Robyn Malcolm is the well-known Kiwi, and Vietnam is the far-flung place in this full-length Intrepid Journey. Writes Malcolm in her diary: "I expect to be enchanted, challenged and scared several times a day." If drinking snake wine, taking a pee in a corn field and witnessing the ceremonial sacrifice of a pig fits the bill, her expectations are fulfilled. Although some of the homestays are lacking in mod cons, Malcolm is glad for the experience. She also talks to Jimmy Pham, who runs the Koto cafe which trains street kids, visits the DMZ,  and falls in love with the ex port town of Hoi An. 

At the heart of this short film lies an unnamed tension between a father and his son. Teenager Elliot (Tim Hamilton) lives in quiet Rakaia helping his dad John (veteran actor Peter Tait, in vintage prickly form) run the family dairy farm, but their relationship is strained, at best. When Elliot decides to skip his responsibilities and meet up with his maybe friend, maybe girlfriend Laura (Albertine Jonas), the slow-burning tension between father and son comes to a head. Thicket received The Wallace Friends of the Civic Award at the 2017 NZ International Film Festival.

On this episode of the book show hosted by novelist Emily Perkins, the panel discusses Rachael King’s gothic toned second novel Magpie Hall. There’s a visit to Governors Bay on Banks Peninsular to meet a book club with a multi-national feel; and TVNZ journalist Tim Wilson talks about his favourite book – the ultimate in weighty tomes, Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past. In his ‘Under the Covers’ piece, Finlay Macdonald explores ‘A Good Keen Man’, Barry Crump’s breakthrough novel from 1960 – the work of a “man of the land with the soul of a poet”.

The second half of this documentary following the effects of the Christchurch earthquakes revisits its subjects in the days after the catastrophic events of 22 February. Devastation is now widespread, the death toll is growing and aftershocks number in the hundreds. Over the next eight months, seriously injured bodies mend but, while there are moments of hope, lives are on hold and nerves are being stretched to breaking point by the constantly moving ground, recurring liquefaction and uncertainty about whether precious homes can, or should, be rebuilt.

The first instalment of this two part documentary chronicles the effects of Christchurch’s September 2010 earthquake on a variety of everyday people. They have seen damage to their city they would never have imagined, houses have been destroyed, liquefaction has entered their vocabulary and the ground beneath their feet can no longer be trusted. Miraculously, there has been no loss of life. As seismologists seek to understand what happened, the interviewees tentatively rebuild disrupted lives, but the fatal quakes of 22 February cruelly derail that recovery.

The fifth episode in this series about the Christchurch earthquakes looks at the mammoth rebuild the city requires. It explores the competing tensions faced by politicians, planners, developers and citizens to fix the past, look to the future and ensure a result that is as safe and liveable as possible, for an earthquake-scarred populace. This excerpt features cardboard models and state of the art visualisations, as it examines the development of the blueprint to create a smaller central city anchored by the Avon River. 

Award winning novelist Emily Perkins presents a series about “books and the people who love them”. The follow-up to her previous series The Book Show — and looking like it might be set in a graffitied bunker in Auckland’s Myers Park — it managed to be chatty without being frivolous, and to take itself seriously without being worthy. Regular features included a panel discussion about the book of the week, a visit to a book group, a guest talking about their favourite book and Finlay Macdonald highlighting a notable New Zealand book, in his ‘Under the Covers’ feature.

Director Julie Zhu's love letter to a Chinese East Auckland community follows her grandmother as she carries out what may seem a mundane task — grocery shopping. But to Fang Ruzhen, her daily ritual of buying food is what connects her to several other aged Chinese grandparents, who hop on buses in large groups to head to the supermarket. Ruzhen moved to New Zealand nearly 20 years ago to help look after her grandson. Now she is 79 and can barely speak any English.  "Going shopping every day…well, that’s our strength. Without this, what would we do?" 

By 1987 music show Radio with Pictures was 12 years old. RWP producer (and future boss of MTV Europe) Brent Hansen was looking for ways to inject some of the visual style now being exhibited by MTV. So he approached artist and musician Fane Flaws, and gave him carte blanche to create a new opening sequence. Animation was a new field for Flaws — but using the Eastern tinged, koto-driven composition ‘The Calamity Music’ (by his ex Crocodiles bandmate Peter Dasent) as his musical inspiration, Flaws created a unique and strikingly surreal piece that won three awards.