Race Across New Zealand was the first of three telefilms made for the Rocket Power cartoon series, first transmitted on Nickelodeon in the US on 16 Feb 2002, during the 2002 Winter Olympics. The plotline entails the Rocket Power gang’s trip to New Zealand to participate in “The Junior Waikikamukau Games”, with Otto Rocket competing against the son of an athlete who once beat his father Ray at a race in New Zealand (allegedly by cheating), and his sister Reggie’s attempts to get herself noticed by Ray, who is constantly cheering for Otto exclusively. Sports featured in this telefilm include zorbing, mountain biking, tubing, dirtboarding, windsurfing, and snowboarding.
Tag: new zealand
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Whale Rider
A contemporary story of love, rejection, and triumph as a young Maori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize.
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Spontaneous Combustion: Songs for Barry Brickell
Spontaneous Combustion embraces the holistic vision of one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most provocative artists and thinkers: the unity of the natural environment and the human imagination, the energy, rhythm and textures of the physical world expressed in clay, words, and music. The film celebrates the legacy of Barry Brickell (1935-2016) and the realisation of his extraordinary dream, Driving Creek Railway: a productive pottery with numerous kilns, a bush railway, a native bird and bush sanctuary and a lively creative hub drawing artists from around the globe.
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In My Father’s Den
War journalist Paul Prior returns to his New Zealand hometown after his father’s death, rekindling strained relationships with his brother and memories of a troubled past. He befriends Celia, a curious and aspiring writer, who shares a fascination with his world. When Celia mysteriously disappears, Paul becomes the prime suspect, forcing him to confront buried secrets and uncover the dark truths of his family and community.
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River Queen
An intimate story set during the 1860s in which a young Irish woman Sarah and her family find themselves on both sides of the turbulent wars between British and Maori during the British colonization of New Zealand.
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The World’s Fastest Indian
The life story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who spent years building a 1920 Indian motorcycle—a bike which helped him set the land-speed world record at Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967.
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Perfect Creature
The vampire myth is given a stylish 1960s treatment, where a human cop partners with a vampire cop to stop a vamp bent on creating a war between the two “separate but equal” races.
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The Tattooist
American tattoo artist Jake Sawyer wanders the world, exploring and exploiting ethnic themes in his tattoo designs. At a tattoo expo in Singapore, he gets his first glimpse at the exotic world of traditional Samoan tattoo (tatau), and, in a thoughtless act, unwittingly unleashes a powerful angry spirit. In his devastating journey into Pacific mysticism, Jake must find a way to save his new love, Sina and recover his own soul.
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Black Sheep
A genetic engineering experiment gone horribly awry turns a large flock of docile sheep into unrelenting killing machines.
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Eagle vs Shark
Love blossoms for Lily over double Meaty Boy burgers at mid-day when uber-computer nerd Jarrod comes in and leaves with free extra large fries. After gatecrashing Jarrod’s party and proving her skills on the game console, Lily goes down to Jarrod’s home town with him so he can settle an old score with a past school bully.