30 Films & TV Shows Set In New Zealand During The 20th Century
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The Patriarch
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1960sIt is the 1960s. Two Maori families, the Mahanas and the Poatas, make a living shearing sheep on the east coast of New Zealand. The two clans, who are bitter enemies, face each other as rivals at the annual sheep shearing competitions. Simeon is a 14-year-old scion of the Mahana clan. A courageous schoolboy, he rebels against his authoritarian grandfather Tamihana and his traditional ways of thinking and begins to unravel the reasons for the long-standing feud between the two families. Before long, the hierarchies and established structures of the community are in disarray because Tamihana, who is as stubborn as he is proud, is not prepared to acquiesce and pursue new paths.
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Everest
Tibet ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1990sThe Storm Awaits. โ Inspired by the incredible events surrounding a treacherous attempt to reach the summit of the world's highest mountain, "Everest" documents the awe-inspiring journey of two different expeditions challenged beyond their limits by one of the fiercest snowstorms ever encountered by mankind. Their mettle tested by the harshest of elements found on the planet, the climbers will face nearly impossible obstacles as a lifelong obsession becomes a breathtaking struggle for survival.
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The Wolf of Wall Street
New York England ๐ฎ๐น Italy ๐จ๐ญ Switzerland ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1980s The 1990sEARN. SPEND. PARTY. โ A New York stockbroker refuses to cooperate in a large securities fraud case involving corruption on Wall Street, corporate banking world and mob infiltration. Based on Jordan Belfort's autobiography.
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Shopping
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1980sis blood thicker than water? โ Living in New Zealand in 1981 amid high racial tension, Willie, a half-Samoan teenager, is coming into his own. With an unpredictable father, Willie spends most of his time working at a department store or taking care of his little brother, Solomon. A chance encounter at work with an eccentric and charming โshopperโ named Bennie lures Willie into a world without rules. As Willie begins to find a place in Bennieโs reckless nest of criminals, Solomon grows increasingly vulnerable to their fatherโs violent tendencies.
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Cloud Atlas
California Hawaii Scotland England ๐ง๐ช Belgium ๐ฐ๐ท South Korea ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1970s The 1930s The 2010s The 1840sEverything is Connected โ A set of six nested stories spanning time between the 19th century and a distant post-apocalyptic future. Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future. Based on the award winning novel by David Mitchell. Directed by Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis.
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Boy
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1980sSummer, Girls, Gangs, Drugs ... its not easy being eleven. โ It's 1984, and Michael Jackson is king - even in Waihau Bay, New Zealand. Here we meet Boy, an 11-year-old who lives on a farm with his gran, a goat, and his younger brother, Rocky (who thinks he has magic powers). Shortly after Gran leaves for a week, Boy's father, Alamein, appears out of the blue. Having imagined a heroic version of his father during his absence, Boy comes face to face with the real version-an incompetent hoodlum who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years before.
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Tracker
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1900sNever Stop Running! โ An ex-Boer war guerrilla in New Zealand is sent out to bring back a Maori accused of killing a British soldier. Gradually they grow to know and respect one another but a posse, led by the British Commanding officer is close behind and his sole intention is to see the Maori hang. Written by Filmfinders 1903. A guerilla fighter from the South African Boer war called Arjan (Winstone) takes on a manhunt for Maori seaman Kereama (Morrison), who is accused of murdering a British soldier. What follows is a cat and mouse pursuit through the varied landscape of NZ with both hunter and huntee testing their bushcraft and wits against that of the other. Written by Anonymous
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Predicament
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1930sThree Misfits And A Murder โ Naรฏve teenager Cedric Williamson, conspires with two misfits to photograph and blackmail adulterous couples. When the scam goes wrong they end up with blood on their hands.
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Eight Below
British Columbia ๐ณ๐ด Norway ๐ฌ๐ฑ Greenland ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand ๐ฆ๐ถ Antarctica The 1990sThe Most Amazing Story Of Survival, Friendship, And Adventure Ever Told. โ In the Antarctic, after an expedition with Dr. Davis McClaren, the sled dog trainer Jerry Shepherd has to leave the polar base with his colleagues due to the proximity of a heavy snow storm. He ties his dogs to be rescued after, but the mission is called-off and the dogs are left alone at their own fortune. For six months, Jerry tries to find a sponsor for a rescue mission.
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The World's Fastest Indian
Utah California ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1960sThe life story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who spent years building a 1920 Indian motorcycleโa bike which helped him set the land-speed world record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967.
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The Call of Cthulhu
Rhode Island Louisiana ๐ณ๐ด Norway ๐ฌ๐ฑ Greenland New South Wales ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1920s The 1900s The 1870sA dying professor leaves his great-nephew a collection of documents pertaining to the Cthulhu Cult. The nephew begins to learn why the study of the cult so fascinated his grandfather. Bit-by-bit he begins piecing together the dread implications of his grandfather's inquiries, and soon he takes on investigating the Cthulhu cult as a crusade of his own.
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Zombie Movie
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1980s1000 zombies, three bogans, half a brain โ New Zealand, 1986. The zombie apocalypse is here and three mates are stranded. The trusty Holden is out of gas. With only fast food scraps and a few cigarettes for sustenance, surviving each other may prove harder than facing the undead outside
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Bungee Jumping of Their Own
๐ฐ๐ท South Korea ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1980s The 2000sA male teacher starts to suspect that one of his male students is the reincarnation of his first love.
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The Price of Milk
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1960sNew Zealand milk farmer Rob gives his lover Lucinda a ring. Trying to spark up her relationship with Rob, she takes her friend Drosophila's advice and starts to try and make Rob angry. But she tends to go too far. Admiring her ring while driving a lonely road, she has a run-in with an older woman that sets off a chain of events that begins with her quilt being stolen
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When Love Comes
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1990sSix friends...Three Kinds of Love โ Between getting trashed, tripping, blowing guys off and writing songs, Mark falls for Stephen. Fig and Sally put perform Marks songs between casual sex with anyone and everyone. Katie is a few-hit wonder who hit rock-bottom in L.A and returns to New Zealand to patch her life back together. Stephen, Mark and Katie branch out for a slumber party at a beach house of their better days. Fig and Sally arrive, and not long after Eddie arrives also (Katies American guy). Mark stops running away from Stephens love, Katie and Eddie get engaged and Fig and Sally ... have sex?
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Once Were Warriors
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1990sA family in crisis, a life in chaos... Nothing is more powerful than a mother's love. โ A drama about a Maori family living in Auckland, New Zealand. Lee Tamahori tells the story of Beth Hekeโs strong will to keep her family together during times of unemployment and abuse from her violent and alcoholic husband.
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Heavenly Creatures
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1950sNot all angels are innocent. โ Wealthy and precocious teenager Juliet transfers from England to New Zealand with her family, and soon befriends the quiet, brooding Pauline through their shared love of fantasy and literature. When their parents begin to suspect that their increasingly intense and obsessive bond is becoming unhealthy, the girls hatch a dark plan for those who threaten to keep them apart.
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Bread & Roses
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1950s The 1940sA survivor for whom mere survival was not enough โ Based upon the life of activist and trade unionist (and later MP) Sonja Davies. The film covers her life up to 1956, when, at age 33, she was elected to the Nelson Hospital Board. During this period she develops strong socialist beliefs, marries and divorces, at age 17 trains as a nurse, has a romance (and a child) with an American marine who is killed in WWII action. She battles tuberculosis and marries a former boyfriend when he returns from the war. She becomes part of a women's ill-fated campaign to save the Nelson railway line from closure and begins to be elected to political bodies.
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Ruby and Rata
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1980sRuby (Yvonne Lawley), an 83 year old trying to dodge a retirement home, rents a room to Rata, a solo mum with sidelines in music and benefit fraud. Rata's son is into arson and shoplifting, while Ruby's nephew (Simon Barnett) is a hapless yuppie wannabe. Marginalised by the deregulated economy of the '80s and living on their wits, they may just find common cause despite themselves in this Graeme Tetley-penned tale.
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The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1980s The 14th CenturyIn the 14th century a village seeking escape from the Black Death are guided by a boy's vision to tunnel into an abandoned mine and emerge into 20th century New Zealand.
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Ngati
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1940sSet in and around the fictional town of Kapua in 1948, Ngati is the story of a Mฤori community. The film comprises three narrative threads: a boy, Ropata, is dying of leukaemia; the return of a young Australian doctor, Greg, and his discovery that he has Mฤori heritage; and the fight to keep the local freezing works open.
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Pallet on the Floor
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1960sOne of Those Blighters. โ A murderous black comedy set in the 1960s. Sam (McCauley) and his small band of hard-drinking and eccentric friends are having a night of it when a drunk truck driver, Jack (Bach), attacks Sam's Maori wife Sue (O'Brien). In the struggle, Sam and friends end up killing Jack. None of them regrets this, but it has been observed by Miriam (Gruar) who decides to blackmail Sam. Jack's brother Joe (Napier) comes looking for revenge and ends up being killed by Basil (Spence). Their jobs at the freezer works are terminated, and Basil has his own idea about how to get out of their troubles.
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Came a Hot Friday
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1940sSet 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.
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Goodbye Pork Pie
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1970sGerry hires a car in Kaitaia with a stolen licence and travels to Invercargill with John, who's wife has just left him. The ultimate NZ roadtrip adventure.
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Beyond Reasonable Doubt
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1970sA docu-drama covering one of the most famous cases in New Zealand history, the murder of Harvey and Jeanette Crewe in 1970.
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