A day that rocked the core of New Zealand

The latest kiwi film to premier is Out of the Blue which tells the story of loner David Gray's massacre of 13 people at the tiny coastal township of Aramoana, near Dunedin, on November 13, 1990.

This tragedy shocked New Zealand in a profound way. It cut to the core of the idyllic self-image of the country – ‘gods own country’, ‘a great place to bring up kids’. Before Aramoana, random violence seemed to happen elsewhere but after 13 November, the violence of the world came to New Zealand making the Aramoana tragedy is one of the more significant events in NZ's recent history.

You might think a film of such tragedy would be macabre but the events of that day are handled sensitively without too much blood and gore. The thing that strikes you most is the cinematography that captures the stunning beauty of the NZ coastline and gives an atmospheric insight into how New Zealanders lived at that time. Aramoana is a small place close to Dunedin with two beaches that are breathtakingly beautiful, located on the South Island's southern coast it is literally on the edge of the world.

Although there are parallels made to the shootings in Hungerford in the UK, the key difference is that the siege of this small hamlet was over a 22 hour period with people locked in their houses with the gunman wandering around indiscriminately shooting people who came into his path. I was left wondering though why make a film of such a devastating tragedy - the film makers say it was to tell the story of those that lost their lives in a meaningless way and to honour those who showed enormous bravery.

For me the hero of the movie was Helen Dickson, a lady in her 70's recovering from a hip replacement who crawled along a ditch several times to call for help and then sat huddled in her kitchen until the nightmare was over. She was awarded the George Medal by Queen Elizabeth II for her efforts during the tragedy.

The movie opened to critical acclaim at the Toronto Film Festival recently and worth taking a peak if it ever comes your way.