Five short films from Aotearoa and the Pacific have been selected by curators Leo Koziol (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Rakaipaaka), Director of the Wairoa Māori Film Festival, and Craig Fasi (Niue), Director of the Pollywood Film Festival.
Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) is pleased to announce this year’s Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts selection.
Five short films from Aotearoa and the Pacific have been selected by curators Leo Koziol (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Rakaipaaka), Director of the Wairoa Māori Film Festival, and Craig Fasi (Niue), Director of the Pollywood Film Festival. Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts will screen during NZIFF in Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Hawke’s Bay, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Masterton, Welllington, Nelson, Christchurch and Dunedin.
The selected shorts this year are: Disconnected dir: Maruia Jensen), Disrupt (dir: Jennifer Te Atamira Ward-Lealand), fire in the water, fire in the sky (dir: Mīria George), Sista (dir: Chantelle Burgoyne), and True Love (dir: Ray Edwards).
And for the second year, Ngā Whanaunga is a competitive section of the festival with all films in the collection eligible for the Wellington UNESCO City of Film award for Best Film ($3000 cash prize), as judged by a jury.
Audience members at Auckland and Wellington screenings will also vote for the winner of the Letterboxd Audience Award, a cash prize of $1000.
The Best Film award winner will be announced at the final Wellington screening of Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts.
Due to the high calibre of short films submitted to the New Zealand Film Festival this year seven New Zealand short films will run before selected films in Auckland and Wellington.
“NZIFF is in the fortunate position of having received a high volume of incredibly impressive film submissions this year,” said the Festival’s Head of Programming Michael McDonnell. “So, in addition to our NZ’s Best and Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts programmes, we will screen additional home-grown shorts ahead of features in Auckland and Wellington. It’s fantastic to be able to provide an opportunity to showcase more Kiwi talent to local audiences.”
