In adapting Steven Gannaway’s novel, début director/writer Kirstin Marcon goes down a much less-travelled, much more challenging alternative route…

Rest for the Wicked, which screened in cinemas last year and is now out on DVD, is a refreshing, home grown antidote for those who, like me, still feel clogged with saccharin after enduring the Gilbert and Sullivan-style theatrics of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel…

Helen Martin reviews Te Hono ki Aotearoa, screening at the World Cinema Showcase…

Jim Marbrook spent three years travelling the country, filming former institutions, most of which are now derelict and decaying – Seacliffe, Cherry Farm, Oakley, Ngawhatu, Sunnyside, Porirua, Tokanui and the egregious Lake Alice – in the company of two former psychiatric patients…

From conception to direction to cinematography to sound design to musical score to editing to participation of its subjects, this brilliant, artful documentary is the result of the combined efforts of many extremely talented and creative people. It is also, unmistakably, a film to ensure Annie Goldson remains among the roll call of the world’s most consummate documentary filmmakers…

Elderly rest home inhabitants who comforted their carers, then later died from the stress of it all, a grieving family who lost a beloved husband and father, St John ambulance officers who thought the worst had happened after the first earthquake…

Reviewed by Helen Martin

Both times I saw Billy T: Te Movie the audience stayed on for the credits, savouring every last drop, delighted when the wait was rewarded with one last and very funny skit. It’s easy to see the reason for the wait. The subject matter of Billy T: Te Movie, described by co-producer Toby Parkinson as comedian Billy T James’s “career and his comedy as a reflection of the cultural shifts happening in the country” (Onfilm, August, 2011) is fascinating in itself. Add to that superb crafting in the storytelling…

By Helen Martin

Having worked as a successful filmmaker in his native Russia, but disillusioned because post-glasnost “art of Soviet is dead”, Latvian Misha (Stephen Papps) comes to New Zealand with his muse, beautiful dancer wife Nadia (Elena Stejko), hoping to make a name for himself with great experimental work focusing on the human form…

In this ‘Kiwi romantic comedy’ a man’s partner leaves him because he’s ‘going nowhere’, has a one-night-stand with the man’s dodgy best friend, then attempts to lure the man back when he shows he has some spunk.

While documentary is becoming harder and harder to fund, New Zealand’s documentary makers are hanging in, as this year’s line-up in the Documentary Edge Festival shows.

The 9 NZ films in the programme, all with an interesting story to tell, all fine examples of the craft, are reviewed in alphabetical order below.

It’s Episode 2 of this American Pie meets Xena Warrior Princess meets Jackass concoction and Axl still hasn’t figured out that the goddess he needs to hump is living in his flat and making big, wistful eyes at him. You’d think her name, Gaia, would give it away, but while Axl’s a student he doesn’t give the impression he’s well read.

Axl Johnson (Emmett Skilton) gets more than he bargained for on his 21st birthday as he survives: a pre-party murder attempt by a tattooed chick with muscles, a fast car and a big sword; an earthquake; and the news, delivered by his three older brothers in a forest (Muriwai?), that he is the Norse god Odin, in charge of such important things as souls, wisdom, victory and magic, and has a serious job ahead of him.

The opening segment of 2 December’s Campbell Live was riveting, not just because it canvassed broad topical territory but also because in those 14 minutes we were treated to the signature skills that make John Campbell, at his best, such a class act.
In confronting the big stuff – beauty, joy, tragedy – Campbell can be relied on to articulate it with a simple eloquence, and he has a sure instinct for smelling out a soft answer and pushing for more.

Setting a drama about adversity around the redemptive promise of New Year is as old as storytelling time; giving Māori New Year, Matiriki, centre stage is a clever and well placed first. Set and shot in the mean streets of South Auckland’s Otara, this film is both specific in focus and universal in reach.
Most gratifying is seeing the top class performances from the ensemble cast where, from long-time actor Sara Wiseman to first-timers Susana Tang and Jason Wu and all the others in between, there is not a single false note.

Hats off to all involved (co-creators Rachel Lang and James Griffin, South Pacific Pictures, writers, actors, production team) for getting everything so right. Cleverly, the West’s world always seemed simultaneously larger than life yet rooted, both literally and metaphorically, in reality…

Judging from the myriad rave reviews this superb film received on its release, any Kiwi born last century is highly likely to feel the film speaks directly to them. For sure, we can count ourselves very lucky to have Gaylene Preston’s unique voice and vision consistently enriching our lives and culture through her work. Tony Barry calls her an alchemist.