This story was originally published on The Spinoff.
If you’ve been keeping up with New Zealand film and television, you might have noticed that there’s been a familiar character popping up time and time again recently. Whether lurking in the shadows of Dark City: The Cleaner, the bristling gold grasses of We Were Dangerous, or the stony, snobby school in Tinā, the Canterbury region has become a recurring backdrop in some of the biggest local productions of the last few years.
Start looking for it and you’ll see it everywhere. It’s there in the towering mountains and lush green forests of Bookworm, the 1970s era bustling New Regent street in Head South, and the jagged Kaikōura coastline of Friends Like Her. This year doesn’t look to be slowing down either, with Canterbury working hard in the background of Joy Cowley adaptation Holy Days, and upcoming documentaries Marlon Williams: Ngā ao e Rua: Two Worlds and project fiftyone.
