Discoveries from New Zealand World Cinema

Over 150 moments when powersport's heroes wished they'd stayed home in bed, condensed from thousands of hours of world-wide powersport action footage. Featuring single seater destruction derbies, bike riders who stagger away from seemingly horrendous prangs, truck racers who don't care if it's race track, trackside barriers or another truck under their 120mph juggernaut's wheels, professional stunts, experience crashes with in-prang cameras, 3000 horsepower dragsters, out of control and heading for disaster, and the Knutters of Norwegian rallying performing some incredible 10 out of 10s ..and no-one gets seriously hurt!

The fallout from a disastrous blind date forces two polar opposites to find common ground as the rest of the world falls apart around them.

It’s 2026 Auckland, New Zealand, through the black-and-white lens of the German expressionist silent era. If it weren't for the online group chat and the overused electric heater, the city’s 100-year-old bungalows with no insulation would make you believe it’s the 1920s. The Ungrateful Tenant follows an anxiety-ridden millennial renter who dreams of one day buying his own house. When his paranoid frustration comes to a head, he kicks out his ‘nightmare’ flatmate, only to be struck back by instant karma, sending him on a cursed odyssey in and out of flats across Auckland. Experience the brutal absurdity of the housing crisis in slapstick fashion.

Two men prepare to do a crucial job, but things don't go according to plan.

Wairoa funeral procession for victims of the Kōpuawhara flash flood.

State funeral of Prime Minister Massey.

The Honourable Dr. Māui Pōmare (Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Toa) is one of a large number of manuhiri who converge on Kāingarakiraki, a homestead in Ōtaki, to attend the tangi of Heeni Te Rei. Kuia and whānau sit with the tūpāpaku in the tent throughout the tangi. Various kaumātua deliver their whaikōrero, and there are brief shots of korowai and whāriki on display. Later, a horse-drawn glass hearse takes the tūpāpāku from the home to Rangiātea Church. A brass band leads the procession as it continues along the main street of Otaki, to the hill rising above the urupā at the rear of the Rangiātea Church, where she is laid to rest. There is much amusement and clowning around for the camera during preparations for the hākari. A group of young Māori girls perform the canoe poi to the accompaniment of the banjo by Hēnare Tahiwi and violin by Ellen Cook.

A film set in the Taizé community in France, observing the rhythms of daily life as thousands of young pilgrims from around the world wrestle with faith, doubt, and one another over the course of their stay.

When Brad is given a painting of a bird for Christmas, strange things start to happen around him.

As grief overtakes him, Michael drifts through memories and shifting realities, searching for what he has lost.

A man waits for guests who may arrive from another time.

From underneath the boots, clubs, fists, bigotries and diseases they beat people who come from the wrong side of the tracks.

Two aliens crash down to earth, Can they make it to the shiny object they see?

One of two performances made by Harvey in response to News, a 1976 performance work by Jim Allen.

When a child's brother dies the presence of primordial deity possesses the house cat

Charlotte’s Tongan roots come to surface. In order to embrace her identity, Charlotte must confront her mother’s secrets – with or without her blessing.

Te Anu Tonga, a Tongan/Maori woman, returns to New Zealand after thirty years to film a documentary about three Maori youth competing in Kapa Haka. She follows their journey and understanding behind what it means to belong. She begins to realize that this documentary is not about them, but about her.

‘I saw the mountain erupt’ is a lyrical reflection on the Bay of Plenty town of Kawerau's history of forestry and milling, with logging seen from the historical perspective of colonial occupation, in which new settler homes made of timber sit on top of Māori pā sites. Previously one of the wealthiest towns in Aotearoa, Kawerau's primary infrastructure was built to accommodate the pulp and paper mills that provided the town's economic industry for a finite period of time.

MURMURATIONS (ROME) is a video that comments on history's ghostly spectre in the everyday. The video employs footage shot at two sites in Rome, Italy: MURMURATIONS (ROME) documents the act of walking through these historical sites as a means of critically reanimating their political and ideological significance today. Additionally, documentation of the intricately morphing formation of starlings in flight—called murmurations— that descend upon Rome in the evening, is presented along with excerpts from a poem by Pier Paolo Pasolini, 'Le Cenere di Gramsci' (1954). ​Commissioned by CIRCUIT - Artist Film & Video Aotearoa New Zealand with the assistance of Creative New Zealand for the Thick Cinema project curated by Mercedes Vicente

A dark comedy about a desperately lonely security guard who seeks companionship as their playing cards come to life during a game of solitaire.

a short film directed by Han Guo

A pair of bumbling psychic aliens infiltrate a houseparty in search of a viable human specimen. As they probe Wellington's student culture, they begin to worry that they're searching for intelligent life in all the wrong places.

Living a boring, fruitless life, Charlie seeks to make a quick buck by joining a competition advertised on TV called 'Experiment of Reflection'. His expectations are turned on their head when he is dragged into a sadistic game that may cost him his life.

After a romantic holiday during her university break, April finds herself facing a difficult decision with the support of her friends.

Based on The tragic true story of the capsized ship 'Gulflivestock1' where almost 6000 cattle and 43 human crew plummeted to their watery grave. A compelling, soul stirring drama that follows the final few harrowing hours of their lives.

Opening of the Auckland Industrial and Mining Exhibition was an 1898 New Zealand silent documentary film. The film included scenes of the Newton Band playing, the governor arriving with a cavalry escort, and people entering the building.

The territorial dispute between Japan and Korea over the ownership of the Dokdo/Takeshima islets is not limited to state to state relations. In both countries there are citizens' groups actively engaged in protesting, lobbying and educating the public. This Island is Ours follows a Korean kindergarten caretaker with a background in student activism and a recently widowed Japanese housewife as they campaign tirelessly for the sovereignty of the tiny islets that are currently controlled by Korea, but also claimed by Japan. This film creates a rare insight into the lives of the two activists on both sides by presenting their parallel experiences from a neutral point of view.

In this captivating animation, a koro leads a desperate chase after the mirumiru (bubbles) of memories that escape his deteriorating wife before they’re gone forever.

A portrait of one of Aotearoa’s greatest living artists by one of our greatest documentary filmmakers. You should expect something special, and that’s what you get.

Empty interior landscapes over the course of a single day.

During the lunch break of what seems like an interminable corporate picnic, Anju stumbles into a hole in the ground and finds herself terrified inside a 15th century subterranean step well. Namita her colleague, comes looking for her. As they navigate different levels of the well, they encounter different levels of intimacy: a different way of looking, teasing, testing, and flirting. It’s all fun and games until Anju accidentally drops her phone inside the well. Panic turns to contrition when she realises it is Namita’s phone that’s missing. Namita’s reaction opens up for Anju a new way of seeing herself.

Sublime concert film drop, WAIRUNGA bush-alchemy album in the making deep among the elements in 2021. Features new and re-worked classics; COFFEE BLACK, BONES, SHADY, WAIRUNGA BLUES, BUSH TELEGRAPH, LEAVE YOUR WINDOW OPEN, DIG DEEP. Turn the music up for the bush-alchemy jam, sans audience, at 'Wairunga' above the sea in Waimararama, Aotearoa.

Amali is a honest glimpse into a 13 year olds world as she speaks to her fears and dreams through a summer roadtrip in rural Aotearoa.

It was the social movement that changed the country's political landscape. 20 years on, Tāmati Rimene-Sproat retraces the 2004 Foreshore and Seabed march, all the way back to the steps of Parliament.

Upcoming found footage style horror

A day in the life of a retired bus driver as he reflects on his journey as a Samoan immigrant traversing the streets of Auckland and the work he does in the church and the community.

This Wayne Leonard documentary from 2002 goes on a journey to explore what defines Māori humour.

A skilled thief is faced with a decision in this short comedy film.

It takes a village to raise a child, let alone one living with a disability. Mele show’s us how Haloti’s village wraps around him in support.

In this documentary, tā moko artist and kapa haka teacher Sacha Te Utupoto Keating rode the Whanganui River on a journey to discover his whakapapa. Director Howard Taylor followed Sacha's personal story and the wider histories of the awa, weaving reconstructions, archival footage and lush river images into a rich story of people and place. "Taylor's investigation of the mythical, historical, ecological and spiritual aspects of the Whanganui River is deeply moving." said Grant Smithies in The Sunday Star-Times. "You're left entertained, enlightened and politicised."

A lonely backpacker finds herself lost in the pitch black heart of rural New Zealand

This groundbreaking digital event celebrates Matariki through music with some of the biggest and brightest stars in Aotearoa including Stan Walker, Paige, Coterie and Jordyn with a Why, performing in both English and waiata reo Māori.

On a quest for a free breakfast, a man unwittingly becomes part of an interstellar war.

After being fired from Under The Southern Cross in the late 1920s, American director Alexander Markey returned to make Hei Tiki. Following a sometimes tense shoot, mostly around Taupō, he departed Aotearoa, leaving bad will and fears that he'd stolen a number of tsonga. Inspired partly by Māori legend, Hei Tiki sank quickly when finally released in 1935. This documentary features extensive clips from the movie, plus interviews with surviving cast and crew.

A portrait of an inspiring young Pasifika matriarch raising her family; Epifania, the rose that grew from concrete.

Deer embrace architecture.

Tai Whetuki delves into Māori and Pacific cultural practices pertaining to death and mourning. Haunting and evocative images, accompanied by an elemental soundscape take us on a journey through the intensity and spectacle of communal mourning, in a reflection on grief and the transition of the spirit.

New Zealand’s own mid-century anti-Communist witch hunt which reenacts the fate of Cecil Holmes, a filmmaker at the National Film Unit, who was fired because he was a member of the Communist Party.

A story of drug addiction, Māori wahine, and the power of recovery.

Hone Tuwhare was a beloved Māori writer, best known for his poem Rain. He died in 2008, before his great-granddaughter, poet Manaia Tuwhare-Hoani, got to know him. In this short documentary, Tuwhare-Hoani travels to Tuwhare's old Kaka Point crib in South Otago, where he spent happy years living and writing.

A grinchy cynic strikes up a conversation with a festive wannabe while they sing Christmas carols door-to-door.

A closeted young gay man is tormented by a masked assailant threatening to out him.

Gavin Hipkins’ film observes the forgotten, portentous terrain of the rugged Waitakere Ranges as a man wanders physically and psychologically around an old system of dams built in the 20s.

Bill is a lonely soul and feels sorry for himself and his life. He shuts people out and is quite unfriendly to everybody. Then one day he receives a phone call from a social worker informing him that his sister died and is asked to look after his sister's daughter Tia. Tia's father is overseas and had separated from her mother so Bill is the next of kin. He reluctantly accepts to look after Tia for a few days. Tia's charm and vitality wins Bill over and he starts to enjoy spending time with her. He starts seeing live in a different light and when the social worker informs him that Tia could now go to her dad overseas. When Tia tells him that she wants to stay with him he dismisses the offer. The last scene shows how they appreciate each other.

A response to the poetry of New Zealand filmmaker Joanna Margaret Paul.

A portrait study of Shereen Maloney's mother Irene. Irene talks about growing older and says that she feels just as wide- eyed and interested in things now as she did when she was 20. She talks about her first job and the wonderful feeling of independence it brought her. The film follows her daily activities as she drives a Fiat Bambina through the city and plays with her grandchild.

Six years since the unsolved killing of a young Danish teenager, her surviving family (and only murder suspects) are subjected to one final group interrogation by an eccentric English detective whose wacky disposition flies in the face of the cold and sullen Scandinavian vibes.

Shot within the constraints of Melbourne’s ongoing COVID-19 lockdowns, ‘Leave Your Body’ features the apartment where the filmmaker spent the better part of 2020 and 2021. However, where she sees a prison, her partner Sean sees a sanctuary. To him these five rooms are a fortress, not only protecting them from the virus, but also from the social pressure to interact with strangers. Portraying a fictitious version of himself (as well as the film’s various intruders) he defends his solitude while quietly losing touch with reality. ‘Leave Your Body’ is a celebration of isolation, but also an acknowledgement that the longer confinement continues; the harder it is to rejoin society.