NZ Nature On Screen

07 October 2009
NZ Nature On Screen

NZ On Screen honours New Zealand's unique natural heritage with the launch of a collection of prestigious nature programmes from Natural History New Zealand (NHNZ).

Aotearoa's landscapes and its magnificent menagerie of natural oddities - birds, insects, and trees like nowhere else on the planet - are showcased in 15 award-winning titles. From Discovery Channel and David Bellamy documentaries, to Wild South and Our World classics.

The Nature Collection has been curated for NZ On Screen by long-time presenter of TV nature programmes Peter Hayden - who now works behind-the-scenes at NHNZ.

The award-winning Dunedin-based production house evolved out of TVNZ’s Natural History unit, and has an international reputation for making documentaries about the natural world.

Hayden said so many strong natural history programmes had been made in New Zealand, it was hard to narrow his selection down to the 15 titles in the collection.

“I’ve picked titles that I think Kiwi nature lovers will really like. Nature programmes always seem to have held a special place in New Zealanders’ hearts.”

Nature is a highlights collection from three decades of NHNZ productions. Some of these programmes are iconic and have been rarely seen since they screened

The collection features the documentary series Moa’s Ark (presented by naturalist David "old man's beard must go" Bellamy); the award-winning series presented by Hayden himself: Journeys in National Parks and Journeys Across Latitude 45 (screened as part of Our World); and the popular children’s nature series Wildtrack.

The one-off documentary titles in the collection are the Wild South classics: Seven Black Robins, and The Black Stilt ; Discovery Channel docos Emperors of Antarctica, and The Lost Whales; and award-winning films: Kea - Mountain Parrot, Under the Ice, Bandits of the Beech Forest, Mirrorworld, Ghosts of Gondwana, and Exhuming Adams.

NZ On Screen is the NZ On Air-funded website set up last year to showcase New Zealand television and film. You can view The Nature Collection, and over 700 other titles, free of charge at www.nzonscreen.com Winner of Best Entertainment Website at the 2009 Qantas Media Awards.

NZ On Screen is fully funded by NZ On Air. All content is free to view

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