Against the Lights

Television (Full Length) – 1978

...a strong and confrontational film, which explores racial discrimination within its central concern of how 'truth' is determined by the point of view of the 'truth' teller.
– Writer Lawrence McDonald in 2011 book New Zealand Film - An Illustrated History, page 161

a hard-hitting contemporary story of racial tension...
– Writer Trisha Dunleavy on page 152 of her 2005 book Ourselves in Primetime - A History of New Zealand Television Drama

...the film suggests that by adopting a simplistic, judgmental attitude, society ignores the causes of the racial tension which underscores such incidents.
– Listener writer Karl du Fresne, 6 September 1980, page 26

Against the Lights sat on a shelf at Avalon for 18 months before being scheduled and was finally slotted into Kaleidoscope...
– Listener writer Karl du Fresne, 6 September 1980, page 26

It's a nasty, depressing film about an issue which you wish would go away. But it doesn't give you any easy answers or leave you with a nice, warm feeling at the end.
– Writer/director Sam Pillsbury in The Listener, 6 September 1980, page 26