In a memo for Auckland Council’s Domain Committee, Screen Auckland described the movie as an “exciting, international black comedy”. Around 160 cast and crew were in the Auckland Domain this week for the shooting of Heart Eyes. A carousel featured prominently in a scene for Heart Eyes, filmed in the Auckland Domain this week. A Seattle police car – one of many film props in the Auckland Domain this week. Like most other major media firms including NZME, TVNZ and MediaWorks, Stuff has been looking closely at costs.

June 27, 2024 22:02 UTC

In a sentencing hearing this week, defence lawyer Annabel Cresswell cited "loss-reactive shoplifting" - when an otherwise law-abiding citizen shoplifts amid a mental health crisis - as the reason behind Ghahraman's actions. What is 'loss-reactive shoplifting'? The term 'loss-reactive' has been around for a very long time, Eisenbarth says. In Ghahraman's case, Cresswell argued this unusual behaviour was shoplifting. "I think what is really important to know is that shoplifting is a behaviour, it's not a characteristic," Eisenbarth explains.

June 27, 2024 21:06 UTC

Wellington multi-instrumentalist folk muso Graeme James has come a long way since his early performing days, busking in freezing cold Queenstown winters. He’s heading back to his old hunting ground tomorrow, to help celebrate the opening of The Cargo Collective, a new function and events space, including a brew hall, behind Gantley’s Tavern, established by Cargo’s Meron and Malcolm Blakey. At 7 he began playing violin, “then I kept adding instruments’’. For the brew hall show, he’ll be accompanied by Taranaki-based drummer Ben Dixon. ‘‘I’m doing the melodic things, and Ben the drummer is hitting the drums as hard as he can.’’Cargo Brew Hall grand opening, behind Gantley’s Tavern, Saturday, from 4pm; Graeme James ‘Luminous Times Tour’, 8pm.

June 27, 2024 16:37 UTC

Which is why we are appealing again for your support (if you are not already doing so). Your support mattersLess than one in 20 readers financially support us. For readers who don't support us, the cost of reading like that is the ads you see. And that is why we need your support. We know most readers appreciate the open access, but only a tiny fraction financially support us.

June 27, 2024 13:51 UTC

Ayrburn’s taking the concept of a midwinter Christmas to a completely different level. From Monday till July 31, the hospitality precinct, which opened in December, is transforming into a Christmas wonderland, completewith an outdoor ice skating rink, light displays and oversized ornaments, including towering Nutcrackers. Developer Chris Meehan says the idea was sparked over lunch with a friend in Sydney. ‘‘I have incredible memories of white Christmas in Europe and wanted to bring that festive spirit back home during the New Zealand winter. ‘‘The Ayrburn Christmas Wonderland is going to be unlike anything NZ has seen before, and we’re proud to bring that experience to locals and visitors.

June 27, 2024 04:03 UTC





A huge display in the centre court of Auckland’s Sylvia Park mall has been set up to recognise Matariki this coming weekend. Created by Māori-owned creative agency Run Aotearoa, the large panels feature visuals of hands and whai patterns, interwoven with the names of the Matariki stars. Whai are traditional string games, played by Māori during the time of Matariki. Run Aotearoa says its aim was to acknowledge Matariki and Te Whare Tapere, the traditional house of entertainment and games, with the installation connecting each of the nine stars in the Matariki cluster to a whai string formation. Along with the installation, the wider campaign features social media, digital assets, OOH and an activation, where shoppers can stop by to learn how to create the Matariki whai patterns themselves.

June 27, 2024 03:47 UTC

The spastic foaming rage from the right wing troll hate-bots because Jacinda Ardern appeared in their news feeds was something to behold all week, like a redneck Aurora making the social media night scape burn crimson. Apparently Jacinda getting a movie made about her is the end of Western Civilisation as we know it. Milk will curdle, planes will fall from the sky and cats and dogs will start living together. Comrades, If you are more concerned with a movie about Jacinda than this racist hard right climate denying beneficiary bashing Government implementing culture war revenge fantasies as social policy while borrowing billions for their donor mates to implement an anti-Maori, anti-worker, anti-Treaty, anti-environment, anti-renter agenda – if it’s Jacinda that is making you angry, might I suggest maybe YOU’RE the fucking problem?

June 27, 2024 03:43 UTC

Luxon goes on to claim that (despite an overall reduction in youth crime over the last decade) taking an evidence-based approach has failed. More evidence of success within evidence-based approaches is hinted at when we review the youth justice indicators report which has been tracking the data over the last decade. The report shows that we’ve been seeing a consistent decline in youth crime. Hendry is a Youth Development Worker and rangatahi advocate, working in the Youth Housing and Homelessness space. He leads and co-founded Kick Back, a youth development organizations responding to youth homelessness and is also an advocate working collectively to end youth homelessness in Aotearoa.

June 26, 2024 23:52 UTC

Penny Ashton: "It wasn’t until I saw Sense and Sensibility in London that I got the appeal of Austen." They seem to be all about people burning to death in attics; I’ve always preferred Jane Austen. Is it true that you didn’t like Jane Austen when you were initially introduced to her novels at high school in Christchurch? Have you found through doing these shows, and particularly Jane Austen, it makes you even more feminist? What’s the connection between your family and Jane Austen?

June 26, 2024 18:56 UTC

Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu has shared his thoughts on the “surprise” omission of teammate and No 8 Hoskins Sotutu from the first All Blacks squad of 2024. ADVERTISEMENTThe try-scoring back rower topped the charts with 12 during the Blues title-winning Super Rugby Pacific campaign, proving to be one of the most valuable players in the competition. But after capturing their first Super Rugby title since 2003, the champion Blues registered just three forwards in Scott Robertson’s All Black squad. Tuipulotu revealed the passing of a close relative has also weighed on Sotutu in the wake of the Super Rugby Pacific title win. The cryptic post receieved support from other Blues teammates, Akira Ioane who commented “don’t send boys” and Ofa Tuungafasi who sent support.

June 26, 2024 18:07 UTC

Photo: ODT filesA Dunedin man who violated a rest-home resident while she was having a seizure cannot be named despite having a history of sex crimes. Yesterday, he was jailed for three years and nine months on two counts of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and one of indecent assault. The first crimes were in 2022 or 2023 after his de facto partner had been discharged from time in hospital. When the defendant was grilled by police, he admitted violating the woman twice at her home and six times at the rest-home over a four-month period. In December last year at the rest-home, the man turned his attention to a girl more than 40 years younger than his first victim.

June 26, 2024 16:47 UTC

Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-FarrellyAir New Zealand has received a 500,000-litre delivery of sustainable aviation fuel made from used cooking oil. The Chinese-made fuel has been sent to Wellington and will be used on the airline's turbo-prop planes, principally on regional routes. She said the fuel produced 80 percent less carbon emissions than standard jet fuel and Air New Zealand was signalling to sustainable fuel manufacturers that it was a customer. Hannifin said various countries were already taking steps to require the use of sustainable fuel. From 2026, Air New Zealand would be required to use the green fuel when flying home from Canada and Singapore, with Japan to require it from 2030.

June 26, 2024 16:44 UTC

New features on Snapchat are hoping to create a safer community for its users. They protect against online harms, all while reinforcing the real-life connections the app is known for. “Snapchat is designed differently to traditional social media, with a focus on helping people connect with friends they know in real life. The aim is to prevent bullying and build on its commitment to combating online sextortion – a growing crime in New Zealand. And we continue to educate Snapchatters through resources like our in-app Safety Snapshot on financial sextortion, and on our Privacy & Safety Hub”, says Au.

June 26, 2024 15:47 UTC

Lauren Dickason at her sentencing at Christchurch High Court today. Those closest to Lauren Dickason told the High Court they had forgiven her, but the devastating effects of her actions in September 2021 would resonate through the rest of their lives. Dickason released a statement through her lawyers shortly after the sentencing this afternoon. "Lauren Dickason has lost everything I have lost. "I don't have the vocabulary to accurately describe the pain this has brought me and my family," her victim impact statement said.

June 26, 2024 15:40 UTC

The reality of raising three children under five was a complication for someone like Lauren, according to the Crown. Lauren reported feeling like a "shaken bottle of coke, ready to explode" on the day she killed her children. Photo: Stuff / Pool / Alden WilliamsBy September 2021, Lauren felt what she later told a forensic psychiatrist was a demonic presence. "Mothers don't kill their children the way that Lauren did just because they're angry, or resentful, or stressed or anxious. When asked if she had anything to say as to why she should not be sentenced, Dickason did not respond.

June 26, 2024 14:08 UTC