Operation 8

The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari

November 2022 •English

A close examination of the Whakaari / White Island volcanic eruption of 2019 in which 22 lives were lost, the film viscerally recounts a day when ordinary people were called upon to do extraordinary things, placing this tragic event within the larger context of nature, resilience, and the power of our shared humanity.

New Country - New People

January 1978 •English

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

Erebus: Operation Overdue

July 2014 •English

On 28 November 1979, an Air New Zealand jet with 257 passengers went missing during a sightseeing tour over Antarctica. Within hours 11 ordinary police officers were called to duty to face the formidable Mount Erebus. As the police recovered the victims, an investigation team tried to uncover the mystery of how a jet could fly into a mountain in broad daylight. Did the airline have a secret it wanted to bury? This film tells the story of four New Zealand police officers who went to Antarctica as part of the police operation to recover the victims of the crash. Set in the beautiful yet hostile environment of Antarctica, this is the emotional and compelling true story of an extraordinary police operation.

Someone Else's Country

April 1996 •English

Someone Else’s Country looks critically at the radical economic changes implemented by the 1984 Labour Government - where privatisation of state assets was part of a wider agenda that sought to remake New Zealand as a model free market state. The trickle-down ‘Rogernomics’ rhetoric warned of no gain without pain, and here the theory is counterpointed by the social effects (redundant workers, Post Office closures). Made by Alister Barry in 1996 when the effects were raw, the film draws extensively on archive footage and interviews with key “witnesses to history”.

Flare - A Ski Trip

October 1977 •English

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

Four Shorts on Architecture

October 1975 •English

A visual essay on contemporary Kiwi architecture.

Pirates of the Airwaves

July 2014 •English

In 1966 a group of determined young men defied the New Zealand government and launched a pirate radio station aboard a ship in the Hauraki Gulf.

Môžeš

January 1985 •Slovak

No Māori Allowed

October 2022 •English

When an academic unearths a forgotten history, residents of the small township of Pukekohe, including kaumātua who have never told their personal stories before, confront its deep and dark racist past.

Quest for the Ring

November 2001 •English

Taking Back Our Beach

October 2023 •English

This is a film about the response by a community to New Zealand’s largest environmental disaster, seen through the eyes of that community. The film captures the shock, anger and grief driven into the heart of the local community, but also the humour, purpose and overwhelming positivity when people join together with a common goal.

Hillsborough

April 2016 •English

A look at the April 15, 1989 tragedy at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, where a stampede in the stadium's standing-room-only areas killed 96 people and injured 766. The film also examines the ongoing efforts of victims' families to seek truth and justice, as well as tangible effects on English football, including stadium upgrades and the emergence of the English Premier League.

Bastion Point: Day 507

January 1980 •English

Merata Mita, Leon Narbey and Gerd Pohlmann’s powerful documentary Bastion Point: Day 507 depicts the eviction of protestors from Bastion Point during the struggle for Māori land rights.

Wildcat: The Struggle for Democracy in the New Zealand Timberworkers' Union

January 1981 •English

Delegates and workers discuss the issues that effect the Timberworkers’ Union, the reasons for the formation of the Combined Council of Timber Workers Delegates (CCD) and their industrial action.

Toy

January 1984 •Dutch

An short anti-cruise missile film created in collaboration with a group of filmmakers.

Kinleith '80

January 1983 •English

Covers the 12-week-long strike at Kinleith Pulp and Paper Mill, owned by New Zealand Forest Products in January 1980.

Rendalf the Wizard

June 2022 •English

A Lord of the Rings tour guide in New Zealand processes his grief in a wonderful way.

Until Proven Innocent

February 2009 •English

In 1993 David Dougherty was found guilty and imprisoned for the abduction and rape of his 11 year old neighbor. It took two trials, two high court appeals, a petition to the Governor General and 3 years, 6 months and 1 week in prison before David finally won his freedom and was found not guilty of the crime he didn't commit. But it wouldn't have happened without the unrelenting efforts of three individuals - a journalist, a lawyer and a scientist - who put their own personal and professional lives on the line in order to prove that David Dougherty was innocent.

The Hockey Film

December 2023 •English

A harsh winter in Canada’s Muskoka, where players face sub-zero temperatures, contrasts with New Zealand, where hockey is just starting to take root. Yet, between these two far-apart nations, there’s one thing they share: a deep love for the game of hockey.

Tackling the All Blacks

December 2022 •English

Before the summer of 2022, Ireland had never beaten the All Blacks in New Zealand. Using behind the scenes footage and interviews with players and coaches this documentary reflects on the experience of triumphing in New Zealand for the first time.