John Carlaw
Directing
Known For

Four-part series Revolution mapped sweeping social and economic change in New Zealand society in the 1980s and early 1990s. Judged Best Factual Series at the 1997 NZ Television Awards, it collected together archive footage, and interviews with the major players. Said producer Marcia Russell: “We wanted to make Revolution because we believed that unless we re-run and re-examine our recent history we are in constant danger of forgetting, and forgetting can render us passive about the present and slaves of the future.
Revolution

History Man takes a journey through the life and work of New Zealand's most popular historian, Michael King. With a career that spanned more than three decades and books that strengthened a nation with it's history, at the time of his death Michael King was one of New Zealand's most beloved writers. King's ability to cross cultural boundaries and delve deep into sometimes controversial areas greatly enriched New Zealand's recorded history. His tragic death early in 2004 was an enormous loss to this country. His insatiable curiosity fed New Zealand an extraordinary run of books, culminating in his last, The Penguin History of New Zealand, which was a publishing sensation. History Man, a feature length documentary, follows in the steps of Michael King on a journey through his own past - to childhood places where the sense of New Zealand and his own New Zealand-ness first struck him, the places his work steered him, and some of the characters he met along the way.