Filmmaker Kevin Double, who runs Whanganui's Confluence Boutique Cinema with Melita Farley, has offered recommendations for films to watch during the Covid-19 lockdown, all of which are both "off the beaten track a little bit"
Covid 19 coronavirus: Whanganui's Confluence Cinema offers movie tips and links
"The Irish and Canadian film archives allow us access, and there are links to them on our website.
"Many of the films we've screened in our cinema are available on Kanopy, and also on an Australian site called DocPlay, which has a free 30-day trial.
"Hopefully that'll be enough time to get everyone through the lockdown period."
Double said they have had a lot of requests for films made by himself and Farley after sold-out screenings at the Confluence theatre.
"It's good to be able to show local films, and let people go 'out and about' virtually during the lockdown.
"Maybe this is a bit of self-promotion, but we're making all of our own titles free to view through our Vimeo page."
Double said that there was "a whole world of cinema" outside the main avenues of sites such as Netflix and iTunes, and the Confluence website was offering links to films "from around the world".
"Cinema is going to take a massive shake-up after all this [Covid-19] is said and done, and hopefully all the boutique cinema providers out there can keep their heads above water through the wage subsidy and things like that.
"If we just go back to relying on big companies like Disney, I think the movie industry as a whole will suffer."
• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website
Here are five films Kevin Double recommends to watch during the Covid-19 lockdown, with the websites they are available on.
Embrace - Kanopy
"We have screened this twice, and it's a really important film for both men and women. It's about a body builder, who decided there's more to life than just body image. It's extremely moving, and a film everyone should watch."
Village By The Sea - New Zealand on Screen
"This is a documentary by Michael Heath about Edith Collier, and the time she spent painting in Ireland."
Fools and Dreamers - Happens
"This is another New Zealand themed documentary, this time about the efforts made to regenerate our native forests."
Afghan Cycles - Kanopy
"This film looks at gender inequality in Afghanistan, even down to riding bikes. It's a relatively new film, so it's great to see it up on Kanopy already."
Making Waves - Vimeo
"Dr Athol Steward undertook two marathon swims in the South Taranaki Bight. These swims were designed to highlight the issue and potential impacts of a proposed seabed mining operation in the area."
• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website
All these films can be found through the Confluence cinema page at www.confluence.kiwi/cinema