NZ On Screen – the bril­liant web­site ded­ic­ated to put­ting New Zea­l­and film, tele­vi­sion and music video online – is cel­eb­rat­ing its second birth­day.

So to help cel­eb­rate, let us delve into the NZ On Screen archives and see what Wel­ling­ton gems are to be seen.

Monaco Monza Macao Wel­ling­ton (1990)

A TV doco look­ing at a European racing team’s pre­par­a­tion for the Nis­san Mobil 500. Includes plenty of foot­age of the water­front when it was going through that awk­ward post-whar­fie, pre-fancy phase, when we were rather pleased to have cars hoon­ing along it.



Aeon (2004)

This gor­geous work was made by then Mas­sey Uni­ver­sity stu­dent Richard Sidey. It cap­tures the city, using sped-up and thought­fully edited foot­age, along with a soundtrack by per­cus­sion group Strike.


A Nice Sort of Day (1977)

This short film con­trasts the hustle and bustle of down­town Wel­ling­ton with the tran­quil­ity of Mana Island. Fea­ture awe­some 1970s bushy hair­dos, but is a lovely piece besides that.


You’ll have to click through to NZ On Screen to watch these clips, but they’re all worth a look:

Town and Around (1968)

A clip show of the Wel­ling­ton news pro­gram­me’s best stor­ies from 1968. It includes the fam­ous “tur­keys with gum­boots” story.

Queer Nation – Wel­ling­ton Queer People, Queer Places, Queer Stor­ies (2002)

A spe­cial edi­tion of magazine show Queer Nation looks at the cap­tial’s rich gay his­tory.

City of No (1971)

A tele-drama that tackles the issue of mid-life crisis. Fea­tures lovely streets­capes of Wel­ling­ton, and a young Sam Neil as a foxy dude.

The Eleg­ant Shed – ‘The Extro­verts’ (1984)

Archi­tect Dav­id Mitchell looks at Wel­ling­ton archi­tects Ian Ath­field and Roger Walk­er, the hip young gun­slingers who were chan­ging the face of the city with their bold designs.

The March­ing Girls (1987)

Fiona Samuel’s drama series about an under­dog Taita march­ing team’s shot at the North Island champs. The series fea­tures two things we don’t nor­mally see on the telly – Lower Hutt and a core cast of 10 women.