New Zealand National Film Unit

A short documentary tracking the transportation of New Zealand products into ports in the Philippines, China, Japan, and Hong Kong, with a focus on cultural differences and economic opportunities.

The same night as a girl is slain in the woods, the teenagers Sam and Les are robbed of all of their hard earned hens. In the quest for their hens they cross the murderer's path.

A documentary about New Zealanders in Antarctica: researching International Geophysical Year, and supporting the Trans-Antarctic Expedition by laying supply depots for Vivian Fuchs’ overland crossing.

Discovered to be using illegal drugs by a local policeman, the members of the commune kill him and bury him in their garden. After this pivotal event, distinctions between reality and fantasy become increasingly blurred.

A primer on proper phone manners produced for the New Zealand Post Office.

Set in post-war (1949) rural New Zealand, this film traces the efforts of two con men to run a betting scam in a small town (Tainuea) already rife with illegal gambling corruption, and eccentricity.

Account of the royal tour of New Zealand taken by the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh. Includes film of various visits and ceremonies attended during the state visit.

Examines the practical philosophy, the achievements and frustrations of one of New Zealand's most lively and innovative architects, Ian Athfield. The film provides a portrait of the architect and his work both in New Zealand and his project to design housing for 140,000 squatters from the Tondo area of Manila in the Philippines, for which Athfield won an international competition in 1975.

An award-winning short exploring man-made impacts on New Zealand’s water cycle.

On Christmas Eve, a nameless little girl reads 'The Monster's Christmas' storybook to her teddy bear, as something sneaks around in the trees outside her window. She hears a noise in the other room, and thinking that it's Father Christmas, she goes to investigate. She finds one of the monsters, who has come seeking help to defeat an evil witch that has stolen all the monsters' voices.

Expat Kiwi Rewi Alley became one of the best known foreigners in 20th Century China and advocate for the Communist Revolution. When China was under siege from Japan in the late 1930s, Alley instigated an industrial co-op movement he termed ‘gung ho' (work together). Its success led to the phrase entering the global idiom. For this documentary a Geoff Steven-led crew travelled 15,000km in China in 1979, filming Alley as he gave his account of an engrossing, complex life story. Co-writer Geoff Chapple later wrote a biography of Alley.

An entertaining look at life in Wellington, New Zealand in the 1960s, giving a colourful impression of Wellington city: hills, winding streets, busy people and strong winds.

Road safety instructional film using child actors and amusing animals.

Western Samoa, Lotus Land of the Pacific, is administered by New Zealand under United Nations trusteeship. The Administration brings to the Samoans those European services which will benefit them, and aids them in preserving all the best of their own ways of living. With modern amenities at hand, Samoan life goes on much as it has always done in the thatched villages amid the groves. The slim canoes still glide in from the fishing grounds, the food is cooked in ovens of heated stone, and the flower-decked girls sing and dance beneath the palms.

An educational short made by the New Zealand National Film Unit for the National Mountain Safety Council to promote awareness of bush safety.

A documentary about the New Zealand theatre troupe "Red Mole".

A documentary about the history of settler groups that came to New Zealand from Europe.

A short documentary about freestyle skiing made for the New Zealand Tourist and Publicity Department.

This 1981 NFU film is a tour of the contemporary world of Aotearoa’s tangata whenua. It won headlines over claims that its portrayal of Māori had been sanitised for overseas viewers. Debate and a recut ensued. Writer Witi Ihimaera felt that mentions of contentious issues (Bastion Point, the land march) in his original script were ignored or elided in the final film, and withdrew from the project. He later told journalists that the controversy showed that educated members of minority groups were no longer prepared to let the majority interpret the minority view.

Three young people set off on a road trip from Wellington to find a seal colony.