New Zealand documentaries to head for
It has been a terrific year for local true-stories. A Boy Called Piano is an adaptation of the award-winning stage and radio play on the life of Fa’amoana John Luafutu and every other child who was a ‘‘state ward’’ in Aotearoa from the 1950s to the 1980s.
Whetū Mā rama – Bright Star (iTunes, GooglePlay) is a portrait of the incredible life of ocean-going waka builder Sir Hector Busby, that is enjoying appropriate international success. Like Hek, this film is travelling far.
Mr Organ (still in select cinemas) is David Farrier’s jaw-dropping, disturbing and horribly funny account of the years he was entangled with one of New Zealand’s most immediately dislikeable men.
Valerie Adams: More Than Gold (still in select cinemas) is the perfect portrait of one of our most accomplished and incredible athletes. If you think you know Dame Valerie’s story, this film will astonish you at how much was kept from the public eye. Most of the audience I watched More Than
Gold with were in tears more than once. It’s that good.
Geoff Dixon: Portraits of Us was pretty great too!
On the Embassy screen with the speakers turned up to 11 and a crowd of true believers all around me, Brett Morgen’s Moonage Daydream was narcotic. It was the restless, fragmented, inventive and surprising documentary that David Bowie deserved.
This drama is a few months in the life of 12-year-old Irish girl Cait, who has been sent to live with her mother’s cousins because Cait’s mother is not doing so well. What follows is a quiet, acute and perfectly observed portrait of lives in flux, of trust gained and the meaning of family. It has an emotional heft I will never forget.
At last, a film everybody has seen. Top Gun: Maverick could have gone wrong in so many ways, but by essentially remaking the 1986 Top Gun, with a few new characters and a genuinely poignant cameo from Val Kilmer, Maverick was the fan-service we all wanted. It hit every beat, made us gasp and laugh on cue and gave nostalgia a good name.
Directors James Napier Robertson and Paula Whetu Jones took on the story of a woman who changed our country forever – and put it on the big screen where it deserved to be. Dame Whina Cooper led the hikoi of 1974 – and the ‘‘land march’’ makes a great framing device for the narrative. Within it, we see three generations of women – Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, Miriama McDowell and Rena Owen – play Whina at different times of her life. Whina was a rousing, moving and beautifully made piece of work. The film turned out great too.
That’s my list. I hope you will have your own. Thank you for reading and commenting this year. As always, it’s been the best job in the world.