Costa Botes has been an independent film-maker in New Zealand since the early 1980s. His short film Stalin’s Sickle won the jury prize at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival in 1988. Forgotten Silver, a mock-documentary co-written & co-directed with Peter Jackson in 1995 created a national sensation in 1995. It won a special critics prize at the Venice Film Festival, and has become a cult favourite worldwide.
Costa’s first feature film, Saving Grace (1997), was selected for competition at Valladolid, Asia-Pacific, and Fantasporto Film Festivals. He documented the making of Peter Jackson’s epic trilogy Lord of the Rings trilogy from 1999 to 2003 with a matching trio of feature length documentaries. These were released in a limited edition DVD box set in 2006, and later included in the definitive blu-ray collection released in 2011.
When the Cows Come Home introduces audiences to Tilly and Maggie, a pair of cows that musician, journalist, artist and cow whisperer, Andrew Johnstone has befriended and subsequently saved from slaughter. The garrulous herdsman is enthusiastic to expound h ...
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On the cusp of adulthood, the world's longest running gay short film series is only getting started. Boys On Film 20: Heaven Can Wait includes eleven complete films: Bassem Ben Brahim's animated "Chromophobia"; Jimi Vall Peterson's "Sleepover" starring Hja ...
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Angie Meiklejohn, prominent and articulate Centrepoint survivor, is joined by her siblings in this lucid exploration of the legacy of sexual abuse, directed without a hint of sensationalism by Costa Botes. ...
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Eight-year-old Jesse lives in a twilight world of sadness and silence, squeezed into a tiny caravan with his grief stricken father. They're in limbo, existing more than living. The child intuitively understands that looking forward is harder than looking b ...
Watch NowCharting the ripple effects of real compassion, this inspiring true story follows a spirited young New Zealander's search for the Rwandan samaritan who assisted him through a dangerous predicament over ten years before. ...
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What happens when you cross poor white trash with gangsta culture, then stick it on a horse? You get the Deadly Ponies Gang. Dwayne and Clint have been the "bestest of friends" forever. They love hip hop, and horses, but they don't like guns, and they can ...
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Costa Botes takes us far, far north of his native New Zealand for this magical documentary about man's four-legged friends. Brian Ladoon is an eccentric, lone-wolf Canadian who has dedicated his life to saving the extinction-threatened Qimmiq - a species ...
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Costa Botes' portrait of New Zealand writer Michael Morrissey is indeed a tiger-ride – an up-close encounter with an extremely intelligent man in the grip of bipolar disorder. It's also a harrowing portrait of marriage vows tested to the extreme. Morriss ...
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A gang member wakes up one morning and decides he needs a day off. Inspired by a newspaper advertisement he impulsively decides to take a short ferry trip between islands. With his tattooed face, black leather clothing, and prominent gang patch, the gangst ...
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Candyman tells the amazing true story of David Klein, an eccentric candy inventor from LA, who came up with the concept of Jelly Belly jellybeans. These colorful beans became a pop culture phenomenon, revolutionized the candy industry and were personally e ...
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A vivid first person look at the annual blues festival held in Nepal. The film features many performers but also shows the city and country, including a hair raising bus trip and a visit to the elephant breeding centre at Chitwan National Park. ...
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Nigel Gavin ran away with a circus when he was fifteen. Many years later, he is still performing incredible feats. This concert recording features a mix of original compositions and stunning freeform improvisations, mostly played on Gavin's bespoke Laurie ...
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After 35 years of playing, one of New Zealand's most accomplished Blues troubadours had still never recorded an album. Some of Dave Murphy's friends decided that had to change. This film documents the creation of his first long playing record. ...
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Their music has been described as deep blues from way down under, as if the Mississippi River had gorged its way through the center of the earth and come home in...New Zealand of all places. They are the Windy City Strugglers. This film offers a funny and ...
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A behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of 2003's "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." Created by filmmaker Costa Botes, personally selected by director Peter Jackson, this documentary uses raw footage to reveal the inside story on how t ...
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Making of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. ...
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A behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of 2002's "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers." Created by filmmaker Costa Botes, personally selected by director Peter Jackson, this documentary uses raw footage to reveal the inside story on how the greate ...
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A behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of 2001's "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring." Created by filmmaker Costa Botes, personally selected by director Peter Jackson, this documentary uses raw footage to reveal the inside story on ho ...
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When Forgotten Silver — the story of pioneer filmmaker Colin McKenzie — unspooled on 29th October 1995, in a Sunday TV slot normally reserved for drama, many believed the fable was fact. Controversy ensued as a public reacted (indignant, thrilled) to h ...
Watch NowGrace is a homeless teenager. She befriends an unemployed carpenter and he invites her to share his flat. She moves in and to her surprise a delicate relationship develops. He helps her repair her shattered self-esteem and she begins to feel loved and secu ...
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The life story of Colin McKenzie, a forgotten pioneer of international cinema who was born in rural New Zealand in 1888. ...
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River runs the one-man operation of Tranquility Records, recording animal sounds near his house and making music from them. The only neighboring house is for sale, and noisy Ted buys it and moves in, creating trouble for River. ...
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S04E06 of "The Ray Bradbury Theater." A company provides big game hunters with expeditions to the past to kill dinosaurs. They only have one rule that's there to protect the time line: Never get off the beaten path. ...
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Originally made for NZ television in 1988, this one hour documentary is now something of a time capsule or historical piece. It's also a record of a peerless performance by one of this country's greatest poets. ...
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It is 1962. New Zealand is emerging from the austerity of the 1950s into a new age. Daniel is a nine-year-old Catholic boy, an only child given to colourful imaginings. He discovers that an old man who passes the plate in church bears a striking resemblanc ...
Watch NowCosta Botes takes us far, far north of his native New Zealand for this magical documentary about man's four-legged friends. Brian Ladoon is an eccentric, lone-wolf Canadian who has dedicated his life to saving the extinction-threatened Qimmiq - a species ...
Watch NowWhen Forgotten Silver — the story of pioneer filmmaker Colin McKenzie — unspooled on 29th October 1995, in a Sunday TV slot normally reserved for drama, many believed the fable was fact. Controversy ensued as a public reacted (indignant, thrilled) to h ...
Watch NowThe life story of Colin McKenzie, a forgotten pioneer of international cinema who was born in rural New Zealand in 1888. ...
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A team from the intergalactic fast food chain Crumb's Crunchy Delights descends on Earth, planning to make human flesh the newest taste sensation. After they wipe out the New Zealand town Kaihoro, the country's Astro-Investigation and Defense Service (AIaD ...
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