NZIFF Q&A - director Jonathan Oglivie, Head South

My film is...... Head South

The best thing about being at the NZIFF is...... sharing my Ōtautahi Christchurch story with New Zealand audiences up and down the country.

The Moment I'm most proud of in my film is...... Stella Bennett aka Benee cycling around Ed Oxenbould with the modernist facade of Noah's hotel, restored to its pre-quake glory, in the background.

The thing that makes me the proudest of my team in my film is..... that everyone was in position, ready to film a scene to include an unscheduled train hurling down the rails about to come into shot.

The Moment I wished I'd have kept in the film is .....not applicable on this film. I don't have any of those moments.

The reason I carried on with this film when things got tough was..... I believed the film had heart and would mean a lot to people, regardless of whether they had lived through the era of post-punk.

The moment I think that will resonate most with the audience when they see my film is...... the policeman at the door...(they will need to watch it to know why).

The thing I hope most people will take from watching my film is..... a pride in New Zealand music, art and storytelling.

The one film I'm looking forward to seeing at the NZIFF is....Black Dog by Guan Hu, winner of the 2024 Palm D'og Grand Jury prize for dog star, Xin. Palm D'og founder Toby Rose, was inspired to establish this annual film dog award after seeing my film in Cannes, This Film Is a Dog.

This film is playing as part of the 2024 Whanau Marama New Zealand International Film Festival. For more details, visit nziff.co.nz