Christchurch returns to 1979 for new movie shoot
Christchurch is being taken back in time to the late 1970s for a new film being shot in the city.
A shop in New Regent St became Middle Earth Records yesterday, complete with posters for 1970s bands Toy Love and Public Image in the window, for the shooting of Head South.
The film, by Christchurch director Jonathan Ogilvie, is set in 1979 and inspired by his youth playing in post-punk bands. It stars musician Benee, Australian movie star Ed Oxenbould, Lord of the Rings actor Marton Csokas, and Shortland Street regular Roxie Mohebbi.
Ogilvie said the film was in the second week of a five-week shoot in Christchurch. They have filmed at the Bridge of Remembrance, Christ’s College, the Bill Sutton House, and plan to shoot outside the Town Hall next week. An old brick building in Fitzgerald Ave was transformed this week into an infamous punk venue that occupied a former market building in Mollett St from 1979 to 1980. Ogilvie said they had searched for locations in Christchurch that evoked the late 1970s. ‘‘It has been easier than everyone told me it would be,’’ he said. ‘‘We are going for the iconic aspects of Christchurch. It is all still there to some extent. From certain angles we can get it.’’
The vintage record shop created in New Regent St was a tribute to a record store run by Tony Peake at the University of Canterbury campus in the 1970s and 1980s. ‘‘His record shop was the centre for hip music.’’
Ogilvie made his name in the 1980s by making striking videos for Flying Nun bands like The Bats and Headless Chickens. His most famous video was She Speeds for the Straitjacket Fits, which was filmed in the Lyttelton tunnel. He said the film was based on his time playing in bands in 1970s and 1980s Christchurch.
‘‘The story follows a young kid called Angus who is left alone with his dad when his mum takes off with another man. Angus discovers the world of underground music in Christchurch, which was just starting . . . in warehouses and any rundown place where you could set up an amp.’’