Head South

There wasn’t a real music industry, so you couldn’t become a rock star. Back in those days, we often talked about ‘the tyranny of distance.’ We felt so removed from everything. But it was the triumph of distance because it allowed people to interpret things in a new way. It’s a film about music, yes, but also about art and creative expression.

– Director Jonathan Ogilvie describes Christchurch in the late 1970s, Variety, 23 January 2024

It’s very autobiographical. The story follows a young kid called Angus who is left alone with his world-weary dad when his mum takes off with another man. He discovers the world of underground music in Christchurch, which was just starting and was happening in warehouses and any rundown place where you could set up an amp. It’s almost an origin story for Flying Nun because it sets up the musical and cultural climate of the time that inspired Roger Shephard to set up Flying Nun.

– Director Jonathan Ogilvie on his Christchurch-based feature Head South, Stuff, 17 November 2022

I first talked to Jonathan [Ogilvie] about the film a year-and-a-half ago. I bought a secondhand bass to get into the character. But the film got delayed and before I knew it, I was a bass player. One of the perks of the job has been learning how to play the bass.

– Lead actor Ed Oxenbould on his preparation for the role of Angus, Stuff, 17 November 2022

It's better to regret the things you've done than the things you haven't done.

– Angus's dad (Marton Csokas) offers his teenage son Angus (Ed Oxenbould) some advice

I've got a song: 'Boxed In'.

– Angus (Ed Oxenbould) tries to impress cool Kirsten (Stella Bennett)

It’s a time and place in New Zealand’s recent cultural history that deserves to be shown off and celebrated. Head South is an authentic local story with truly international reach, and I can’t wait to share it with audiences. It’s a return to the world of music and ideas — and indeed the place, Ōtautahi Christchurch — that first inspired me to become a screenwriter and director.

– Director Jonathan Ogilvie on his fourth feature Head South, Scoop, 24 November 2023

Are those my wedding shoes?

– Angus's dad (Marton Csokas) notices something different about son Angus (Ed Oxenbould)