Costa Botes has been an independent film-maker in New Zealand since the early 1980s. His short film Stalin’s Sickle won the jury prize at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival in 1988. Forgotten Silver, a mock-documentary co-written & co-directed with Peter Jackson in 1995 created a national sensation in 1995. It won a special critics prize at the Venice Film Festival, and has become a cult favourite worldwide. Costa’s first feature film, Saving Grace (1997), was selected for competition at Valladolid, Asia-Pacific, and Fantasporto Film Festivals. He documented the making of Peter Jackson’s epic trilogy Lord of the Rings trilogy from 1999 to 2003 with a matching trio of feature length documentaries. These were released in a limited edition DVD box set in 2006, and later included in the definitive blu-ray collection released in 2011. Costa established his own production company, Lone Pine Film & TV Productions in 2005 to make independent documentaries. These have included Struggle No More (2006), a biography of NZ’s greatest unknown band, and Yes That’s Me (2008) about a blues musician with manic depression. He photographed, produced and edited the documentary, Lost In Wonderland in 2009, mentoring its young director, Zoe McIntosh. This premiered at the NZ Film Festival and won awards for photography and best documentary the following year at the Qantas NZ Film & TV Awards. Costa wrote and produced another film for Zoe, a 35mm short called Day Trip (2010). This was selected to screen at numerous international festivals including Tribeca, Clermont Ferrand, and Hawaii. It won the Signis Award at Espression En Corto in Mexico, and best short film at the Montreal First Peoples Film Festival. Costa's next documentary feature, Candyman: The David Klein Story (2010), was about the eccentric American candy genius who invented Jelly Belly jellybeans. It premiered at Slamdance and Hot Docs in 2010, and won the Director’s Choice best documentary award at the Rincon Puerto Rico Film Festival. He followed this with two documentary features: Daytime Tiger (2011), a film about mania; and The Last Dogs of Winter (2012), about a man fighting to preserve rare Inuit sled dogs from extinction. The Last Dogs of Winter had its world premiere as an official selection at the Toronto International Film Festival. Act of Kindness (2015), a documentary about a young New Zealander’s experiences in post-Genocide Rwanda won the Best Editing award at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival. Costa also wrote and executive produced another short dramatic film for director Zoe McIntosh. The World in Your Window (2017) has screened at many top international festivals and won awards at Clermont-Ferrand, Tokyo, Melbourne, FlickerFest, Vancouver, Prague and Tahiti. His most recent work, Angie (2018) premiered at the NZ International Film Festival. It was described by one critic as a “deep, dark, daring wonder”. Another critic wrote, “Costa Botes has been making films for over 30 years: ANGIE is his best yet. He has always had a deft hand when it comes to emotional material. He has the ability to melt into the beautifully framed background and let the subjects speak, his flawless editing weaving a narrative spell”.
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Biography from TMDB.
- December 27, 1960 (65)
- New Zealand
- Director, producer and writer, also actor
- 5 on MovieCove · 33 credits in all
What are Costa Botes' films like?
Across a limited sample of 3 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Society and Survival.
What they feel like to watch
A split, not a type: Ironic 2 · Wry 0 · Earnest 1
Light 2 · Serious 1 · Dark 0
A split, not a type: Grounded 1 · Stylized 0 · Heightened 2
A split, not a type: Gentle 2 · Charged 0 · Intense 1
Steady 2 · Shifting 0 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 0 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 1
Slow burn 1 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 1
A split, not a type: Casual 2 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 3 · Affecting 0 · Heavy 0
Resolved 2 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 1
Moods and endings
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Costa Botes' films?
As of October 24, 2026, 3 of their 5 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
- Curiosity Stream
Subscription and free streaming for Costa Botes' titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
33 credits, 5 with a MovieCove page.
Voice (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
When the Cows Come Home (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)
Boys On Film 20: Heaven Can Wait (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)
Angie (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
The World In Your Window (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
Act of Kindness (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
The Deadly Ponies Gang (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
The Last Dogs of Winter (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Daytime Tiger (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
Day Trip (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Candyman: The David Klein Story (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Lost in Wonderland (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Kathmandu Blues (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Nigel Gavin: A Job with the Circus (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
Yes That's Me: Dave Murphy Plays the Blues (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
The Making of 'The Fellowship of the Ring' (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)
The Making of 'The Return of the King' (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)
The Making of 'The Two Towers' (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)
Struggle No More: The Windy City Strugglers Story (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)
The Quest Fulfilled: A Director's Vision (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2003)
Behind the Bull (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2000)
The Tribe(1999)
Midcredits score: 70th percentile of all shows
Saving Grace (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1998)
Forgotten Silver(1995)
Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all films
Valley of the Stereos (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1992)
The Ray Bradbury Theater: A Sound of Thunder (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1989)
Catching the Tide: Sam Hunt's Cook Strait (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1988)
Bad Taste(1987)
Midcredits score: 64th percentile of all films
Stalin's Sickle (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1987)
The Ray Bradbury Theater(1985)
Midcredits score: 58th percentile of all showsBarbed Wire Canoe (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
The Making of The Lord of the Rings Collection (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 32 titles, 30 of them dated from 1985 to 2025.
Biggest box office
Antarctica: A Year on Ice (2013)
Highest rated
Antarctica: A Year on Ice (2013)
Most popular right now
Bad Taste (1987)
Film career
- 1987Screen debut· Bad Taste
How do Costa Botes' films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 90th percentile, the median of all 3; across a limited sample of 3 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 87th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up2
- 50th to 74th3
Shape of the crowd
3 of their 5 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved2
- Crowd Pleaser3
Reviewers score the atmosphere 70/100 and the pacing 53/100 in their films, across 3 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Costa Botes work with?
People who share at least 2 of Costa Botes' MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Peter Jackson shares the most, 2.
Directors
- Peter JacksonShared titles: Forgotten Silver (1995), Bad Taste (1987)See all 2 shared titles with Peter Jackson
Composers
- David DonaldsonShared titles: Antarctica: A Year on Ice (2013), Forgotten Silver (1995)See all 2 shared titles with David Donaldson
- Janet RoddickShared titles: Antarctica: A Year on Ice (2013), Forgotten Silver (1995)See all 2 shared titles with Janet Roddick
- Plan 9Shared titles: Antarctica: A Year on Ice (2013), Forgotten Silver (1995)See all 2 shared titles with Plan 9
- Steve RocheShared titles: Antarctica: A Year on Ice (2013), Forgotten Silver (1995)See all 2 shared titles with Steve Roche
Mixed roles
- Jamie SelkirkShared titles: Forgotten Silver (1995), Bad Taste (1987)See all 2 shared titles with Jamie Selkirk
