Te Kohe Tuhaka

Inspired by an ancient Māori story in which nature intermingles with a child’s love, Washday depicts – with tremendous sensitivity and compassion – a grieving father and daughter coming to terms with a significant death in 1960s New Zealand.

Seven years after a “monsterpocalypse” forces all of humanity to move into underground colonies, Joel Dawson watches his fellow survivors pair off. He decides to brave the surface and face the monsters standing between himself and his high school sweetheart Aimee. Along his dangerous journey, Joel makes unlikely friends including a heroic dog and a pair of survivalists who help him survive the monster-infested road to true love.

7.6/10

What should have been a tourist trip to remember, quickly turns into a living nightmare when five passengers on a seaplane become stranded, miles away from shore. What follows is a desperate bid for survival as the group try to make it to land before they either run out of supplies or are taken by the man-eating sharks lurking just beneath the surface.

Waka, a murdered Māori warrior returned from the Afterlife, and Mehe, a determined young woman, embark on a quest to find who "broke the world" and how to close the breach between the living and the dead.

5.7/10

In Dark Places is the gripping story of an innocent man, imprisoned for two decades for a crime he did not commit, and an ex-cop's heroic battle to win him his freedom.

7.5/10

London, England, April 1980. Six terrorists assault the Embassy of Iran and take hostages. For six days, tense negotiations are held while the authorities decide whether a military squad should intervene.

6.2/10
6.3%

Hongi, a Maori chieftain’s teenage son, must avenge his father’s murder in order to bring peace and honour to the souls of his loved ones after his tribe is slaughtered through an act of treachery. Vastly outnumbered by a band of villains led by Wirepa, Hongi’s only hope is to pass through the feared and forbidden “Dead Lands” and forge an uneasy alliance with a mysterious warrior, a ruthless fighter who has ruled the area for years.

6.3/10
6.9%

Fast-forward five years and things havent quite gone as the boys might have planned: Albert is now married to Tania and they are living in suburbia, both working in insurance and also trying (unsuccessfully) to have a baby; Sefa and Leilani are still together and now have two kids although despite Sefas proposal, theyre still not married. And while Sefas business is falling apart, Leilani seems to be living life to the full; Stanley is now a trainee Deacon in the Future Church; Michael has moved to Australia but the boys dont hear from him often; and Bolo has thrown in his job with Sefa and taken up work with Sione, Michaels younger brother.

5.9/10

This docudrama follows an imaginary news reporter who travels back in time to cover the days leading up to the Treaty of Waitangi’s 6 February 1840 signing. The production drops the usual solemnity surrounding Aotearoa’s founding document, and uses humour and asides to camera to evoke the chaos and motives behind its signing. Written by Gavin Strawhan, with Witi Ihimaera, What Really Happened screened on TVNZ for Waitangi Day 2011. Peter Burger won Best Director - Drama/Comedy at the 2011 Aotearoa TV Awards for his work. (from nzonscreen.com)

7.8/10

Six Māori Battalion soldiers camped in Italian ruins wait for night to fall. In the silence, the bros-in-arms distract themselves with jokes. A tohu (sign) brings them back to reality, and they gather to say a karakia before returning to the fray. Director Taika Waititi describes the soldiers as young men with "a special bond, strengthened by their character, their culture and each other." Shot in the rubble of the old Wellington Hospital, Tama Tū won international acclaim. Invited to over 40 international festivals, its many awards included honourable mentions at Sundance and Berlin.

7.2/10

Madison has the chance to pursue her love of event management when her two best friends announce their engagement. Finding a pre-planned wedding package on a remote island vineyard in New Zealand, Madison teams up with David, the handsome vineyard owner, to re-imagine the event for her friends.