Discoveries from New Zealand World Cinema

A newly-baked bun in a bakery tries to avoid getting eaten.

In the wake of a painful break up a group of friends band together to help the former couple move out of their old room.

Annie Goldson and Kay Ellmers’ doco, expanded from the film they made for Maori Television, takes a timely look at New Zealand’s military and media, notably journalist Jon Stephenson, in Afghanistan.

Luke is pressured by a pair of stereotypical bullies to get a new phone, so he enlists the help of his unpredictable, dumb friend Liam, but their mission quickly spirals into chaos when a pair of rich, phone-obsessed twins enter the classroom, turning a simple task into a ridiculous, absurd adventure.

A therapist suggests an alternate way for an abused wife who has survived her suicide attempt to deal with her problems.

It's 1965 and rock music is shaking up the world but not in Auckland, New Zealand. One man's determination will challenge, inspire and lead a bunch of rebel deejay's into an un-chartered political nightmare. A boat called the Tiri will be their freedom, broadcasting from international waters to avoid prosecution. Based on a true story, a bold bid to free the airwaves and bring rock n' roll to the people.

Three Maori youths, bored with Auckland, head south in a restored Mark II Zephyr in search of something different. One of them is on the run from drug dealers, whom he had crossed. Various mini-adventures occurs as they make their way down the North Island, but it all comes to a head while visiting a cousin. Finally, they, the drug dealers and the police all come together, with the expected fights and arrests.

A boy from an abusive family wants to escape, but doesn't want to desert his younger siblings.

Armed with only their comedic genius, impeccable wit, and intellectual nous, two teams of comedians battle it out in the Great Comedy Debate of 2023.

A misunderstanding leads to sombre consequences as two flatmates recall very different turns of event from the previous night.

Based on the treatment of Pacific Island families during the New Zealand Dawn Raids of the 1970’s, this short is an intimate look into a police raid, as told through the eyes of a young girl Losa and her father Lupematasila.

Unreasonable rhymes, preposterous characters and enchanting music come together in this remarkable animated short film of twenty-five delightful, surreal songs. Featuring music by Bend with a star line-up of New Zealand artists: Neil Finn, Tim Finn, Don McGlashan, Bic Runga, Boh Runga, The Topp Twins, Dave Dobbyn, Jenny Morris, Renée Geyer, John Clarke, Ché Fu, King Kapisi and Chris Knox.

'Suni Man' is a touching, yet brutal coming-of-age story of a young Samoan man who must find the courage to choose between a stable life with his loving and traditional family, or an exciting life with his delinquent and dangerous cousin.

A uniquely Kiwi story capturing the incredible highs and heartbreaking lows of making world-class wine in New Zealand. Stu, Nick, Ollie and Jess take you on a journey of the all-consuming harvest period known as vintage and the passion and hard-graft that goes into every bottle.

In a place lost to history, soldiers are sent to cull a rebellion brought on by mass psychosis. Ishmael, the executioner, and Boethius, an officiating priest, have grown tired of this bloodwork. When they’re tasked with killing Absalom, a delusional pig farmer who believes himself the royal heir, the two must make a decision; to execute him or to encourage his delusion. A path that could either absolve them of guilt or leave all three dead.

The arrival of gorgeous and enigmatic Luella Miller instantly disrupts the social balance of a small New Zealand town in this spine-tingling psychological thriller.

With great bawdiness and backbone, a rugby team made up of farmers strive to redeem themselves from a long run of bitter losses. In the face of the hefty demands of farming and fatherhood, the Saturday game becomes the focus of the men’s passions and the ground on which their worth is proved. ‘The Ground We Won’ is a highly authentic, slice of life film about the challenges and joys of manhood, as seen through the rites and rituals of a rural New Zealand rugby club.

A caustically funny account of addict monomania.

Thugs are hired to destroy a rival business, but the employees of Frankie's Orchid Glasshouse are willing to fight for their workplace.

The story of jaded swimming coach and a spirited seven-year-old delinquent who comes under his instruction.

Nineteen-year old Ina inherits a sauna and decides to build a new future for the girls working there, but first she needs to confront her father's dangerous past.

Catherine is taken to dine at "Eau de la vie" an opulent cafe known for its unusual entertainment. Her business associates Grant and Sarah intend to initiate her into their sordid society and strip her of her innocence. Catherine must choose from a small group of performers who will entertain the diners for the evening. She selects a young attractive man unaware that the finale of the evenings entertainment will end in his dead. To save the young man she has chosen, Catherine is driven to fight for her own life but oblivious to her struggle the other diners believe it is all part of the evening's entertainment Catherine has to stand alone. They say that evil triumphs when good people do nothing. Eau de la vie is a dark tale of hedonism and individual courage.

Hibiscus (Suivai Pilisipi Autagavaia, from short film Manurewa) and the take no nonsense Ruth (Anna-Maree Thomas) have been friends since school. But now Hibiscus is in her final year of university, and her domineering mother doesn't want any boyfriends getting in the way; so Hibiscus enlists Ruth's help, to handle the temptations of a line of potential suitors.

An agoraphobic woman comes to rely on an AI machine for delivery of her anti-anxiety medicine during a global pandemic. Motivated by the desire to receive a 5-star rating, the machine engages in aberrant behavior that becomes downright scary.

The father of a deeply troubled household that endured tragedy both from without and within, seeks to reconcile with his youngest daughter by making a journey to both symbolically and culturally lay the family "ghosts" to rest.

This documentary provides a glimpse into the making of Jane Campion's 1990 film.

In the summer of 2011, while attempting to seek internet fame, a rowdy group of young friends unexpectedly witnessed something that changed their lives forever.

When a man, quietly lost, suddenly finds himself caring for his best mate’s three-year-old son, a week of wandering, play and unexpected connection begins to unsettle the heaviness he carries.

When a corporate mining giant moves into a small coastal town looking for gold and talking about trickle down wealth - some folk just aren't convinced.

A high action war film with a twist. Shoot outs, stand-offs and heroics aplenty -- the difference being it's young kids not adult soldiers taking part.

A dyed-in-the-wool Londoner travels 10,000 miles to rural New Zealand to rekindle an old relationship, only to find that its fate lies in the paws of a faded old teddy bear.

Ingeniously unfolding three tales in unison, Take 3 follows a trio of young asian-Kiwi actors on one horrifying day of auditions.

Mythology goes to church in New Zealand Opera's unique, site-specific staging of Handel's baroque masterpiece. This sensual story explores a love triangle between Jupiter, King of the Gods, his wife, the goddess Juno, and his lover, the mortal but overly ambitious princess Semele. This engrossing film of an in-the-round live performance showcases Handel's exquisitely lyrical music and presents a powerful story of ambition that is as relevant today as it was when written nearly three centuries ago.

Three young people set off on a road trip from Wellington to find a seal colony.

Pacific Mother journeys from Japan, to Hawaii, Tahiti, Rarotonga and Aotearoa to share interwoven stories of formidable women who live at one with the Pacific Ocean – freediving, spearfishing and paddling waka through its depths and playing with their children in its shallows – a stark contrast to fast-paced lifestyles of larger towns or cities. These women are all mothers who experienced diverse births in hospital, at home and by the sea, with and without medical assistance. Fukumoto also meets Māori and Japanese midwives who share indigenous traditions and rituals around birth that have been lost over recent generations, and are now gradually being reclaimed. Their stories demonstrate just how disconnected the global default maternity system is from the instinctive and cultural needs of mothers and families. They inspire a call to action on birthing rights, as well as a call for parents’ reconnection with their role as nurturers and protectors of their natural environment.

Quentin is a destitute filmmaker who resorts to making home-made pornos to achieve his celluloid dreams. Nigel is a sweet and sensitive hairdresser, reluctantly lured by his hit-woman Mother to join her on one last lucrative job. Can Quentin convince his recently unemployed girlfriend, Debbie, to co-star in his upcoming pornographic masterpiece with his best buddy, Clarke? Can Nigel complete the job with his sanity intact or will he finally snap - becoming the psychopath his Mother always dreamed he'd be?

Directed by Sam Pillsbury, this 1974 film observes Ralph Hotere — one of New Zealand’s greatest artists — at a moment when excitement is gathering about his work. Lauded as a “classic” by Ian Wedde, the documentary is framed around the execution of a watershed piece: a large mural Hotere was commissioned to paint for Hamilton’s Founders Theatre. Interviews with friends and associates — poets Hone Tuwhare and Bill Manhire, art critics, officials and dealers — are intercut with fascinating shots of Hotere working (including making art by photocopying or 'xerography').

When a Kiwi-Filipino doctor discovers that her dead grandmother has become a manananggal, a corrupted witch, she must face up to her troubled youth and make peace with her estranged brother before they both suffer the bloody consequences.

Facing the backlash on Transgender Day of Visibility, two transgender advocates, Josh and Riley, risk their safety to promote transgender visibility and welfare.

When the divorced parents of 8-year-old Jacob insist on dressing him in ridiculous clothes to spite each other, he resorts to desperate fashion measures to assert his identity.

Jemaine Clement (pre-Flight of the Conchords fame) is the young man who faces up to a sentient soda machine in this short from Jason Stutter.

Southern New Zealand is home to an incredible diversity of penguins; each species has its mode of reproduction, its habits of brooding and teaching its young.

For years, people have wondered if Bigfoot is real, or just a myth. Today, reporter Madi Hewett is investigating weird sightings in the New Zealand bush. She is accompanied by New Zealand Cryptid Research And Bigfoot Sightings (C.R.A.B.S) as they investigate the try to prove the existence of Bigfoot in New Zealand.

Kids on an outing in the forest come up against a mysterious hermit who lives on the other side of a bridge, and he is definitely not happy to see them.

Set in a near future where overpopulation, pollution, war, famine, and anarchy have been a decades long plague. Gladiatorial arenas are commonplace, designed to help with overpopulation and unemployment, promising major rewards. As a mysterious fungal outbreak rips through the globe, the world is flipped upside down as friends quickly become ravenous scourge. The story follows a mysterious leader nicknamed ‘Top Trooper’ and his mission to guide a safe zone on its daily struggle against starvation, scourge, and a mysterious syndicate which slowly reveals itself more and more. As time progresses it becomes apparent that there is something extremely strange and dangerous looming behind the scenes.

Constance is a bored, movie-loving schoolteacher in post-WW2 New Zealand who begins to fantasize that she's a Hollywood star - with tragic consequences.

On her birthday, Katrina's alcoholic mother has a violent outburst which is the catalyst to the teenager's destructive drinking session which results in the ripple effect of abuse that she endures at home.

A non-verbal visual journey to the polar regions of our planet portrayed through a triptych montage of photography and video. Landscapes at the World's Ends is a multi-dimensional canvas of imagery recorded above the Arctic Circle and below the Antarctic Convergence, viewed through the lens of whom is realistically an alien in this environment, the polar tourist. Filmed during several artist residencies on-board three expedition vessels, New Zealand nature photographer and filmmaker Richard Sidey documents light and time in an effort to share his experiences and the beauty that exists over the frozen seas. Set to an ambient score by Norwegian Arctic based musician, Boreal Taiga, this experimental documentary transports us to the islands of South Georgia, the Antarctic Peninsula, Greenland and Svalbard. Landscapes at the World's Ends is the first film in Sidey's Speechless trilogy, and is followed by Speechless: The Polar Realm (2015) and Elementa (2020).

Evan rides the bus all day instead of going to school. But when he gets off to follow Romy, she teaches him a lesson about life.

There's an old legend, that across the hills, deep in the forest of the North Island of New Zealand, lies a gateway to a new world. A new beginning. Evergreen. 16 year old Ezra Galliard begins his search, to see if the old legend is true...

In this poetic short film, writer/director/songwriter Kararaina Rangihau tells a story of great significance to the Tūhoe people. Unfolding entirely in te reo Māori, the narrative follows a child (played by Te Ratauhina Tumarae) learning the origins to the waiata 'Taku Rākau E', from her great-grandmother (Menu Ripia). Flicking between the present day and 1873, the great-grandmother tells how Mihikitekapua, a blind women of Tūhoe (also played by Ripia), first sang this important waiata. Rangihau was mentored by prominent filmmaker Merata Mita, who produced the film with co-producer Chelsea Winstanley.

Keiko does chores in her father's Chinese restaurant in New Zealand, but dreams of becoming a brilliant sushi chef and winning the boy of her dreams.

A young woman searches for her identity by joining a "free love" hippie commune, against the wishes of her darkly possessive widowed father. The tensions of small town New Zealand and individual conflicts generated by intolerance and fear, unleashes forces of violence and betrayal.

The dramatic behind-the-scenes story of All Black Stephen Donald and the pentaly kick that saved the 2011 World Cup.

A dysfunctional couple, two bizarre Wi-Fi experts, and a missing grandmother and an asteroid coming. What could possibly go wrong?

A mysterious killer leaves a black octopus behind after each murder.

As a major life decision approaches, Theo finds himself yearning for what he doesn’t have in this romantic drama about the conflict between happiness and self-destruction.

There is no safe place to hide when the desire to dance calls Iuli'a, an overstayer, to choose between her own freedom and the safety of those she is responsible for.

A strained family dynamic unravels on a road trip to an unknown destination. On this tense journey, Hokia weaves a poignant narrative of understanding, and the complexity of familial bonds.

Nan, recently widowed by Rud, a religious eccentric, treats her idolised son Mark and his family to a Sunday roast. An ironic comedy about a disconnected New Zealand family.