Gaylene Preston Movies

  • 1993
    Bread & Roses

    Bread & Roses

    Bread & Roses

    81993HD

    Based upon the life of activist and trade unionist (and later MP) Sonja Davies. The film covers her life up to 1956, when, at age 33, she was...

    Bread & Roses
  • 2003
    Perfect Strangers

    Perfect Strangers

    Perfect Strangers

    4.22003HD

    When Melanie goes home from the pub with a handsome stranger, she’s captivated by his charm and attentiveness. He sails her away to his...

    Perfect Strangers
  • 1981
    The Monster's Christmas

    The Monster's Christmas

    The Monster's Christmas

    61981HD

    On Christmas Eve, a nameless little girl reads 'The Monster's Christmas' storybook to her teddy bear, as something sneaks around in the trees outside...

    The Monster's Christmas
  • 1996
    War Stories Our Mothers Never Told Us

    War Stories Our Mothers Never Told Us

    War Stories Our Mothers Never Told Us

    3.51996HD

    Seven New Zealand women speak about their lives during World War II: some lost husbands, some got married, some went into service themselves. The...

    War Stories Our Mothers Never Told Us
  • 2012
    Ellen Is Leaving

    Ellen Is Leaving

    Ellen Is Leaving

    4.22012HD

    On the eve of departing overseas Ellen makes the fateful decision to gift her boyfriend a new girlfriend.

    Ellen Is Leaving
  • 2017
    My Year with Helen

    My Year with Helen

    My Year with Helen

    4.82017HD

    With unique access to high-ranking candidate Helen Clark, filmmaker Gaylene Preston casts a wry eye on proceedings as the United Nations chooses a...

    My Year with Helen
  • 1999
    Punitive Damage

    Punitive Damage

    Punitive Damage

    01999HD

    The story of New Zealander Helen Todd's law suit against an Indonesian general that she pursued after her son, Kamal, was shot dead in the Dili...

    Punitive Damage
  • 2011
    Operation 8

    Operation 8

    Operation 8

    02011HD

    Operation 8 examines the so-called 'anti-terror' raids that took place around New Zealand on October 15, 2007 - asking how and why they took place...

    Operation 8
  • 2006
    Earthquake

    Earthquake

    Earthquake

    02006HD

    The Hawke’s Bay earthquake was New Zealand’s worst civil disaster. Over 250 people died following the 7.8 quake on 3 February 1931. In...

    Earthquake
  • 1979
    Middle Age Spread

    Middle Age Spread

    Middle Age Spread

    51979HD

    Colin is the deputy principal of a city high school (Avondale College, Auckland) who reluctantly applies for the principal's job on the latter's...

    Middle Age Spread
  • 1983
    Making Utu

    Making Utu

    Making Utu

    01983HD

    Making of documentary on the set of New Zealand's first epic Utu (1983), working with little money and dealing respectfully with matters of cultural...

    Making Utu
  • 2010
    Home by Christmas

    Home by Christmas

    Home by Christmas

    4.52010HD

    A remarkable memoir of resilience, determination and love.Based on filmmaker Gaylene Preston's interviews with her father about his World War II...

    Home by Christmas
  • 1986
    Mr. Wrong

    Mr. Wrong

    Mr. Wrong

    4.81986HD

    A small town woman, fresh to the city, buys a used Jaguar haunted by the ghost of a woman who was slain in it.

    Mr. Wrong
  • 2021
    Jessica

    Jessica

    Jessica

    02021HD

    Jess has a unique style and the confidence to show her creations to the world. With a penchant for fashion, a cereal box creation enables Jess to...

    Jessica
  • 1990
    Ruby and Rata

    Ruby and Rata

    Ruby and Rata

    51990HD

    Ruby, an 83 year old trying to dodge a retirement home, rents a room to Rata, a solo mum with sidelines in music and benefit fraud. Rata's son is...

    Ruby and Rata
  • 1987
    Kai Pūrākau – The Storyteller

    Kai Pūrākau – The Storyteller

    Kai Pūrākau – The Storyteller

    01987HD

    Gaylene Preston's documentary on writer Keri Hulme — filmed two years after Hulme shot to global fame thanks to her Booker Prize-winning novel...

    Kai Pūrākau – The Storyteller
  • 2016
    Celeste

    Celeste

    Celeste

    02016HD

    When Celeste needs some alone time, she watches back episodes of her favourite soap operas. At times the lines between reality and fantasy becomes a...

    Celeste
  • 1970
    How I Threw Art Out The Window

    How I Threw Art Out The Window

    How I Threw Art Out The Window

    01970HD

    In this experimental short from filmmaker Gaylene Preston, a no-nonsense hitchhiker is subjected to the ramblings of a deeply philosophical driver. ...

    How I Threw Art Out The Window
  • 1987
    Kaleidoscope

    Kaleidoscope

    Kaleidoscope

    01987HD

    This Kaleidoscope documentary timed in with the release of Nicholas Reid’s book A Decade of New Zealand Cinema. The book cherrypicked Reid's...

    Kaleidoscope
  • 2005
    Breath of Peace

    Breath of Peace

    Breath of Peace

    02005HD

    A fascinating story of effort towards global peace, featuring eight peace people of Aotearoa New Zealand – spanning some seven decades –...

    Breath of Peace