing on the famous left-hand point break, hangs with hippies and Dave McArtney, catches Midge Marsden and the Mudsharks at the Harbour View Hotel, and discusses land rights with kaumatua Sam Kereopa. The recipe — McCormick as genial small town anthropologist discovering the locals — earned this a 1989 LIFTA award, and inspired long-running series Heartland. McArtney composed the soundtrack; Finola Dwyer (An Education) produces.
Celebrating Dave McArtney
Singer, songwriter and guitarist Dave McArtney achieved fame with Kiwi music legends Hello Sailor, then went solo with his band the Pink Flamingos. He composed the classic song 'Gutter Black', about “dole bludgers living in Ponsonby” and now iconic as the theme tune to Outrageous Fortune. Remembe...
Mai Time - Series 12, Episode 18
Mai Time was an influential magazine show for Māori youth, screening for a decade on Saturday mornings on TV2. This episode looks at the place of ta moko (tattoo), interviewing Robert Ruha, a 27-year-old with a full-face moko. Mai Time crew visit Otara Music Arts Centre, a Matariki exhibition at Whaingaroa (Raglan), and then artist Lisa Reihana finds “more mean art by the sea”: Brett Graham and Rachel Rakena’s Aniwaniwa exhibition at the 52nd Venice Biennale. Aptly, the artwork explores the 1947 flooding of the village of Horahora for a hydroelectric scheme.
Children of the Sun
In this cult surf film — this excerpt is the first seven minutes — Andrew McAlpine gets in the Chevy, chucks the longboard on the roof and follows a group of pioneering riders on a mission around New Zealand and Australian coastlines, from Piha to Noosa. Filmed from 1965 - 1967, the Kiwi Endless Summer evoked a laid-back era where the ride was the prize. The classic surfing scenes — some filmed from an onboard camera housed in a DIY perspex case — are scored to surf rock and interspersed with sunburnt, bikini-clad relics of 60s beach culture.
Encounter - Take a Girl like You
With her election in 1975 at age 23, Marilyn Waring became NZ’s youngest MP. This TV doco, directed by George Andrews, follows her as she settles into parliamentary life and prepares her maiden speech. Waring happily takes guidance on House decorum from a venerable Keith Holyoake, but is unwilling to let her age or inexperience deflect her advocacy for youth and women’s issues. Her relationship with PM Rob Muldoon is already cautious. It will be more confrontational eight years later when she provokes his ill-fated calling of an early election in 1984.
Last Paradise
Forty-five years in the making, this documentary looks at the history of Kiwi adventure sport. Via spectacular — original and archive — footage, it follows the pioneers (AJ Hackett et al) from sheep farm-spawned maverick surf kids to pre-Lonely Planet OEs chasing the buzz; and the innovative toys and pursuits that resulted. From the Hamilton Jet to the bungee, No.8 fencing wire smarts are iterated. The exhilaration of adventure is underpinned by a poignant ecological message — that the places where the paradise chasers could express themselves are now in peril.
Finola Dwyer: An education in production...
Internationally successful Kiwi film producer Finola Dwyer began her career as an editor at the National Film Unit and then moved on to editing and producing at TVNZ. Dwyer migrated over to the film industry and worked as an editor and producer. Some of the memorable New Zealand films she worked on include Came a Hot Friday, Starlight Hotel, and The Quiet Earth. In the 90s, Dwyer moved to the UK where she has made a name for herself producing films such as Backbeat, An Education and Dean Spanley.
Bruce Morrison: Heartland, poetry and liquor bottles…
Bruce Morrison's career as a producer, director and writer has brought some memorable New Zealand stories to the screen. He has been involved in a number of arts shows such as Kaleidoscope and Profiles, as well as poetry documentaries The Roaring 40's Tour and The Road to Jerusalem. Morrison directed the feature films Constance, Shaker Run and Queen City Rocker, and was a long-time director on Gary McCormick's iconic Heartland documentary series.
McCormick Country - Series Two, Episode One
This 1989 chat show saw Gary McCormick invite guests onto his sofa for a cuppa. First up is WWF wrestler Don 'The Rock' Muraco. Unfazed by being called an ugly baby, the Hawaiian warns the kids to not try his wrestling moves (or crystal meth) at home and demonstrates a hold on the host. He's joined by actor Ian Watkin who talks about being a coaster, Blerta and cricket fandom. The show was directed by Bruce Morrison (Heartland) and produced by Finola Dwyer (Oscar-nominated for An Education); who teamed with McCormick on the acclaimed Raglan by the Sea doco.
Death of the Land
This courtroom drama sets in conflict opinions about the proposed sale of a block of Māori ancestral land. The arguments are intercut with footage of the 1975 land march, and Jim Moriarty comments on proceedings as a tangata whenua conscience. The drama shows its stage origins (it was adapted by Rowley Habib from his 1976 play) but it is passionate and articulate, and is notable as the first TV drama to be written by a Māori scriptwriter. The grievances aired echoed contemporary events, particularly the Eva Rickard-led occupation of the Raglan Golf Course.