Lost Highway is a 1997 surrealist neo-noir film directed by David Lynch, and co-written by Lynch and Barry Gifford. It stars Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, and Robert Blake in his final film role. The film follows a musician (Pullman) who begins receiving mysterious VHS tapes of him and his wife (Arquette) in their home. He is suddenly convicted of murder, after which he inexplicably disappears and is replaced by a young mechanic (Getty) leading a different life.
Rosanna Lisa Arquette is an American actress. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance in the TV film The Executioner's Song (1982) and won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for the film Desperately Seeking Susan (1985). Her other film roles include After Hours, The Big Blue (1988), Pulp Fiction (1994), and Crash (1996). She also directed the documentary Searching for Debra Winger (2002) and starred in the ABC sitcom What About Brian? from 2006 to 2007.
Patricia Arquette is an American actress. She made her feature film debut as Kristen Parker in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) and has starred in many film and television productions. She has received several awards, including an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards.
Bad Taste is a 1987 New Zealand science-fiction comedy horror film directed, produced and filmed by Peter Jackson, who also starred in it and co-wrote the screenplay, along with Tony Hiles and Ken Hammon. Independently produced on a low budget, it is Jackson's first feature film. Jackson and friends take on most of the key roles, both on and off-screen. The plotline sees aliens invade the fictional New Zealand village of Kaihoro to harvest humans for their intergalactic fast food franchise, where they face off against a four-man paramilitary force. The film was shot in Northern Wellington over the course of four years, and eventually reviewed nearly a quarter of a million dollars in New Zealand Film Commission assistance, providing Jackson with the leverage necessary to advance in the film industry.
Alexis Arquette was an American actress and transgender activist.
Thomas Haden Church is an American actor. After starring in the 1990s sitcom Wings and playing the lead for two seasons in Ned & Stacey (1995–1997), Church became known for his film work, including his role of Lyle van de Groot in George of the Jungle (1997), his Academy Award–nominated performance in Sideways (2004), his role as the Marvel Comics villain Sandman in the superhero films Spider-Man 3 (2007) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), as well as his starring roles in Over the Hedge (2006), Smart People (2008), Easy A (2010), We Bought a Zoo (2011), Max (2015), and Hellboy (2019). He also made his directorial debut with Rolling Kansas (2003). In 2023, he starred as antagonist Agent Stone in the post-apocalyptic action comedy series Twisted Metal.
David Charles Lawrence known as Bruno Lawrence was an English-born musician and actor, who was active in the industry in New Zealand and Australia.
John Brian Brake was a photographer from New Zealand. He is best known for his 1955 photographs of Pablo Picasso at a bullfight, his 1957 and 1959 series of China, and his 1960 Monsoon series of India.
Smash Palace is a 1981 New Zealand psychological crime thriller directed by Roger Donaldson. The film chronicles Al, a retired race car driver who runs "Smash Palace", a carwrecking yard in rural Manawatū-Whanganui, with his depressed French wife and their seven-year-old daughter Georgie. After their turbulent marriage breaks down and his wife obtains a restraining order against him, Al kidnaps Georgie and descends into the rain-forest.
The Lovely Bones is a 2009 supernatural drama film directed by Peter Jackson from a screenplay he co-wrote with Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. It is based on Alice Sebold's 2002 novel of the same name. The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Michael Imperioli, and Saoirse Ronan. The plot follows a girl who was murdered and watches over her family from heaven. She is torn between seeking vengeance on her killer and allowing her family to heal.
Cinema of Unease: A Personal Journey by Sam Neill is a documentary about the history of New Zealand cinema written by Sam Neill and co-directed by Neill and Judy Rymer. The film was released in 1995, and was New Zealand's contribution to the British Film Institute's Century of Cinema series. The title refers to the dark and brooding nature of many of New Zealand's most notable films, which Neill considers a reflection of the nation's struggle to find, or form, its own identity. The film screened in the 1995 Cannes Film Festival, and won Best Documentary in the 1996 TV Guide Film and Television Awards of New Zealand.
Once Were Warriors is a 1994 New Zealand tragic drama film based on New Zealand author Alan Duff's bestselling 1990 first novel. The film tells the story of the Heke family, an urban Māori whānau living in South Auckland, and their problems with poverty, alcoholism, and domestic violence, mostly brought on by the patriarch, Jake. It explores the detrimental effects of the colonisation of New Zealand suffered by Māori, and the survival of Māori culture against all odds.
George Winiata Henare is a New Zealand actor with a career spanning over 50 years.
Rachel McKenna is a fictional character from the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street, played by Angela Bloomfield and who made her first appearance in early 1993. Bloomfield left the role in late 1999, before returning in early 2001 and departing in early 2003. She returned in a guest role in mid-2007 and again in a full-time role in late 2009 before departing once again in late 2016.
Harry Warner is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who first appeared onscreen in May 2002. Being born on screen during the show's 10th anniversary, Harry has been portrayed by several child actors and by Xander Manktelow from 2023.
The Orator is a 2011 Samoan and New Zealand film written and directed by Tusi Tamasese. It is the first ever Samoan feature film, "entirely shot in Samoa, in the Samoan language, with a Samoan cast and story". The film was selected as the New Zealand entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist. It is the first time New Zealand has submitted a film in this category.
Rachel Jessica Te Ao Maarama House is a New Zealand actress and director. She is best known for her roles in the films of Taika Waititi. She has received numerous accolades including an Arts Laureate, NZ Order of Merit, 'Mana Wahine' from WIFT NZ and Te Waipuna a Rangi for her contributions as an actor and director.
Kane Jenkins is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. He was portrayed by KJ Apa from late-2013 to mid-2015. The character was introduced as part of the extended Cooper family unit and as a means to depict teenage suicide.
Garth Maxwell is a New Zealand film director.
Lion is a 2016 Australian biographical drama film directed by Garth Davis from a screenplay by Luke Davies based on the 2013 non-fiction book A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley. The film stars Dev Patel, Sunny Pawar, Rooney Mara, David Wenham, and Nicole Kidman, as well as Abhishek Bharate, Divian Ladwa, Priyanka Bose, Deepti Naval, Tannishtha Chatterjee, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. It tells the true story of how Brierley, 25 years after being separated from his family in India, sets out to find them. It was a joint production between Australia and the United Kingdom.
