Blood Moon

Cast:
Boutros Moyed - Mark Hadlow
Daniel Steele - Douglas Brooks
Dr Dinah Scott - Kim Garrett
Rob - Robert Ballantyne
Louie - Louie Burger
Man on beach - Peter Blasdale,
His dog - Levi.

When a retired soldier kidnaps the man he believes tortured him twenty five years ago the time has finally come to talk about the war.

BLOOD MOON is a cautionary tale, a tragedy, about the morality of war. Two men meet on a tropical island twenty-five years after a botched Middle East military operation, each man clinging to his own reality of a shared two-day incident in Wadi Sahel.

'A man seeking vengeance must first dig two graves.' Confucius

'Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.' Nietzsche

For these two men, Captain Boutros Moyed and lance Corporal Daniel Steele, the time has finally come to talk about the war.

This film is a song of peace. A film about a Muslim man, and a Kiwi from New Zealand. A story of conflict, of war, a story of murder, vile deeds and terrible mistakes, a story of forgiveness, faith in God and belief in humanity. This film is a message of peace to all men. I have been thinking about Middle East conflict for many years and considering a way to communicate my thoughts coherently to the broadest of audiences.

Every kiwi family carries the scars of past wars in foreign lands and here in Aotearoa. I asked myself is it possible to write a story that speaks of the horror of war while also honouring the good intentions of the combatants, men who may never forgive themselves for their actions - or even failure to act.

As I sit here at my desk typing this, my laptop computer rests on a tiny wooden table with six-inch tall, tapered legs; the tabletop eight inches by fourteen. A doll's table perhaps? No this is a craft project created by my great uncle in a sanitorium for respite after the second world war.

My father Gordon served two tours in Korea, first as radio operator then returning for a second stint as a gunner. He worked in the Hotel Association of New Zealand as a bar manager until he died aged 50 years. To my mind he was killed by the war.

As a young man, I spent some years travelling in Muslim countries, Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, Algeria, Niger, Nigeria, Mali and Tanzania. Travelling by truck, sleeping in tents in the desert, frequently hungry and notably once lost in the Sahara desert some 254 miles south of Tamanrasset. We survived but it was a close thing.

I chose Boutros Moyed, an Egyptian/English orthopaedic surgeon, deliberately as a sympathetic conduit to the Muslim world. Actor Mark Hadlow was an easy choice as he is the spitting image of my best Egyptian friend Nunzio Arabito.

Boutros is an interesting character as he is comfortable in both the Muslim and Christian world.

Douglas Brooks Te Ati Haunui-a-Paparangi, Tuwharetoa, and Ngati Kahungunu, is a good friend, he came on board to play the psychologically scarred SAS soldier Daniel Steele with intense vulnerability and gravitas. Douglas brings a Maori kiwi world view to international conflict.

So, this is a war film. A war film that does not glorify violence. A war film of words. For two damaged men the time has come to talk about the war.

'BLOOD MOON' is my most ambitious feature film yet. A two-hander thriller starring Douglas Brooks (Ngati Kahungnu) and Mark Hadlow is a thrilling and powerful indictment on war itself and specifically western interference in the middle east.

Sister Josephine

Synopsis: A small boy enters a school gymnasium, shafts of daylight pierce the dark cool shadows. An austere Nun appears from the darkness, kindly at first but her smile fades. She punches him roundhouse in the head knocking him to the floor. We see now, both the boy and the nun wear boxing gloves. She comes after him firing headshots. Goading him with words and punches we wonder if she is tutoring him or punishing him. The boy desperately attempts to fight back, throwing a few feeble punches. She chases him across the gym floor throwing combinations of punches raining down on the boy. Backpedalling and overwhelmed, the boy drops his arms in defeat.

Disgusted at his weakness, she lands a solid body shot in the boy's ribs, he yelps in pain. He raises his gloves, showing a fighting spirit for the first time. He comes after her firing jabs, circling and weaving. She allows a small smile. He moves in and launches a massive punch up and under her guard, landing clean. She spins away falling hard and slides across the polished wooden floor. He is horrified at what he has done. Slowly she struggles to sit up. To the boy's astonishment the Nun is smiling proudly at him.

Blue Moon

Horace Jones, near bankrupt petrol station proprietor, foolishly misappropriates stolen drug money believing no one will ever know. Pretty soon his chaotic but safe existence is under threat when gang enforcer Darren Cates arrives on the scene desperate to reclaim the cash. The only trouble is Horace has locked the money in the time-lock safe and they'll have to wait until 6am to open it. As the two men wait it out Horace realises there's something horribly familiar about Darren. They both sang in the choir at Christ College forty years ago.

Pay to view Blue Moon

The Waimate Conspiracy

Cast: Jim Moriarty, David McPhail, Mark Hadlow

Very entertaining, often hilarious, no-budget mock documentary about a fictional land rights claim.

When Maori in Waimate hear that a farmer is subdividing and selling land stolen from them in 1866, they make a claim for it in court bringing only their oral history as evidence. When their case is tossed out they come up with - by various entertaining means - evidence substantial enough to sustain an appeal, even as the farmer does everything in his power to frustrate them.

All this is 'observed' by cameraman Gerard Smythe who is plainly in charge of recording the tangata whenua's struggle for posterity (despite its documentary trappings, the film has no pretensions to evenhandedness) and interspersed with 'talking head' grabs from townspeople on different sides of different fences. The script is given fine service by a great cast, mainly of unknowns, but headed by the always likeable Moriarty and anchored by Hadlow as opposing counsel and McPhail as judge.

Pay to view The Waimate Conspiracy

No Petrol, No Diesel!

Cast: Jim Moriarty, Mark Hadlow, David McPhail, Janice Gray

Why is one of the world's biggest corporations trying to buy a dowdy little backwater petrol station? Rex Devlin wouldn't sell Devlin Motors and now all of a sudden he's dead. The police say he fell asleep at the wheel of his car and just failed to take the corner. Then it transpires the guy who was so eager to buy the place is working for Overseas International Liquids, one of the biggest corporations in the world. Oscar Devlin has come all the way from Hollywood to sort out the near bankrupt gas station but things aren't going to be that simple. Things have changed in Temuka over the past ten years. Oscar suspects foul play over Rex's death and he has a fight on his hands with the mysterious Mr Bligh who just won't take no for an answer.

As in his previous film The Waimate Conspiracy, Stef Harris has once again highlighted social issues. In No Petrol, No Diesel! the underlying theme is the starvation of rural communities by the big corporates. Here however the little guy comes out on top. We wouldn't have expected anything else from this superb piece of thought-provoking entertainment, now would we?

Pay to view No Petrol, No Diesel!