Already filmed here

Learn about the films and TV commercials that showcase the screen crew capability, intriguing locations and outstanding scenery in the Canterbury region.

showreel

An international showreel that's truly epic

We are proud to be the backdrop for some of the world’s most epic cinema. Our local crew have their names etched on the history books and award trophies of many a blockbuster.

Content producers are spoilt for choice when it comes to locations to film in New Zealand and Canterbury. Check out some of these films and TV commercials that showcase the crew capabilities, intriguing locations and outstanding scenery in the Southern Alps, Canterbury and West Coast regions.

Mulan (2019)

Director: Niki Caro,

Walt Disney Studios

A young Chinese maiden disguises herself as a male warrior in order to save her father. The film is a live-action feature film based on Disney's 'Mulan' (1998).

Mackenzie Basin has had a reputation for staging battle sequences in the ‘The Lord of the Rings’ films and also in the remake of ‘Mulan’(1998). It's an unbelievably expansive place for large action sequences or wildlife chases that can be filmed on a terrain suggestive of grasslands.

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Only Cloud Knows (2019)

Director: Feng Xiaogang

Emperor Motion Pictures

A is a middle-aged Chinese man living in New Zealand. He has been suffering from sorrow and loneliness ever since the death of his beloved wife. Unable to overcome his grief, he decides to retrace the journey he shared with his wife and fulfill a dream that she never had the chance to fulfill.

Some of the filming locations included the unique coastlines of Kaikoura and the alpine environment of New Zealand’s tallest mountain, Aoraki Mount Cook.

Letter for the King (2019)

Director: Alex Holms

Film Wave & Netflix

Tiuri, a teenage squire, answers a call for help that sends him on a perilous mission across the three kingdoms to deliver a secret letter to the King.

The film was shot on Braemar Station with a back drop comprising of Aoraki Mount Cook and the majestic blue waters of Lake Pukaki.

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The Luminaries (2019)

Director: Claire McCarthy

BBC

‘The Luminaries’, starring Eva Green, tells an epic story of love, murder and revenge, as men and women travelled across the world to make their fortunes. This 19th century tale of adventure and mystery unfolds in the boom years of the 1860s gold rush.

The story of West Coast’s history is revealed. The West Coast is also the location of some of the exteriors of the shoot.

A wrinkle in time (2018)

Director: Ava DuVernay

Walt Disney Studios

This epic adventure takes us through one girl’s transformative journey led by three celestial guides. Here we discover that strength comes from embracing one’s individuality and that the best way to triumph over fear is to travel while being guided by one’s own light.

The stunning blue waters of Lake Pukaki were transformed into the utopian planet Uriel in Disney’s ‘A Wrinkle in Time’.

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The Stolen (2017)

Director: Niall Johnson

Cork Films

The movie tells the story of a woman who must find her kidnapped son, navigating a world she doesn't know while being on the edge of danger with every heartbeat.

Historic buildings at Ferrymead Heritage Park feature in ‘The Stolen’, a colonial drama filmed in Christchurch in 2016. The film crew also visited Ashley Gorge, Little River, Birdling's Flat, Arthur's Pass and Waikuku Beach.

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The Stolen ladies trio, screen canterbury

Human Traces (2017)

Director: Nic Gorman

Producer: Nadia Maxwell

When a mysterious young man arrives on a remote Sub-antarctic research station, secrets threaten the relationship of a married couple trying to return the island’s ecosystem to its natural state.

Human Traces is set in a fictional location based loosely on Campbell Island – 750 kms south of New Zealand, and was shot amongst the tussock spurs, volcanic rocks and sharp outcrops of Banks Peninsula and at the Catlins.

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Murder on the Orient Express (2016)

Kenneth Branagh

Twentieth Century Fox

When a murder occurs on the train on which he's travelling, celebrated detective Hercule Poirot is recruited to solve the case.

Plates were taken of the Tranz Alpine’s grand location to double for the Swiss Alps. This passenger train is said to be one of the greatest train journeys of the world and runs from the Canterbury to the West Coast. New Zealand was chosen for the crew’s ingenuity, together with the right terrain and weather conditions.

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Sun Set Song (2016)

Director: Terence Davies

Hurricane Films

The tale of a daughter of a Scottish farmer, who comes of age in the early 1900s. A beautiful depiction of a period of a young Scottish woman’s life covering her high hopes and dreams situated within the trauma of war.

Shot in the Canterbury plains which was the perfect setting to double as the Scottish Highlands.

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Z for Zachariah (2016)

Director: Craig Zobel

Lionsgate

Port Levy on Banks Peninsula is where an old farmhouse became the refuge of a young woman played by Margot Robbie, who thinks she may be the last person alive.

The sunny hills and valleys of the peninsula look tranquil in the film and the fictional disaster that destroyed that world seems like a work of art.

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