Simon Ogston

The story of a humble farming couple, a sudden upheaval and an unlikely saviour.

From 1964 to 1966 Chants R&B were a fixture of the Christchurch music scene, and local bar The Stage Door. The band’s near mythic status is highlighted in this hour-long documentary featuring band and audience members, plus their former peers. Musicians Ray Columbus and Midge Marsden rave about the group, while music experts Nick Bollinger and Tony Mitchell speculate as to why they were so compelling. Mixed in is archive 60s footage shot by Fred Goldring, capturing raucous scenes in the dank underground bar in central Christchurch. Rumble & Bang was directed by Simon Ogston (Skeptics - Sheen of Gold) and Jeff Smith.

Two very different MMA fighters from the Far North seek glory inside the ring and to inspire their community in this absorbing fly-on-the-wall documentary about small town heroes with big hearts.

Two very different MMA fighters from the Far North seek glory inside the ring and to inspire their community in this absorbing fly-on-the-wall documentary about small town heroes with big hearts.

Filmmaker Simon Ogston hits the road with NZ writer, poet, indie-rocker Bill Direen as he explores the cultural landscape and presents a series of strikingly diverse live performances.

As deeply fascinated by the conceptual as the biographical, this comprehensive portrait of one of our great experimental artists is essential viewing for anyone with even a passing interest in New Zealand art and music.

Energetic, stylish and unexpectedly emotional documentary about legendary New Zealand punk band Skeptics, whose run was short by singer David D'Ath's death from leukaemia in 1990.

Energetic, stylish and unexpectedly emotional documentary about legendary New Zealand punk band Skeptics, whose run was short by singer David D'Ath's death from leukaemia in 1990.

Founded by friends Virgil Reality and Mike Hex, alternative rock band Squirm stalked the Garden City of the 90s leaving behind an EP and two albums of fantastically drugged-out art-punk before fading into obscurity. Simon Ogston's documentary is an affectionate tribute to both an unknown band worthy of rediscovery and to the fertile punk underground that spawned them. Christchurch was home to a vibrant and innovative music scene throughout the 90s and Gone with the Weird fingers many of the culprits: featuring interviews with Squirm's contemporaries such as Loves Ugly Children, Pumpkinhead, Ape Management and The Bats as well as Squirm's surviving band members, including their Spinal Tap-like succession of drummers. We meet Virgil Reality reflective in middle age, paying homage to Mike Hex who died of complications from pneumonia in 2004 and ruminating on their heavy drug use during the band's heyday.

Since they imploded in 1970 with only one scratchy recording to their name, the Unknown Blues have remained a fascinating footnote in Kiwi music history. Together with their equally infamous biker mates the Antarctic Angels, the band made such an impact in New Zealand's conservative deep south they continued to be talked about more than four decades later. Then in 2011 the complete Unknown Blues lineup reformed for the very first time.