Written & Directed by Jonathan Ogilvie

Head South

Comedy - drama

“Pure coming-of-age gold”

Erin Free, Film Ink

CAST

Our Fantastic Team

Ed Oxenbould

as Angus

Márton Csókás

as Gordon

Stella Bennett

as Kirsten

Roxie Mohebbi

as Holly

Jackson Bliss

as Fraser

Demos Murphy

as Malcolm

Arlo Guthrie

as Andy

Tom Eason

as Permanent Man

Trendall Pulini

as Jamie

Oscar Phillips

as Stuart

Orion Carey-Clarke

as Fergus

AWARDS

CREW

Our Amazing Crew

JONATHAN OGILVIE

Writer & Director

ANTJE KULPE

Producer

Emma Slade, Lee Hubber, Gary Phillips, Mark Vennis, Mat Govoni

Executive Producers

AMANDA JENKINS

Line Producer

JOHN CHRISSTOFFELS

Cinematographer

CHRISTOPHER BRUCE

Production Designer

JULIE-ANNE DE RUVO

Editor

SHAYNE CARTER

Composer

LESLEY BURKES-HARDING

Costume Designer

VERITY GRIFFITHS

Hair & Make-up Designer

CHRIS SINCLAIR

Sound Designer

JANE MAHONEY

Casting

DOUGAL HOLMES

Stills Photographer

CREW

Our Amazing Crew

JONATHAN OGILVIE

Writer & Director

ANTJE KULPE

Producer

Emma Slade, Lee Hubber, Gary Phillips, Mark Vennis, Mat Govoni

Executive Producers

AMANDA JENKINS

Line Producer

JOHN CHRISSTOFFELS

Cinematographer

CHRISTOPHER BRUCE

Production Designer

JULIE-ANNE DE RUVO

Editor

SHAYNE CARTER

Composer

LESLEY BURKES-HARDING

Costume Designer

VERITY GRIFFITHS

Hair & Make-up Designer

CHRIS SINCLAIR

Sound Designer

JANE MAHONEY

Casting

DOUGAL HOLMES

Stills Photographer

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Who We Are ?

"My Crime is That of Curiosity"

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about the film

Head South

Head South is post-punk coming-of-age set in 1979 Aotearoa New Zealand. Written & directed by Jonathan Ogilvie, produced by Antje Kulpe.
Head South celebrated its world premiere as the opening night film at the prestigious 2024 Rotterdam International Film Festival (IFFR).
It was the opening film of the New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) in Otautahi Christchurch and Cinema des Antipodes, St Tropez. Tickets were sold out for screenings at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) and Sydney Film Festival (SFF).

LOGLINE

The underground post-punk music scene of 1979 Christchurch draws in Angus, a schoolboy fantasist, who must confront self-doubt, the derision of his friends and a family tragedy to acquire an appreciation of true character.

SYNOPSIS

Christchurch, New Zealand 1979. Angus, alone for a fortnight with his world-weary father, is drawn into the underground post-punk music scene. Desperate to fit in with this magnetic but fickle subculture, Angus distances himself from his true friends and fabricates his musical abilities. Caught out by his own deceit he must become the musician he pretended to be. With the support of his friends, especially the talented Kirsten, Angus navigates self-doubt, derision, harmful behaviour and a family tragedy to take the stage for the first time.

Festival Screenings

Opening Film, Rotterdam Film Festival 2024

SOLD OUT SCREENINGS

Opening Film, New Zealand Film Festival 2024

SOLD OUT SCREENINGS

Opening Film, Cinema Des Antipodes, St Tropez 2024

SOLD OUT SCREENINGS

Sydney Film Festival 2024

SOLD OUT SCREENINGS

Melbourne International Film Festival 2024

SOLD OUT SCREENINGS

PRESS

“An entertaining, wryly funny coming of age movie”

Revelation International Film Festival

“Head South is pure coming-of-age gold.”

Erin Free Film Ink

“this is the outsider coming of age movie we need”

Revelation International Film Festival

“A sweet-and-sour tale of post-punk yearning, family dysfunction, teenage angst and quiet suburban desperation, Head South is pure coming-of-age gold.”

Erin Free Film Ink

“a sweet-natured entertainment”

Peter Bradshaw The Guardian

“a likeable film”

Wendy Ide Screen Daily

“enriched by … emotion and warmth”aesthetic of the era, and of a choice selection of the music”

Erin Free Film Ink

“a likeable film, which makes enthusiastic use of the scrappy, hand-made fanzine aesthetic of the era, and of a choice selection of the music”

Wendy Ide Screen Daily

“winningly energetic”

Erin Free Film Ink

“excellent production design and wardrobe choices, and a real sense of period style… Putting his own very distinct spin on the dog-eared but much-loved coming- of-age trope, Jonathan Ogilvie has yielded a true teen dream with the winningly energetic Head South.”

Erin Free Film Ink

“the excellent Ed Oxenbould … cracks it right out of the park”

Erin Free Film Ink

“musician/actress Stella Bennett aka Benee, who has star quality, screen presence, charisma and talent to burn”

Erin Free Film Ink

“wry, empathetic, and quietly moving”

Morris Yang InReview Online,

“bitingly funny and incredibly moving”

Erin Free Film Ink

“a personal tale that’s quirky as much as it’s wry, empathetic, and quietly moving”

Morris Yang InReview Online,

“Set in the upstart postpunk scene of late ‘70s Christchurch – director Jonathan Ogilvie's hometown – this bittersweet semi-autobiographical coming-of-age tale features a killer soundtrack.”

SFF

“Márton Csókás is stellar”

SFF

“Filled with warmth and nostalgic detail, Ogilvie has crafted an achingly emotional tribute to an epochal moment in music.”

SFF

A private schoolboy becomes enamoured with all things post-punk in this spirited coming-of-age comedy with a sting in its tail.

IFFR

This beloved slice of local identity is given its proper due in Head South, the genuinely offbeat, dark-edged comedy, set in 1979, that opened the Rotterdam International Film Festival.

Carmen Gray The Film Verdict

Ogilvie’s tribute to a pre-internet New Zealand, replete with a sharp eye for retro detail and Kiwiana, nails the fact that New Zealand’s isolation was not only literal, but bred a glorious eccentricity of outlook.

Carmen Gray The Film Verdict

“A liminal time of great do-it-yourself creativity and energy that I felt deserved to be celebrated in a screen story.”

Jonathan Ogilvie The Hollywood Reporter,

“a little gem of a movie, all the way from New Zealand. Set in Christchurch, around the late Seventies post-punk scene, Head South is a charming coming-of-age film that draws heavily from the youthful experiences of its writer-director Jonathan Ogilvie”

James Mottram Film Ink

"Drawing from his own experience growing up in Christchurch in the 1970s and ’80s, Jonathan Ogilvie’s warmly engaging film delves beneath the city’s prim and proper exterior to portray its nascent post-punk underground."

Michael McDonnell NZIFF

Ogilvie, who got his start making music videos for that venerable Kiwi label has really come full circle with Head South, crafting a coming-of-age film with a true heart that is an entertaining and loving tribute to his hometown.

Michael McDonnell NZIFF

A charming autobiographical valentine to coming of age in New Zealand during the height of punk, which was the 2024 International Film Festival Rotterdam opening- night film.

MIFF

Ogilvie’s latest feature-length work [is] a touching, bittersweet ode to a pivotal time in musical and Kiwi history, sure to charm audiences both young and old.

MIFF

“A time capsule, wrapped in the glorious, sweaty textures of punk rock and post-punk tunes.”

Lars Brandle Rolling Stone

MUSIC

Head South motion picture soundtrack, featuring Stella Bennett aka Benee and
Shayne Carter, released on Leather Jacket Records. Available at Flying Nun
Records and other quality record shops.