Justin Pemberton

Justin Pemberton is a documentary filmmaker based in Auckland, New Zealand. He is best known for the films Chasing Great and The Golden Hour.

Justin Pemberton has a degree in psychology and Post-graduate Diploma in Broadcast Communication from The University of Auckland.

In 2000, he established the production company The TV Set with filmmakers Megan Jones and Pietra Brettkelly.

Pemberton’s film Love, Speed and Loss, about Grand Prix road-racer Kim Newcombe, won Best Documentary, Best Editing and Best Directing at the 2007 New Zealand Screen Awards and was awarded Best Arts/Festival Documentary at the 2007 Qantas Television Awards.

His next film The Nuclear Comeback investigated the nuclear power industry’s claim that, as a low carbon emitter, nuclear power is an environmentally friendly source of energy. The documentary won Best Documentary at Italy’s CinemAmbiente Film Festival in 2008 and Best New Zealand Feature Documentary at the DocNZ Film Festival. Pemberton was also awarded Achievement in Directing (Documentary) at the 2008 Qantas Film and Television Awards for The Nuclear Comeback. The documentary screened on The Sundance Channel in the US and is distributed by Films Transit International.

In 2012 he wrote and directed the docudrama feature The Golden Hour, based on the heroic achievements of New Zealand athletes Peter Snell and Murray Halberg at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. The Golden Hour was nominated for a 2013 International Emmy Award for best documentary.

In 2016 Pemberton co-wrote and directed a film about rugby legend Richie McCaw called Chasing Great. The film topped the New Zealand box office with a record-breaking opening weekend and became the highest grossing New Zealand documentary of all time.

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